Stara Boleslav, Czech Republic - Tens of thousands of people gathered Monday at a field near Stara Boleslav, north-east of Prague, to join Pope Benedict XVI in a mass celebrating St Wenceslas, the Czech patron saint. The pope is ending his three-day pastoral visit to the largely secular Czech Republic at the pilgrimage site, marking a holiday dedicated to the Czech martyr.
According to early estimates by Church organizers, some 50,000 people attended the mass honouring St Wenceslas, whose brother had him murdered in Stara Boleslav on September 28 in the year 935.
After the mass, the pope is due to address a select group of young people, scores of whom arrived at the field.
Around 130,000 people turned out for an outdoor Sunday mass, the highlight of the papal visit, on an airfield in Brno, the Czech Republic's second-largest city.
On a visit to the Central European country of 10.4 million since Saturday, the 82-year-old pontiff has urged Czechs to rediscover Christian traditions and Europeans to draw on the continent's Christian roots.
On his final day, Benedict first paid tribute in a local church to the relics of St Wenceslas, a 10th-century Czech duke who promoted Christianity in the Czech lands. The pope then proceeded to the field to celebrate mass.
The mood was festive, as the pope made his way through the crowd towards a podium in his so-called popemobile. The joyous believers waved Vatican flags, as well as Czech, Slovak and German flags, and a chorus sang cheerfully.
Many pilgrims pitched tents the night before, while others drove to the field or took shuttle buses, which left Prague in the early morning.
Veronika Cizkova, 17, a secondary school student from Ostrava, said she slept for about a half-hour before heading to the field to get a good spot from which to see the pope.
"We are here to hear the message of the Holy Father," she said. "Perhaps it will change my life."
Jaroslava Havrankova, 58, said she takes part in the pilgrimage dedicated to St Wenceslas every year. "He is a symbol of the Czech statehood. A symbol of faith," she said.
Havrankova joined the mass despite having recently broken her leg. She limped to the field with the help of crutches and awaited the pope, sitting for hours in a lawn chair.
"People were discouraging me from it after my leg surgery," she said. "Ordinary people can't understand what an experience it is to attend a mass celebrated by the Holy Father."
