She said the day was "beautiful," and that she "felt a lot of grace."
"Just the beauty of being here together with peers and young adults from around the state and beyond is awesome," she said.
Unlike other pilgrims, Nathan Schaechle, 20, did not have too much of a choice in attending the beatification. His brother, Mikey, 5, was the reason why the beatification was happening in the first place - being the recipient of a miracle attributed to McGivney's intercession.
Schachle told CNA that when his mother was told her pregnancy with his brother Mikey had "no hope" he had "kind of just resigned [himself] to what felt like the inevitable."
"It was like, 'hey, he's gonna die,' and then all of a sudden he's ready to be born," said Schacle. His brother Mikey was delivered prematurely via emergency c-section after doctors realized that there was an issue with the placenta.
The gravity of the situation was not apparent to the then-teenage Nathan.
Nathan told CNA that at the time his brother was born, he was mostly upset that his mother's emergency delivery meant that he was unable to attend the Diocese of Nashville's diaconate ordination Mass like he had planned.
"I really didn't realize the magnitude of what had happened until it was approved [by the Vatican]," he said.
He was aware that the Vatican was investigating the circumstances leading up to his brother's birth, and that his parents had been involved in a diocesan tribunal that had progressed to the promoter of McGiney's cause in New Haven. But he did not know that his brother's recovery had been a confirmed miracle until it was announced by Pope Francis.
"We found out with the rest of the world that [the miracle] had been approved," he said. Nathan told CNA that he woke up early the morning the pope approved the miracle to "probably about 20 texts" on his phone.
"The human moment for me was that, 'wow, our name's been on the pope's desk,'" he said. "And really, I don't think it's completely sunk in yet, even now. It's just kind of been a blur since then."
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The Tennessee resident described the experience in New Haven as "very cold" (temperatures for the weekend hovered in the mid-40s), "very surreal," and "a little bit frightening."
Nathan said his family is "not really attention-seeking people, but this is what God wants for us."
"He wants to glorify Himself in the world through it, and He wants others to come to Him through us," he said. "So we're doing the best we can in that respect."
Christine Rousselle is a former DC Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. Prior to working at CNA, she was the managing web editor of Townhall.com; she has a BA in political science from Providence College.