The pastoral preparation of your pilgrims has a significant effort on the experience of your pilgrims at World Youth Day. The week of World Youth Day can be a cultural shock to the uninitiated, the crowds, and the sometimes overwhelming embrace of the Holy Spirit. 

Pastoral preparation is not just about teaching your pilgrims new songs and prayers but provides a foundation for their journey with other young people but more importantly their journey to enter more deeply into a relationship with Christ.

Pilgrimage
The tradition of pilgrimage, ancient and new, invites us to set aside sacred time to stand apart from our busyness and reflect on the treasure we have in the person of Jesus Christ.
Pilgrimage involves:

• taking a journey of discovery
• encountering the sacred
• living a simple lifestyle
• sharing with others along the way
• gaining a fresh perspective

May Mary, Mother of Wisdom, support you along the way,
enlighten your decisions and teach you to love
what is true, good and beautiful.
May she lead you all to her Son,
who alone can satisfy the innermost yearnings
of the human mind and heart.
St John Paul II