A group of 25 people involved with the Salesians in England and Scotland are heading to Spain this August to celebrate at the international Catholic youth event held every 2-5 years, World Youth Day. The Salesian group has been growing in size pilgrimage after pilgrimage, this trip is building on the success of the Salesian trip to World Youth day in Australia, 2008.
We’ve had both our preperation weekends and are now gearing up to the big event! Do keep coming back to see how we’re getting along. You can also follow what we’re up to on facebook
If you want to know a little more about the plan for the week, you can download our schedule here.
Below you will find videos and news articles about World Youth Day and our journey so far.
Most Recent WYD Stories
World Youth Day enabled me to see the goodness of God in the people I met
WYD in sunny Spain was the second world youth day I had attended. I went with the Salesian’s from the UK, and we had a fantastic group, varying in age, interests and experiences. Even the preparation weekends were an experience in themselves, getting to know new friends and listening to everyone’s experiences of the Salesians, WYD and life in general.
Upon arrival in Spain we travelled to the gorgeous city of Salamanca, and stayed in a Salesian school. It was hot, hot, hot, and the atmosphere in the school was already electric. The Canadians had arrived before us and drew us into their party like atmosphere. Looking around Salamanca, highlighted what a gorgeous, historic and welcoming city it was. The pilgrims of WYD brought a little more magic to an already amazing place. (more…)
World Youth Day Preparation Weekend Two!
After a very tiring journey from Scotland we arrived at Savio house late on Friday the 24th of June, many of the group had already arrived and settled in and were enjoying catching up with each other. We were greeted like old friends we are no longer strangers travelling to Madrid to see the pope; we are friends going on a pilgrimage.
We all met early the next morning for breakfast before having morning prayers. As a group we reflected on how in life we have hard times in life, but these are rewarded with good times. This was symbolised using Lemon and Chocolate. We know that sleeping on classroom floor will be very challenging – a lemon moment but we hope this will be balanced with many chocolate moments. We had some more ice-breakers during the weekend but everyone was much more relaxed and joined in the tasks.
Many people had expressed concerns about being lost and not knowing Spanish so we spent some time learning important phrases in Spanish. We even had a Spanish man to help with our pronunciations. Through group discussion we realised that there was many things we have to fit in our backpack for the 23 days we are away. We produced group rules that we all agreed with to help everyone enjoy the full experience of the pilgrimage. “Look after each other” The itinerary is busy and we as a group are “buying into the full experience” so can’t be too sleepy or dehydrated.
On the Saturday night the group enjoyed a homemade Spanish meal consisting of Spanish soup, paella seafood or just meat and extremely yummy deserts. There was plans to watch a DVD however the group bonded we spent the evening socialising discussing many topics.
Sunday morning came so quick. We had a lovely mass and morning tea but then we had to pack our bags and say our farewells.
The next time we come as a group we shall be on the plane to Madrid to have a wonderful experience as pilgrims of World Youth Day 2011 Madrid.
World Youth Day Preparation Weekend #1
What a fabulous weekend! We all gathered at Savio House on Friday night for social time together before the hard work began the next day.
Saturday morning came and we had lovely scrambled eggs for breakfast, yummy. And then we were told to sit down and make sure we were facing somebody. And then we had to introduce them to the rest of the group. It wasn’t long before we got to know each other very well; we even learnt everyone’s favourite animal! The weekend was filled with a huge variety of “getting to know you” activities where we sometimes had to be silly and sometimes were able to be slightly more normal. My favourite of these was by far when we were split into small groups and given some very amusing and different challenges, one being sand art, another tapping our hands on a table and dancing to a song and finally a shadow puppet dance. These were all great fun! (more…)
World Youth Day 2008 in Pictures
We Are Pilgrims, not Tourists – World Youth Day 08
On the 8th of July 2008, a group of 11 of us began our pilgrimage to the other side of the world – Destination Sydney! We also had the pleasure of spending a week in Melbourne enjoying days in the Diocese. There are no words to fully explain to anyone reading this article just how magical and enriching the experience of WYD was for each of us. Our group was full of spirit and abounding with energy. I can honestly say we smiled and laughed for most of our two weeks in Australia….we absorbed the immense atmosphere around us and felt energised in all that we did. (more…)
