WCR PHOTO | THANDIWE KONGUAVI Stephanie Bazzarelli, Geoffrey Durocher, Emilio Bazzarelli and Sarah Willette (front row); Noëlle Schoenberger (hidden) Kamille Schoenberger and Nicole Schoenberger (back row) take part in group prayer in preparation for World Youth Day.

A group of young people sit in a small chapel at Holy Family Parish in St. Albert on a late winter evening. They are deep in prayer.

The scene is a small miracle - evidence of the work God has been doing in their lives since the group embarked on its journey to attend World Youth Day this year in Kraków, Poland.

Along with the young pilgrims in the chapel are Mary Bazzarelli and Nicole Schoenberger. The two mothers will not travel to Poland, but they are leading the 21 young men and women in their spiritual preparation.

"I think it's really brought us closer as a group," said pilgrim Noëlle Schoenberger, 22. "At the beginning, we were kind of uncomfortable with praying together and that kind of thing. Now, we pray together all the time. It's become a really good routine, and I think that will carry on when we're in Poland."

Geoffrey Durocher, 21, one of the group leaders, knows the importance of spiritual preparation.

He quickly decided he wanted to attend this year's pilgrimage. But after his first World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, in 2013, he was not sure if he wanted to go with a parish group again or by himself.

"Last time, I found it hard to get the full experience out of it in a big group. Then I realized it may have not been the group atmosphere, but a lack of preparation on my part for World Youth Day. I didn't prepare myself spiritually.

"I thought everything would just kind of happen. I just went with the flow and didn't experience what I wanted to get out of it."

With a group of 21, fundraising has been a major focus, but Durocher is grateful for the increased spiritual formation in the group's meetings.

"The whole purpose is to grow in our faith so they've been key to helping us prepare," he said.

One theme the group's spiritual leaders have discussed is different definitions of "mercy." One definition that most affected Durocher involved understanding and working with people's strengths and weaknesses.

PHOTO SUPPLIED Pilgrims Noëlle Schoenberger and Nathan Pottle will be married in May before heading off to World Youth Day together.

"It's easy with a group of 21 people to say, 'This person's not pulling their weight, or this person should be doing more,'" said Durocher. "I've grown because we had to learn to understand where people are coming from, and we're a better group because of it."

Forming a unified group while learning how to deal with different personalities has not been easy.

Pilgrim Chantal Schoenberger, 19, has experienced ups and downs on the road to her first WYD - from dealing with the stress of unsuccessful fundraising events, understanding everybody's weaknesses and strengths, and disappointment when her mother, who originally planned to travel with the group, decided not to go. "Having her back down kind of made me think - do I really want to go to this?"

Overcoming the challenges has helped her grow in trusting God and in closeness with her fellow pilgrims.

"We start every meeting with prayer, just knowing and understanding that we will reach our end goal - we will be going. We just have to trust in the Lord and be open to what he's offered us," she said.

The group has not yet met its fundraising goal of $50,000, which will cover their airfare, registration and the Days in the Diocese.

They are confident the trip will be a success regardless.

Pilgrim Nathan Pottle, 23, who is engaged to marry fellow pilgrim Noëlle in May, is looking forward to WYD strengthening both his faith and his upcoming marriage.

Pottle also attended WYD in 2011, and the encounter with thousands of other young people bonding through faith was reassuring.

FAITH AND MARRIAGE

At the time, he had not travelled much, and he admits he was mostly looking forward to meeting new people and having new experiences.

"Now, it's more to strengthen my faith, and by the time we go, to strengthen our marriage," he said.

"We don't know what it's like to be married yet, but I think it's a good way to start a marriage, going on a pilgrimage together.

"It's definitely good to have strong faith in marriage to help us get through all the bumpy things in life. Strong faith in a marriage could help you through anything."