Italy – September 2024 - After the silent retreat led individually at Madonna dei Laghi, Avigliana, the 24 participants in the seventh Salesian School of Spiritual Accompaniment had a grace-filled experience of appreciating silence, praying the word of God in solitude and personalised spiritual accompaniment. They were able to appreciate what Don Bosco experienced during the 32 years he regularly went to Sant'Ignazio di Lanzo for his annual retreat. The participants then went on pilgrimage to the various places of Don Bosco around Colle Don Bosco (Becchi, Capriglio, Moncucco, Cascina Moglia, Morialdo, Castelnuovo and Chieri). They studied and reflected on the different life experiences of Don Bosco, in particular how he gradually grew in his appreciation of the importance of having spiritual guidance and the importance of spiritual accompaniment in his vocational discernment and spiritual growth. It was an opportunity for the participants to experience the process of what it means for Don Bosco to have spiritual accompaniment in his life, so as to better understand what his own experience was like and be able to accompany others. In the next phase of the programme, the participants will study the different Christian and Salesian traditions of spiritual accompaniment. They will also have practical formation in skills in spiritual accompaniment. The school is led by a team made up of members of the Formation Sector - Salesian Brother Raymond Callo, Fr Guido Errico and Fr Jose Kuttianimattathil - and by two simultaneous translators: Fernando Saade, SDB, and Fr Gerard Umoh.