"If you abide in Christ, you will bear much fruit," Pope Benedict XVI said to a crowd of 5,000 seminarians and vocations directors. "You have not chosen Him, He has chosen you."

While organizing World Youth Day 2005 in Cologne, Germany, the pope made a special request that time be set aside for him to meet with seminarians "so that the vocational dimension, which is always a part of World Youth Day, would be even more clearly and strongly evident," he said.

Six seminarians from the Arlington Diocese were able to attend the gathering at the Church of St. Pantaleon in Cologne. While they still had to jockey for a position in the courtyard in order to see the pope, the young men were grateful for the chance to meet the Holy Father.

"The fact that he met specifically with seminarians was incredible to me," said Ed Bresnahan, a diocesan seminarian. "Later I would join the thousands watching a little white blip move up the ‘Pope’s Hill’ at the pilgrimage site, but for now, he was a teacher in front of an eager class."

Several of the seminarians noted how down to earth Pope Benedict was when he spoke.

"The words he spoke were simple and delivered with a double dose of humility," Bresnahan said. "He spoke so unassumingly that you almost thought that he was one of the group."

Seminarian Jason Weber described the papal speech as being like a father speaking to his sons.

"We felt the joy that comes from seeing a father’s love," Weber said.

Deacon Charles Smith also described the pope as a father.

"As a man in formation, the pope’s invitation to meet sent a signal that he deeply cares about his priests and those who serve the Church," he said. "It is a father’s concern for his sons and wanting to impart to them his wisdom to fortify them for the journey and difficulties ahead."

When called to serve Christ, the pope said, "the seminarian experiences the beauty of that call in a moment of grace which could be defined as ‘falling in love.’ his soul is filled with amazement, which makes him ask in prayer: ‘Lord, why me?’ But love knows no ‘why;’ it is a free gift to which one responds with the gift of self."

In his advice to the men in formation, Pope Benedict said, "The secret of holiness is friendship with Christ and faithful obedience to His will. May Christ be everything for you."

He urged them to "offer Him what is most precious to you, as Pope John Paul II suggested in his message for this World Youth Day: the gold of your freedom, the incense of your ardent prayer, the myrrh of your most profound affection."

While these words had a profound impact on Weber, something that also touched him deeply was the unified voice of 4,400 seminarians from 89 countries singing the "Salve Regina" together.

"The Salve, with all the voices present, was a deeply moving experience of the universality of the Church and the hope for unity among the clergy within the office of Christ’s priesthood," Weber said. "We all prayed together as one family who are working to share in the mission of Christ as did the Apostles."