Jesus stayed at Ephrem with his disciples. We find that he remained there six days. This stay, a fortnight before his Passion, reminds us of the annual retreat prescribed by our norms. That we may profit as we ought by so great a means of grace, let us bear in mind the ends proposed:
1. To sound the depths of our hearts, learn to know ourselves, and see the status of our vocation.
2. To repair what is past by a good confession or a review of the year, accompanied by perfect contrition.
3. To lay down a rule of life for the future, and to renew our fervor, diminished as it is by advance in age.
Our spiritual exercises ought to sustain and increase our fervor in serving God. These valuable means of perfection are apt to weaken by use. The chief end of the retreat is to impart a fresh vigor to our daily practices of piety, and lead us to fulfil them better for the future.
These considerations will serve to show the importance of this retreat, and the danger incurred by those who make it carelessly. Has our conscience nothing to reproach us with on this subject? Means of making the retreat well --
1. Think how reasonable it is that we who have labored for our material welfare during a whole year should at least spend a few days to devote exclusively about our own soul.
2. God has from all eternity attached special graces to this retreat: our perseverance and eternal salvation may depend on it. Perhaps he may even desire that it should serve as our preparation for death.
3. Excite within ourself an earnest desire of making it well, with a lively confidence that God will enable us to gather abundant fruit from it.
4. Pray much: the more wretched we feel about ourself, the greater must be our confidence, joining mortification to prayer, and a special devotion to our Blessed Mother.
Think what a rigorous account God will ask us of this retreat; of how many lost souls, had they received such a grace, could have become saints. Think of our own salvation; and of our neighbors’ salvation which may depend upon how well we make this retreat.
Means of preserving the fruits of the retreat --
1. Write down clearly, before coming out of retreat, what change we must make in any part of our conduct as regards men and God; what habits we should adopt for the future as regards God and men.
2. Make these points the matter of our particular examination of conscience.
3. Make them the topics of our prayers on Sundays.
4. Examine ourself more thoroughly about these points on the day of our annual retreat, and to give an account of them to our spiritual director.
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp731-3
Enclosed retreats
When we make serious efforts in daily prayer and frequent aspirations, our life is utterly transformed. But we must be trained to live in this way, and the best transformation is found in enclosed retreats.
These should be made at least once, and if possible, several times a year, depending on how many days they occupy. An enclosed retreat means one day, or preferably a few days, when we withdraw completely from all our business, official or private, to live face to face with God.
If we can manage only one day at a time, several must be taken each year, but it is indispensable to make enclosed retreats lasting several days with comparative frequency throughout our life. In the Encyclical “Mens Nostra”, Pius XI has emphasised the importance of enclosed retreats for the forming of a Christian life.
We must not confuse enclosed retreats we speak of here with what may be called ‘retreats’ in certain parishes, colleges or groups. These consist merely of sermons and pious exercises morning and evening; the rest of the day free for one’s customary duties. Unless all occupations other than prayer are set aside for at least a whole day, there is no ‘retreat’ in the strict sense of the word.
Neither must we confuse enclosed retreats with weeks of study, contact, interchange of viewpoints such as those organised by many Catholic groups. In a retreat the only thing we do is to pray; a period of solitude with God.
It is essential that the rule of ‘silence’ should secure this isolation with him. Consequently, it can allow no conversation, no exchange of views with other retreatants.
If interior life is to grow, long hours of silence before God are needed. The single absolute condition of the true retreat is the silence which alone permits us to devote ourselves exclusively to God.
Ref: Jean Daujat, “The Faith Applied”, 1984, pp53-4
‘To whom much is given, much will be required’
How much has the Lord entrusted to us? How many graces has he conferred on others because of our lives? How many people are depending on our correspondence with grace?
Let us consider if our life is a response to all the good things God has granted us. How many marvels has the Lord worked through us when we have let him?
His greatest works “consist in giving divine life to men through the action of the Holy Spirit. Jesus counts on us to help him complete his work. He works through us if we will only let him do so.” (cf Chiara Lubich, “Words which give life”, Madrid, 1990)
We ask Our Lady to help us fulfil the work entrusted to us by her Son -- a vibrant apostolate wherever we are working.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 5:291, 294-5
St Clement I, Pope and martyr
(+ 97) The third pope after St Peter. He wrote the famous epistle to the Corinthians, commanding them to seek peace and unity. We see in it the providence of God who gives us a clear example of the pope’s universal jurisdiction, even before AD 100. (Memorial. Fr James Socias, ‘et al’ [Eds], “Daily Roman Missal”, 1989, p1701)
St Columban, abbot
(+ 615) An Irish monk [Memorial. Fr James Socias, ‘et al’ [Eds], “Daily Roman Missal”, 1989, p1702]; great statesman and preacher. He founded numerous monasteries in Gaul, Switzerland, Italy; and Iona, a little island off the west coast of Scotland. (Tom Peete Cross, ‘et al’, “English Writers”, p5)
• Our Lady of the Vault, near the town of St Anastasia, in the environs of Florence. — Triple Cour., n. 102. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of the Vault (near Florence, Italy). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); Name of a church in Brussels, Belgium. ... (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
• Our Lady of the Teutonic House (Jerusalem). (http://mariedenazareth.com)
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