Great post! My son and I went to a 3-day silent retreat a year ago. The silence was so powerful, the only speaking was done by the priest who led the retreat and the exercises and led Mass each evening. Amazing how much easier it was to reflect and pray without distractions! It was actually a blessing to be out in a remote area with no internet! And you are correct, the segment on the examination of conscience and general confession brought me to my knees! I had done a general confession before joining the Catholic Church 3 years ago (40 years as a devout Protestant), but the reflection in the exercises went much deeper!
After the retreat, I started training to become a catechist, so didn’t continue on in the exercises until recently: my wife and I spent 2 weeks in Spain and Portugal walking a segment of the Camino de Santiago and also 2 days at the Shrine in Fatima. It was a very moving experience overall, and I have picked up the Spiritual Exercises again; that has brought a calm, quiet and focus to my reflection and writing…
Thank you for reading Chuck! It truly is an amazing experience. I had also done many "general" confessions, but doing this one in the context of the exercises was incredibly moving. It's really baffling how deprived of true silence we usually are, and how powerful it is to spend a few days without distractions.
Great to hear about the Camino de Santiago, I've been wanting to do it and hope to do it somewhat soon. Any recommendations?
Thank for you sharing your experiences. I believe I would find the retreat beneficial. Would you mind sharing the name of the monastery which hosted the retreat.
My pleasure, Dan, glad you liked the article! The retreat was hosted in Colombia, near Bogotá, so I imagine a bit far for you haha. It's a hermit run by a community of nuns.
I recently went on a 2 day retreat alone also. I completely relate to what you are saying. I had to acknowledge, before I could even grasp the “alone time,” I needed to allow the process of disconnecting to unfold. It was real and uncomfortable. It wasn’t long enough, but I was grateful for it. I’m so thankful to have found your writings, they are touching and hit me beautifully. God bless you!
It's a good thing to live on "monk time" once in a while. Monasteries are a great gift. 😌❤️🩹 I've read that Columbus kept his ✍🏼logs from his first voyage west ☀️🧭🌊✨ on 'monastic time' (Hours⏳) rather than 🔔 nautical time. Grace 🕯️and peace 📿 to you Amigo, one day at a time.....
Great post! My son and I went to a 3-day silent retreat a year ago. The silence was so powerful, the only speaking was done by the priest who led the retreat and the exercises and led Mass each evening. Amazing how much easier it was to reflect and pray without distractions! It was actually a blessing to be out in a remote area with no internet! And you are correct, the segment on the examination of conscience and general confession brought me to my knees! I had done a general confession before joining the Catholic Church 3 years ago (40 years as a devout Protestant), but the reflection in the exercises went much deeper!
After the retreat, I started training to become a catechist, so didn’t continue on in the exercises until recently: my wife and I spent 2 weeks in Spain and Portugal walking a segment of the Camino de Santiago and also 2 days at the Shrine in Fatima. It was a very moving experience overall, and I have picked up the Spiritual Exercises again; that has brought a calm, quiet and focus to my reflection and writing…
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Thank you for reading Chuck! It truly is an amazing experience. I had also done many "general" confessions, but doing this one in the context of the exercises was incredibly moving. It's really baffling how deprived of true silence we usually are, and how powerful it is to spend a few days without distractions.
Great to hear about the Camino de Santiago, I've been wanting to do it and hope to do it somewhat soon. Any recommendations?
Thank for you sharing your experiences. I believe I would find the retreat beneficial. Would you mind sharing the name of the monastery which hosted the retreat.
My pleasure, Dan, glad you liked the article! The retreat was hosted in Colombia, near Bogotá, so I imagine a bit far for you haha. It's a hermit run by a community of nuns.
https://open.substack.com/pub/kingdommenmasculinity/p/caitlin-clark-22-heavy-is-the-crown?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=5qrgxi
Like your articles...like your one on work too..but couldn't comment 👍
Terrific. A must read from Cardinal Sarah is The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise — https://amzn.to/4nKDB7S
I recently went on a 2 day retreat alone also. I completely relate to what you are saying. I had to acknowledge, before I could even grasp the “alone time,” I needed to allow the process of disconnecting to unfold. It was real and uncomfortable. It wasn’t long enough, but I was grateful for it. I’m so thankful to have found your writings, they are touching and hit me beautifully. God bless you!
It's a good thing to live on "monk time" once in a while. Monasteries are a great gift. 😌❤️🩹 I've read that Columbus kept his ✍🏼logs from his first voyage west ☀️🧭🌊✨ on 'monastic time' (Hours⏳) rather than 🔔 nautical time. Grace 🕯️and peace 📿 to you Amigo, one day at a time.....