Retreat Reflection, (Relatively) Raw
These are some thoughts compiled on my plane ride back from my recent retreat
Howdy folks! I spent last long weekend on a retreat at Holy Resurrection Monastery, a male monastery of the Byzantine Catholic tradition under the authority of Bishop John Michael Botean of the Romanian Catholic Eparchy (Diocese) of St. George. It was a joyful experience with some expected fruits and some surprises; overall, it was a great blessing.
First of all, I enjoyed the final part of Great and Holy Week along with Pascha (Easter) and Bright Monday, as Holy Resurrection is on the Revised Julian Calendar. Experiencing Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Pascha all over again was a joy, and it was interesting to participate in some of the prayers that my small mission parish doesn’t have the capacity to do. Moreover, while I was merely a guest among the monks who participate in liturgy every day, I nevertheless had the opportunity to play certain roles, including acting as a pall bearer of sorts for our Lord’s burial shroud during Burial Vespers on Good Friday, chanting a section of the Acts of the Apostles (including the conversion of Saul) on Holy Saturday, and reading the Gospel in Italian during Agapé Vespers on the evening of Easter Sunday. The Paschal liturgies and the time before and after them included one of my surprises: the number of fellow guests and visitors. When I arrived on Holy Thursday, only one family and one other man were visiting, but by Good Friday evening, more large families were arriving, and at the Paschal Divine Liturgy, the little chapel was packed with visitors young and old, married with children or single, from near and far! I met people who had deep, years-long relationships with the monastery and new visitors alike. No fewer than four priests concelebrated the Paschal liturgy, with at least one more observing. Little children ran around and older folks stood quietly. It was quite the experience.
I had expected a mostly quiet retreat, and while the first and last days definitely were that, I got plenty of energy in the middle of my time at the monastery. That said, I still feel spiritually recharged from the experience, as I met some fascinating people and experienced the holiness and joy of both the fellow visitors and the monks themselves. Moreover, as someone who sometimes struggles to understand and appreciate the greatness of our Lord’s love for us, I really needed to hear comforting words during confession, and I thankfully had that opportunity. In addition, I snuck in a visit to the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in nearby Champion, Wisconsin, and I hope my prayers there were heard by our Blessed Mother. Amusingly, I also noticed that the Stations of the Cross outside the Shrine had a curious translation choice: the XX Station in which our Lord comforts the women of Jerusalem had the word “filles” as opposed to “femmes” used in the French translation. Nevertheless, I had good prayer there, and I saw many other visitors exploring and praying.
Back at the monastery, I spoke to some of the monks about the monastic names they chose and, with one of them, about the theology of St. Isaac the Syrian. For being at a Byzantine monastery, I really thought quite a bit about non-Byzantine theology and saints, like the aforementioned Isaac (Syriac), the Latin scholastic giant St. Thomas Aquinas, the miracle-working Maronite monk St. Charbel Makhlouf, and the Ethiopian Tewahedo Church (Alexandrian/Ge’ez), the latter two topics about which I read relevant books (or part of one in the case of the Ethiopians). The liturgy and ambience, though, were so thoroughly Byzantine that I could have been at an Orthodox monastery except for the commemoration of our Catholic bishops.
I’m not sure how to characterize the entirety of my experience, but let it suffice to say that, at minimum, I felt great peace at the monastery, and my retreat allowed me to contemplate, at least a bit, a better daily approach to holiness. Let’s hope it carries into my daily life.
Until next time!
It seems like you had quite a beautiful experience at the monastery! Thank you for sharing your reflections on the retreat. Hopefully, the blessings the Lord gave you during your retreat will be carried into your daily life! :)