aeternus

My son has gone on retreat today with his classmates. I am amazed that young children are so privileged to have this blessing. I only went on retreat for the first time after he was born! In any case there will be also some fun and team building as they navigate a high wire course through the trees and have a caving expedition! Sounds like a dream for a young boy!

In thinking, and worrying about this three day adventure (as any mother would!) I came across this beautiful retreat in a very old book. It seems to be given in the form of Saint Ignatius’s spiritual exercises to Carmelites. Here is what was said in the introduction of the book followed by a preparatory conference before the retreat. I think I will continue to post on this retreat because it is so edifying…

THE discourses composing this Retreat were
delivered by Pere de Ravignan, three months
before his death, to the Carmelite nuns of the
Monastery of the Rue de Messine. They
themselves, with pious care, gathered together
the last apostolic words let fall from a mouth
so revered. They thought they ought not bury
this treasure in the earth, but ought rather
share it with their Sisters in the different
convents which follow the rule of S. Theresa,
and with all religious souls, both in and out
of the cloister, who love to feed on the holy
teachings of evangelical perfection.

MEDITATION FOR THE EVE OF THE RETREAT.

BELOVED Sisters, you are entering on retreat, and the first thing you ought to do is to ask yourselves this question: What is retreat? What is the intention of our Lord towards
us in giving us these holy and precious days?What is the intention of our Blessed Mother
who looks down on us from the heights of heaven ?

We find the answer in the teachings of the holy Exercises, as they have been modelled and bequeathed to us by the soldier of Maureze, who himself received them from the Holy Ghost, his first and only Master. Not a word has been changed in them since that time. In this golden book we find the conditions necessary to be fulfilled in order to profit by these holy Exercises ; two words sum up everything under this head, retreat is the labour of the soul. The one with the other, the one by the other ; labour by rest, and rest by labour.

And first, rest, the salutary and wonder fully efficacious rest of the soul. Why? Because the first thing you ought to do on entering on this retreat, Sisters, is tocast your selves into the hands of your Creator, like a block of clay, in order that He may remodel you; in order that He may work in your favour a new creation, a new being. My God, create in me a pure heart, and renew the spirit of uprightness and justice within me. O my God, I give myself to Thee to do unto me according to Thy will.; This offering must be made with the desire of forgetting the world, and of abandoning yourselves ; it must be made with a generous heart. There must be no hesitating weakness, no, Sisters, but great courage, because God requires much of us during retreat What is it that God requires of you ? You know not at the end of these holy days, and, in fine, neither is it the time to know. Later, the light will come. From this time until then, whenever anything causes you uneasiness, or fear, you must banish it, because it would impair your rest.

This rest has still another element, solitude. But are you not always in solitude? That may be ; but you need a more perfect solitude, a more absolute interior solitude by even separation from your customary occupations, and, above all, by the entire separation of yourselves in order that you may find God alone. Now, the solitude and the separation of retreat consist in the religious and conscientious observance of silence. Retreat is perpetual silence ; there must not be a word beyond what the strictest necessity requires, there must not be a voluntary thought to distract you from God. Be ye, Sisters, penetrated with this idea. Have nothing more at heart than the offering of all that you are to God, by silence and rest ; you shall draw therefrom marvellous fruits.

Saint Ignatius says that retreat is more profitable to the soul than any other exercise to which she can devote herself, because, in retreat, the soul is exclusively united to God. Believe me, there is immense profit in the solitude of these days ; the world can still penetrate behind the cloister and the gratings ; but in retreat there is a more complete separation than ever, there is silence, calm, rest, certain progress.

We have already said, Sisters, that retreat is the labour of the soul. The soul needs exercise as much as the body, and this exercise, or labour of the soul, consists in examination, meditation, and contemplation, which prepare and dispose it to a second very important and very needful labour. At certain periods of our lives we require to reckon with ourselves, and to see if there is not in our soul some inclination, some desire, contrary to the rule of our holy vows, and contrary to what God expects of us. Then I stand in presence of myself, I reckon with my conscience, I weigh my inclinations, and more than once do I say to myself : “That is not right” When we discern our failings, and see what is not conformable to our holy state, we must immediately uproot and check our ill-regulated passions, and make way for the restoration of free will, in order to seek and to find the will of God for the reformation of our lives. That labour is expressed in one word, you know it well, victory over self. Victory over self ! it is a great word! victory over self always ! There will be always battles to fight and victories to gain. We must always recommence our lives, and let us, therefore, cast ourselves into the hands of our Creator, in order that He may remodel us. In Him, by Him, and for Him, we see what ought to be checked, and what ought to be practiced ; then, we are free to act with
the light of understanding. You must, therefore, be careful in retreat, and above all at its close, to devote yourselves to one thing, to approaching God, and tasting of His favours. For the soul the all-important point is to reach God ; if she becomes wedded to many things her occupations distract her from Him ; she loses recollection, strength, and vigour ; it becomes impossible for her to reach God alone. But remember, Sisters, that prayer is every thing.

This labour of retreat is in the spirit of prayer ; because, since we are bound to seek virtue and to check vice, we are bound above all to co-operate with grace, and to cast ourselves into the hands of God. How can we do this ? By prayer. Is not prayer the rest of the soul ? Should we not seek in prayer peace and strength alike ? You may then say with S. Augustine : “Thou alone art sufficient for me, O my God !” and again, “Give me, O Lord, Thy commandments, and command me according to Thy will!”

Retreat, then, in two words is, Rest and Labour. Rest, separation, recollection, silence. Labour, seeking the will of God, ascertaining the will of the infinite charity of Jesus towards us, and conforming ourselves thereto. You see that this labour and rest consist first in seeking God, in order that He may operate upon us ; and, secondly, in destroying in our selves everything that is not God. Sisters, enter on this labour with joy and generosity of purpose, and, believe me, you have much to obtain from it. Enter, too, on this rest with pleasure. Enter on it with Mary Immaculate, with your Blessed Mother, and, believe me, you shall draw therefrom lasting consolations.



Ravignan’s last retreat : given to the Carmelite Nuns of the monastery rue de Messine, Paris, in November, 1857 (1859) Author: Ravignan, Gustave François Xavier de Lacroix de, 1795-1858 Publisher London : Burns and Oates ; New York : Catholic Publication Society co Copyright Status NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT