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Retreats: What Do You Look For?


Sister Rose Therese

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A site called Sacred Space -sorry ofhand don't know address - run by Irish Jesuits is worth looking at, they do online retreats and prayer at your computer, which is lovely. While everyone thinks you are beavering away at work you can take a few minutes out for God and some refreshment. It works for me.

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[quote name='Stacey' post='1394872' date='Sep 28 2007, 08:55 PM']A site called Sacred Space -sorry ofhand don't know address - run by Irish Jesuits is worth looking at, they do online retreats and prayer at your computer, which is lovely. While everyone thinks you are beavering away at work you can take a few minutes out for God and some refreshment. It works for me.[/quote]

[url="http://www.sacredspace.ie/"]Sacred Space.[/url]

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[quote name='Stacey' post='1394872' date='Sep 28 2007, 08:55 PM']A site called Sacred Space -sorry ofhand don't know address - run by Irish Jesuits is worth looking at, they do online retreats and prayer at your computer, which is lovely. While everyone thinks you are beavering away at work you can take a few minutes out for God and some refreshment. It works for me.[/quote]

[url="http://www.sacredspace.ie/"]Sacred Space.[/url]

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[quote name='Sister Rose Therese' post='1394704' date='Sep 28 2007, 10:44 AM']Oh good,
Thank you all so much.
But don't stop!
It is good that most of you seem to be in agreement about the main points. That should help us a lot.
Yes, I'll have to ask the Nashville Dominicans about there retreats. Good idea.

It also seems that the online retreat thing seems to be more of a fad than anything else. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)[/quote]

Part of my problem is the need to RETREAT from being online ... so online retreats for me personally are bad. :-). I think the info in an online retreat is good -- but I usually have to print pieces and take with.

God bless you in developing the retreat!

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Sister Rose Therese

Hm. I took a look at the Sacred Space site you listed. Thank you for that.
I just kind of breezed through it.
It looks to me rather like a short meditation. Perhaps the on-line retreat is just another name for the Minute meditation. Basically a short reflection, broken into separate pages or slides for you to go through.
Doesn't seem like something design to take the place of an actual retreat.
Am I getting the picture right?

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Adoration, adoration, adoration. Time spent before our Lord is the most important.

Also experiencing their daily life is good when discerning with that particular community. :)

Great questions by the way, Sister.

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[quote name='fides quarens intellectum' post='1394250' date='Sep 27 2007, 03:59 PM']personally, i think it is important to offer both "Come and See" retreats for those discerning religious life and the community, and unstructured retreats where for those further in their discernment who are discerning the actual community - thus, more time in prayer and with the sisters in their daily routine.[/quote]


I find that generally active communities do the "Come and See" retreats, while contemplatives just have to you come solo for a certain period of time (a couple days to a couple weeks) to see how they live.

Edited by Totus Tuus
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Sister Rose Therese

In summary:[list]
[*]follow Sisters' usual routine
[*]time for adoration
[*]time to speak with Sisters, mostly in the day to day routine
[*]length min. weekend, max. week
[*]date - spring break, weekend, other school breaks
[*]a few basic talks or conferences by the sisters about the basics of religious life, our community, or matters of the practice of the faith - depending on the group
[*]have good spiritual reading for the retreatants to choose from
[*]talk with the Nashville Dominicans about their program
[*]perhaps have two different available
[/list]Did I miss anything?

Edited by Sister Rose Therese
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Sister Rose Therese

[quote name='Totus Tuus' post='1395572' date='Sep 30 2007, 01:42 PM']I find that generally active communities do the "Come and See" retreats, while contemplatives just have to you come solo for a certain period of time (a couple days to a couple weeks) to see how they live.[/quote]

What we had done in the past was offer a long weekend "Emmaus Days" which was geared more to highshool age girls. There were a number of conferences on religious life, Mass, Confession, a few prayer services, and a lot of just fun activities. The Diocese did something similar for the boys. It has gotten to be rather burdensome and probably appealed to girls who were not seriously discerning. Might have helped teach them a bit about religious life and the faith in general.
For those who showed a serious interest, although they were invited to attend Emmaus days, they were also asked to just come spend time with us on their own. It was not something as formal as a retreat though.
Anyways we are trying to figure out how to rework this.

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VeniteAdoremus

Spending time on your own is very good to "come and see", but can be scary at first :) If you've already seen the community during a retreat it's easier.

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[quote name='Sister Rose Therese' post='1395929' date='Oct 1 2007, 08:41 AM']In summary:[list]
[*]follow Sisters' usual routine
[*]time for adoration
[*]time to speak with Sisters, mostly in the day to day routine
[*]length min. weekend, max. week
[*]date - spring break, weekend, other school breaks
[*]a few basic talks or conferences by the sisters about the basics of religious life, our community, or matters of the practice of the faith - depending on the group
[*]have good spiritual reading for the retreatants to choose from
[*]talk with the Nashville Dominicans about their program
[*]perhaps have two different available
[/list]Did I miss anything?[/quote]
I would add something outside.... this could be as simple as a rosary walk, outdoor recreation, or a trip to visit sisters involved in a nearby apostolate. Activities like this work a totally different side of the brain than conferences, conversations, and prayer!

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Mari Therese

1. JESUS!
2. Working alongside the sisters
3. Time to ask questions
4. Reflection
5. Fun
6. Good food :offtopic:

In the past, I start with meeting the sisters for a day and talk about discernment and their order. Then I might go for a 'come and see' weekend with other girls who are discerning. There is usually a set program of activities to get you thinking about religious life. If I'm still interested then I go for a few days for an apostolic experience. I ask tonnes of questions in between!

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Sister Rose Therese

OK, so some kind of outing - walking rosary, recreation or visit to apostolate.
Invite discerners to attend one such weekend before asking them to to come for a private visit, especially if they seem abit nervous or reluctant.

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Birgitta Noel

Perhaps a good look at the different opportunities for apostolic work that your particular order offers and a tour of where that happens. :))

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