I soon discovered that I was far away from my so-beautiful, original baptismal purity. So I decided to align my life anew. I never left the Church, though I was a typical "gray Catholic." But now I felt the need to change my life.
The Spiritual Exercises of a 16th Century Basque Saint
The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola have since the 16th century brought peace and healing to generations of Catholics. I set out to search for them as all moderns would – on the Internet. By American standards, the place was not so far away. For Europeans the ride was certainly very long, as was my own way back to Christ.
When I saw the house for the first time, I felt very uncomfortable. It was early in the morning, gray and rain-driven. A big house, a little run down. I sat there in the rain on the large gravel parking lot surrounded by wooded hills. Fog lay over the whole area and I felt like I was in a Stephen King book.
Should I really go inside and introduce myself? I still have time to say goodbye to the whole project. But I am by nature one of those people who once I have begun, I work very hard and perform to an end. So I walked into in the house.
A nice older nun has greeted me warmly. She then asked if this was my first Ignatian Exercise; it was. So we went over the rules: no talking during the whole retreat, no cell phone and no computer. One can only talk with the priest during the Exercises. Let the Holy Spirit work in you.
No Talking, Please
OK, simple enough, I thought, though somewhat to my surprise these rules turned out to be in earnest. No "good morning" for breakfast. If you would like salt and pepper, you must indicate this by gesture only. In the event you need something urgently, you must write it on a piece of paper and give it to the nice nun, who will then address your concern. For me, this is not a big problem. I’m okay without conversation.
We began at noon on the first day, and I was surprised. First, we had lectures about God by a Jesuit who is very holy and passionate. The classes are divided into two sections. The first phase explains the doctrinal viewpoint and its implication for human life and the second section is then the life and actions of Jesus Christ. These two classes are in harmony.
After each three-hour class, we returned to our wooded cabins. Mine, which was wonderfully situated in the forest, was called ‘Cecilia,’ for the Saint of Music. Here, I began with a prayer and then reflected undisturbed about what I’d learned.
REGINA | 141