By Nicholas Wansbutter, Esq.
About a month ago I promised to post a follow-up to my experiences at the Ignatian Spiritual Retreat that I attended at the end of February. It's taken me a while to get my thoughts down partly because of being busy, but also because I had to digest what occurred in my soul. In short, it was a very significant experience for my spiritual life and one that I was in dire need of -- as I think, upon reflection, we all are, which is why such retreats are recommended yearly or as often as possible. Before I attended the retreat, I held that one every five years ought to be the norm for Catholic men from an academic perspective. Now, having experienced such a retreat, I can say with more conviction and vigour that this is a necessity.
It is difficult to explain what it is that's so important in a short article, since it seems to me that it's something that must be experienced to be understood. The purpose of such a retreat is to "reorient" the soul towards God and this it does. It's not only an opportunity to get away from the world and its stresses and distractions and to commune with God, but it is a most effective tool to re-evaluate the direction one's life is taking and to take corrective measures.
To give an idea of how this is done, here is a sample daily schedule:
0615 Rise
0640 Morning Prayers and Meditation
0720 Mass
0820 Breakfast
0930 Points of Meditation (preached by Father), followed by meditation (see below)
1100 Rosary
1130 Instruction (Apologetics/Discernment of Spirits)
1230 Dinner
Visit to Blessed Sacrament
Free time
1445 Points of Meditation
1645 Points of Meditation
1800 Supper
1900 Stations of the Cross - followed by free time
2030 Points of Meditation (meditation to be done next morning after Morning Prayers)
Evening prayers
2200 Great Silence/Lights Out
This was how the retreat was conducted at St. Raphael's Priory, in any event. There could be variations from one Retreat Master to the next, but I expect that the differences would not be great. The "Points of Meditation" consisted of conferences given by the retreat master that lasted about an hour and a half to two hours (although I purposely avoided looking at my watch when we were dismissed to our rooms to do the meditations, so I'm not certain) followed by the meditation which lasted until about ten minutes before the next item on the schedule.
The "topics" of meditation are all laid out by St. Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises and by Fr. Vallet in his modification. I won't go into detail, since the instructions indicate that the retreatant should be ignorant of what is coming next so that he will focus more on the current meditation. But it does follow a very discernable and profitable process of meditation on one's own sinfulness, and on the four last things (building up to making a general confession on the third day), then going through the life of our Lord mirroring the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.
To do an Ignatian retreat according to Fr. Vallet's method, one requires the book Christian Warfare (available from Angelus Press). It lays out all of the various meditations with summarized instructions for each, however I do not recommend doing these meditations on one's own without a retreat master (for reasons which I hope are obvious), and a traditionalist Catholic priest at that -- probably S.S.P.X since I have been unable to find information on whether the F.S.S.P., I.C.R. or others use these Ignatian exercises. But to give an idea of how the Ignatian method of meditation works, here is the format we followed:
How to Meditate According to the Spiritual Exercises:
1. For the space of a Pater: while standing, make a sign of the cross with holy water and put yourself in the PRESENCE OF GOD. Then, kneeling down, your forehead to the floor, make an act of reverence or humility. Then, say the preparatory prayer:
"O my God and Sovereign Lord, I beg of Thee the grace that all my intentions, actions, and operations may be directed solely to the praise and service of Thy Divine Majesty."
2. While kneeling, recall using your memory the mental representation of the place given for the meditation, the grace to ask for, and the points explained by the Retreat Master.
3. Then make an effort with the intelligence to understand these points.
4. Then comes that which should occupy the greater part of the meditation, using the will in a heart-to-heart conversation with God insisiting on the grace to ask for. Also pray to the Blessed Virgin, the Angels, and the Saints. If distracted, go back to #2.
5. At the ring of three bells (controlled by the Retreat Master) pray the final colloquies (which vary from meditation to meditation, but often include the Ave, Pater, and Anima Christi).
6. Last, mark in a notebook what took place during the meditation (there is meditation examination in Christian Warfare).
The free time was spent taking care of personal grooming (not enough time for a shower in the morning), but we were encouraged to spend it profitably by walking about the neighbourhood speaking with God, by reading the numerous excellent handouts that Father provided us as intervals, to read the gospels, or review previous exercises.
During the instructions, we were introduced (in addition to apologetics materials) to some themes common to Jesuit spirituality that I was somewhat familiar with owing to my time spent at a Jesuit high school as a young man. There is firstly the concept of "inordinate attachments", i.e., those attachments that are not ordered towards God. Then there is the discernment of spirits that I mentioned earlier, which involves examination of experiences of "consolation" and "desolation". I don't have time to explain these here, although the words speak for themselves somewhat. One important rule under discerning spirits, is that one ought never to make a change when he is experiencing desolation.
By the end of the retreat, the retreatants are expected to make a resolution that they will undertake to ammend their life. This is of course after examining through meditations our faults, the things we are attached to, and making a generous offering of ourselves to God. One resolution may not seem like a lot, but I think the purpose is to ensure that we stick to it and don't overload ourselves. The resolution must be specific, concrete, and achievable; for example, mine was to do 15 minutes of spiritual reading every day after the children are in bed and chores are done, but before I partake in any recreation. The specificity works.
As a final note, one of the many fruits of this retreat for me, came from some almost parenthetical comments that came from the retreat master about the disunity of the traditionalist movement. He noted the unfortunate state of affairs where, aside even from the divisions of "motu v. S.S.P.X v. sedevacantist", our efforts are scattered about and when not redundant and duplicating work/effort, are inadvertently competing. Especially given the meditations on "inordinate attachments", this struck me and I could see that I am attached to certain "pet projects" like this blog and am now looking for ways to consolidate my efforts with others for the greater good. We shall see how that ultimately plays out.
Posted on the Feast of the Annunciation, a.D. MMVIII
About a month ago I promised to post a follow-up to my experiences at the Ignatian Spiritual Retreat that I attended at the end of February. It's taken me a while to get my thoughts down partly because of being busy, but also because I had to digest what occurred in my soul. In short, it was a very significant experience for my spiritual life and one that I was in dire need of -- as I think, upon reflection, we all are, which is why such retreats are recommended yearly or as often as possible. Before I attended the retreat, I held that one every five years ought to be the norm for Catholic men from an academic perspective. Now, having experienced such a retreat, I can say with more conviction and vigour that this is a necessity.
It is difficult to explain what it is that's so important in a short article, since it seems to me that it's something that must be experienced to be understood. The purpose of such a retreat is to "reorient" the soul towards God and this it does. It's not only an opportunity to get away from the world and its stresses and distractions and to commune with God, but it is a most effective tool to re-evaluate the direction one's life is taking and to take corrective measures.
To give an idea of how this is done, here is a sample daily schedule:
0615 Rise
0640 Morning Prayers and Meditation
0720 Mass
0820 Breakfast
0930 Points of Meditation (preached by Father), followed by meditation (see below)
1100 Rosary
1130 Instruction (Apologetics/Discernment of Spirits)
1230 Dinner
Visit to Blessed Sacrament
Free time
1445 Points of Meditation
1645 Points of Meditation
1800 Supper
1900 Stations of the Cross - followed by free time
2030 Points of Meditation (meditation to be done next morning after Morning Prayers)
Evening prayers
2200 Great Silence/Lights Out
This was how the retreat was conducted at St. Raphael's Priory, in any event. There could be variations from one Retreat Master to the next, but I expect that the differences would not be great. The "Points of Meditation" consisted of conferences given by the retreat master that lasted about an hour and a half to two hours (although I purposely avoided looking at my watch when we were dismissed to our rooms to do the meditations, so I'm not certain) followed by the meditation which lasted until about ten minutes before the next item on the schedule.
The "topics" of meditation are all laid out by St. Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises and by Fr. Vallet in his modification. I won't go into detail, since the instructions indicate that the retreatant should be ignorant of what is coming next so that he will focus more on the current meditation. But it does follow a very discernable and profitable process of meditation on one's own sinfulness, and on the four last things (building up to making a general confession on the third day), then going through the life of our Lord mirroring the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.
To do an Ignatian retreat according to Fr. Vallet's method, one requires the book Christian Warfare (available from Angelus Press). It lays out all of the various meditations with summarized instructions for each, however I do not recommend doing these meditations on one's own without a retreat master (for reasons which I hope are obvious), and a traditionalist Catholic priest at that -- probably S.S.P.X since I have been unable to find information on whether the F.S.S.P., I.C.R. or others use these Ignatian exercises. But to give an idea of how the Ignatian method of meditation works, here is the format we followed:
How to Meditate According to the Spiritual Exercises:
1. For the space of a Pater: while standing, make a sign of the cross with holy water and put yourself in the PRESENCE OF GOD. Then, kneeling down, your forehead to the floor, make an act of reverence or humility. Then, say the preparatory prayer:
"O my God and Sovereign Lord, I beg of Thee the grace that all my intentions, actions, and operations may be directed solely to the praise and service of Thy Divine Majesty."
2. While kneeling, recall using your memory the mental representation of the place given for the meditation, the grace to ask for, and the points explained by the Retreat Master.
3. Then make an effort with the intelligence to understand these points.
4. Then comes that which should occupy the greater part of the meditation, using the will in a heart-to-heart conversation with God insisiting on the grace to ask for. Also pray to the Blessed Virgin, the Angels, and the Saints. If distracted, go back to #2.
5. At the ring of three bells (controlled by the Retreat Master) pray the final colloquies (which vary from meditation to meditation, but often include the Ave, Pater, and Anima Christi).
6. Last, mark in a notebook what took place during the meditation (there is meditation examination in Christian Warfare).
The free time was spent taking care of personal grooming (not enough time for a shower in the morning), but we were encouraged to spend it profitably by walking about the neighbourhood speaking with God, by reading the numerous excellent handouts that Father provided us as intervals, to read the gospels, or review previous exercises.
During the instructions, we were introduced (in addition to apologetics materials) to some themes common to Jesuit spirituality that I was somewhat familiar with owing to my time spent at a Jesuit high school as a young man. There is firstly the concept of "inordinate attachments", i.e., those attachments that are not ordered towards God. Then there is the discernment of spirits that I mentioned earlier, which involves examination of experiences of "consolation" and "desolation". I don't have time to explain these here, although the words speak for themselves somewhat. One important rule under discerning spirits, is that one ought never to make a change when he is experiencing desolation.
By the end of the retreat, the retreatants are expected to make a resolution that they will undertake to ammend their life. This is of course after examining through meditations our faults, the things we are attached to, and making a generous offering of ourselves to God. One resolution may not seem like a lot, but I think the purpose is to ensure that we stick to it and don't overload ourselves. The resolution must be specific, concrete, and achievable; for example, mine was to do 15 minutes of spiritual reading every day after the children are in bed and chores are done, but before I partake in any recreation. The specificity works.
As a final note, one of the many fruits of this retreat for me, came from some almost parenthetical comments that came from the retreat master about the disunity of the traditionalist movement. He noted the unfortunate state of affairs where, aside even from the divisions of "motu v. S.S.P.X v. sedevacantist", our efforts are scattered about and when not redundant and duplicating work/effort, are inadvertently competing. Especially given the meditations on "inordinate attachments", this struck me and I could see that I am attached to certain "pet projects" like this blog and am now looking for ways to consolidate my efforts with others for the greater good. We shall see how that ultimately plays out.
Posted on the Feast of the Annunciation, a.D. MMVIII
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