CCHA Report, 10 (1942-1943), 107-115
The Importance of the Retreat Movement
in Nova Scotia
BY
EVANGELINE McNEIL
The Rev. Edward Garesche in his
book, Retreat Readings, states: "Any Christian work needs the
powerful assistance of prayer. The retreat movement is a movement of prayer.
The idea of the retreat, in its essential elements, dates from the very
beginning of the Catholic Church and may be found even in the lives of the
Saints and of the prophets of the Old Testament. The Holy Men of old used to
seek in solitude, penance and prayer, the strength which they needed to perform
their holy mission. Who does not remember the long and solitary vigils of the
prophet Elias during which he communed with God? Our Lord himself at the very
beginning of His public life, made a retreat of forty days in the desert,
during which He prayed and fasted to give us an example that we should, from
time to time, retire into solitude and refresh our souls with holy reflections
and communion with God."
In the life of the early Church
hermits and monks of the desert imitated the example of Christ by retiring
altogether from the world and living in solitude. The Fathers of the Church, in
their homilies to the faithful, advised them to withdraw from the world from
time to time, at least for a few days, and to give themselves to holy thoughts
and prayers. Thus the practice of making retreats is as old as the Christian
Church.
Some of the pioneers of
retreats were St. Vincent de Paul; the founder of the Oratory, M. de Berulle;
and M. Olier, the founder of Saint Sulpice. As the result of these efforts the
making of retreats by the clergy, from time to time, became an established
custom.
Toward the middle of the 17th
century the founding of houses of retreat for laymen began to be actively
undertaken in France. Such houses were erected at Vannes, Brittany, Rennes,
Nantes, Rouen, Paris, Dijon, Nancy and in the most of the other large cities of
France. Quite often retreat houses for women were erected nearby and a special
society called the Congregation of the Ladies of Retreat was formed to promote
retreats for women. Houses were established at Rome, Perugia, Ancona and Milan;
in Sicily, at Palermo, Mazzara, Messina, Termini and other places; in Spain at
Barcelona and Geroma; in Germany at Munich and Prague; in Poland at Vilna; In
Mexico at Mexico City and Pueblo; and in China, Canada, Chile.
In South America one of the
most extraordinary developments of the retreat movement was the work of a woman
in Argentina and Paraguay, Marie Antonia de San-José de La Paz. Through her
efforts, aided by various religious orders, and the secular clergy, she
succeeded in having retreats given to nearly a hundred thousand persons.
During the last thirty or forty
years the retreat movement for laymen has spread widely. Many retreat houses
have been built and a number of schools and seminaries have thrown open their
doors in summer to retreat makers. The religious orders and congregations of
men - Franciscans, Dominicans, Passionists, Redemptorists, .Carthusians,
Cistercians, Lazarists, Eudists, Brothers of Mary, Fathers of the Divine Word,
Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul and Brothers of the Christian Schools, not to
mention others have been active in promoting retreats. By the year 1901 the
Jesuits were conducting twelve houses of retreat in French territory. By 1911,
they had seven houses in Belgium, others in Spain, Austria, Italy, England,
Canada, Holland, Columbia, Chile and the United States, as well as Australia,
India, Ceylon, China and Madagascar.
One of the great promoters of
retreat programs was the Rev. Arnold Janssen, the founder of the Society of the
Divine Word. He established the Mission House of St. Michael at Steyl in
Holland, and from 1877 to 1914 about forty-four thousand laymen and six
thousand seven hundred priests made retreats there, while in a second retreat
house in the same city, in the Convent of the Sisters Servants of the Holy
Ghost, fifty thousand women made retreats from the year 1893 to the outbreak of
the Great War.
The German Jesuits established
a fringe of retreat houses in Southern Holland from 1894 to 1919. Two thousand
five hundred seventy-five retreats were given to one hundred twenty-eight
thousand seven hundred fifty persons of all grades of society. From 1896 to
1921 the retreat house at Feldkirch accommodated thirty-five thousand one
hundred eighty-five men among whom Pope Pious XI was numbered on three separate
occasions when he made retreats while he was Monsignor A. Ratti. Retreat houses
for women were established at Trier in 1889 and 1901. The Sisters of St. Joseph
and the Dominican Nuns established one in 1892. A famous place of pilgrimage in
honor of Our Blessed Mother at Allotting is known for its retreat house
conducted by Capuchin Fathers and multitudes of men and women made retreats
there.
The first suggestion of
Diocesan retreats came from Holland. With two and one quarter million Catholics
living in a small territory eleven retreat houses existed. It is said that
between sixteen and seventeen thousand men and eleven thousand and fifteen
thousand women made retreats. Parish clergy promoted them with the
encouragement and direction of the bishops. The Bishop of Munster drew plans
for regular recruiting of retreats and established parish funds so that the
poor might go and make retreats.
In the United States today
there are numerous retreat houses and new ones are added to cities of large
populations every year. The Jesuits, Redemptorists, Dominicans and secular
clergy, and others, carry on retreat work. The Cenacle Nuns and Sisters of the
Atonement are regarded highly for this work. Retreat activities are carried on
by the laity and Washington, D. C., has a very active association under the
direction of the Rev. John Spence.
The people of Canada may well
be proud of their efforts in the retreat field. The Archbishop of Ottawa, the
Most Reverend Alexandre Vachon, D.D., wrote in the Proceedings of the' First
Canadian Retreat Congress in Ottawa, August 15-17, 1941: "It is most
heartening for the pastor of a diocese to see a group of women animated by the
love of God, take from their spare time a casual day to go apart in a quiet
place where in prayer and meditation and intercourse with Our Dear Lord and His
Blessed Mother, they work first for their own sanctification so as to be able
to spread around them a good odor of Christ filled with a new zeal to
reChristianize the world."
In replying to letters about
the Retreat Movement, in Nova Scotia the Rev. Dr. Curran quoted the words of a
pamphlet written as a Souvenir Booklet of St. Patrick's Church, Digby, Nova
Scotia, and said:
"Among diocesan works in Halifax few have been so productive
of consoling fruit as the Closed Retreats for men and women. Whilst part-time
retreats were in existence in the diocese for many years, the year 1925
witnessed the inauguration of three official Closed Retreat Groups. In Halifax
St. Patrick's Alumnae Association sponsored a retreat during Holy Week of 1925.
During the summer of the same year the first organized group meeting at the
Convent of the Sacred Heart went through its series of Spiritual Exercises and
about the same time Father McMahon, S.J., was preaching the first men's retreat
at the Holy Heart Seminary. Thus three distinct retreat bodies came into
existence at Halifax and have been conducting annual retreats ever since."
Mother Flora McDonnell will be
remembered as the religious who inaugurated the Closed Retreat Movement at the
Convent of the Sacred Heart. After a beginning with retreats for working girls,
provision is now made at the convent for retreats for High School girls, nurses
and teachers and for Catholic women generally. The convent retreats led to the
formation of the St. Madeline Sophie Retreat Association. This association has
its own officers and a simple set of rules. It exists for the purpose of
promoting and sustaining interest in the Closed Retreat Movement.
St. Patrick's Girl's Alumnae
began the Retreat Movement under the able leadership of Sister Mary Michael,
then stationed at St. Patrick's Convent, Halifax, in the year 1925. At that
time the retreats were held during Holy Week but now they take place around
Labor Day week end. Whilst under the auspices of St. Patrick's Girls' Alumnae
this second unit of women's retreats is diocesan in scope, any Catholic girl or
woman being heartily welcome. These retreats are held at beautiful Mount St.
Vincent, overlooking the cool waters of Bedford Basin. Miss Hide Burke will
long be remembered as an efficient secretary of the St. Patrick's group. In
1939, retreatants accustomed to meet at Mount St. Vincent were organized into
the Mount St. Vincent Retreat Association.
The third retreat body is that
of the men. The late Rt. Rev. William Foley was actively instrumental in the
launching of closed retreats for laymen in Halifax. With the kind approval of
Archbishop McCarthy the first retreat for men was held at the spacious quarters
of Holy Seminary during the summer of 1925. From that year closed retreats for
men have gone an uninterruptedly. Beginning with one retreat a year, branching
later on into two retreats; now each summer three retreats are held regularly,
one of these being principally for young men.
During the course of a retreat
conducted by the Rev. John Knox the Halifax Layman's Retreat Association was
formed. The late Judge Wallace was appointed its first President. At his demand
Judge Carrol succeeded to that post. The genial Judge has held this office ever
since (for 15 years).
The Halifax Layman's Retreat
Association has been faithful to its objective, meeting regularly in Advent and
early in May. This Retreat Association, in large measure through its energetic
secretaries, has kept the retreat spirit alive until today the Halifax group of
men's retreats is one of the most active in Eastern Canada. Men who have
distinguished themselves as secretaries of the association are the late
Frederick Cummings, Frank Wallace, John A. Walker, Dr. E. Genister, the late
Gerald Hayes, Harold Bartlow, Harold Coleman, John Dickie and William Power.
Not satisfied with the Annual
Retreat all three retreat units in Halifax conduct at least two recollection
afternoons each year. These recollection periods are in conformity with the
best developments of the Closed Retreat Movement in other important centres of
Catholicity. On recollection afternoon, invariably on Sunday, the men and
women, each group at their respective institutions, go through the exercises of
a miniature retreat. Usually from three until five o'clock these recollection
reunions take the participants through the exercises of a cross section of an
actual retreat. Recitation of the rosary, way of the cross, silent periods for
introspection, examination of conscience principally in regard to the keeping
of retreat resolutions, preparation for spiritual activities: until the next
retreat reunion, a special sermon preached by various priests in turn, and
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament constitute the generality of the
exercises. Sometimes a spiritual reading is added.
These recollection afternoons
may justly be regarded as one of the happiest flowerings of the Closed Retreat
Movement in Halifax. When men and women purposely sacrifice time twice a year
for the purpose of returning to the spirit of the annual midsummer retreat it
is an evident sign of their sincere desire to aim at fervor in the practice of
their religious life. Lay apostles of the highest type may be expected from
such earnest men and women.
The late Archbishop Thomas
O'Donnell had all three retreat units in Halifax brought under central
direction under a Diocesan Director. The Diocesan Director of Catholic Action
has been the representative of the Archbishop in charge of all three branches
of retreat groups ,operating in the Halifax district. It has been the duty of
the Director to contact all retreat groups during their annual summer closed
retreats and at all of the afternoons of recollection. The aims, principles and
means of Catholic Action or the Lay Apostolate under the direction of the
Hierarchy form the theme predominating at these contactual talks.
The preachers of the Summer
Retreats and the priests speaking at the afternoons of Recollection are all
appointed under the supervision of the Diocesan Director.
Thanks to the Closed Retreat
Movement hundreds of men and women (in the aggregate over 4,500) in and around
Halifax have caught the ideal spirit of the lay apostolate, retiring periodically
from the world in order to become impregnated with the higher spirit of
personal holiness and to increase the fervor that makes for an energetic
apostolate. It is edifying in the extreme to witness the deep religious spirit
with which professional men and women and others, leaders in their respective
walks of life, make their annual retreat.
The religious in charge of the
Monastery of the Good Shepherd, the Convent of the Sacred Heart and Mount St.
Vincent permit individual women and girls to make a private closed retreat at
any time of the year when other big retreats are not in progress at these
institutions.
The Retreat Movement in Halifax
will not attain full maturity until permanent Retreat Homes, one for men and
the other for women, will have been built. All friends of closed retreats are
asked to co-operate so that the day may arrive when a permanent Retreat Home or
Retreat Homes will be listed among the social works of the Halifax Archdiocese.
Mother Agnes Donohoe of the
Convent of the Sacred Heart, Halifax, Nova Scotia, replying for Mother Chisholm
who has charge of retreats at the Convent, said:
"Retreat work was taken up by our
Mother Foundress shortly after the Society was founded and it is given in our
Constitutions as one of our works. At first of course the retreats were for our
Children of Mary, and opportunity was given for private retreats. In Halifax
retreats were given to the Children of Mary from time to time and to the
Sodality of St. Anne (for married women) and to the Consoles of Mary (unmarried
women) though the latter were not closed retreats until 1925. From that year
on, one or two were given every summer, at first to the Consolers and their
friends and later to any who wished to come. On December 12th, 1932, Mother
Flora McDonnell initiated "The Saint Madeline Sophie Retreat
Association" most of the members being Consolers. There was a flourishing
Barat Retreat Association at our Montreal Convent which served in some way as a
model for ones. For several years we held a retreat for High School Girls at
the end of June but this was dropped later and only two were held, one in
August, the other over Labor Day which is the more popular.
Retreats open at 9.30 P.M. and close after supper on the second or third day to
give the retreatants time to return punctually to their occupations. An annual
retreat is part of the routine of many women now. Newcomers say that they will
return the following year and bring others. The members of the Association
pledge themselves to make an annual retreat and to urge others to do the same.
They hold four recollections afternoons (Sundays) every year and also raise
funds to help the carrying on of the work of retreats.
Mother Flora McDonnell was born at Chatham, Ontario, in 1871, and entered our
Society in 1893. In 1903 she came to Halifax, where she worked until her death,
June 3, 1933. She taught the First Grade in College Street School, and was Art
teacher at the Convent where she frequently taught a Religion class. She
instructed a large number of converts. In a suburb of Boston there were thirty
Catholic families who owed the Faith to her as she instructed the mothers. She
was very zealous, thoughtful and considerate with a great deal of self
sacrifice and a power of organization. Mother McDonnell died after a short
illness in 1933. A Grotto of our Lady of Lourdes has been erected on the
grounds of the Sacred Heart Convent to the memory of Mother McDonnell in
recognition of her invaluable work for the retreat movement.
Dr. Curran, the Director of the Retreat Movement in Halifax, never fails to
come to each retreat to address the ladies and encourage them."
Sister Margaret Theresa, in
charge of retreat work at the College of Mount St. Vincent, Rockingham, Halifax
Co., Nova Scotia, said:
"The closed Retreat Movement for the
Laity began in Halifax at Mount Saint Vincent when the Alumnae of Saint
Patrick's Girls' High School held a retreat at the Mount from Holy Thursday
until Easter Sunday. There was an attendance of over one hundred. This became
an annual affair but for various reasons the time was changed to the late
summer, over the Labor Day week end. In 1935 these retreats originally for
Alumnae were open to all women of the diocese, or even from further points, who
wished to make a retreat. In 1934 a second retreat was held for girls of high
school age. This has proven quite a success. The combined average attendance at
the retreats yearly is about one hundred and twenty. In 1939 The Saint Vincent
Retreat Association was established. Its members were to be those who made
retreats at Mount Saint Vincent. A meeting is held in the spring, one in
midsummer to set the campaign under way, and two Recollection Periods, fall and
spring complete the year's programme.
Retreatants are usually from Halifax and its suburbs, but frequently several
came from a greater distance. Women in the Services, from various parts of
Canada, are glad to have the opportunity of making a retreat.
Our retreats are usually three days. For the past two years we have been
obliged to shorten them to two days, but this is not to be a permanent
arrangement. This year we shall hold our nineteenth retreat. I am sorry I have
not more statistics right on hand but would be safe in saying that over two thousand
have had the spiritual benefits which only a retreat can give."
Mother St., Thomas, Superior
Mount St. Bernard's College, Antigonish, said:
"Lay retreats have been held in the
diocese of Antigonish during the past two years and are well attended. They are
under the auspices of the C.Y.O. of which organization Rev. M. A. Mc. Lellan of
the staff of St. Francis Xavier University is the diocesan director.
The men's retreats have been conducted by the former Pastor of Antigonish who
is now the Most Rev. J. R. McDonald, Bishop of Peterborough, and by Rev. W.
Roberts, P. P. of Tracadie, N. S.
The girls' retreats have been held at Mount St. Bernard College, and were
conducted by Rev. M. A. McLellan and Rev. P. J. Nicholson, both of the staff of
St. Francis Xavier University.
The Most Reverend P. A. Bray,
Bishop of Saint John, New Brunswick, kindly asked the Reverend J. Burns to make
a reply on the Retreat Movement in his diocese. Father Bums sent the following
article about the Retreat Movement at Torryburn, New Brunswick:
NEARLY
3.000 HAVE ATTENDED THE 126 RETREATS
HELD AT VILLA MADONNA
Since July 10, 1931, when the Retreat
House at Torryburn was opened, 126 Retreats have been made with an attendance
of 2898. Six Days of Recollection were held also with an attendance of 165.
Among the groups sponsoring Retreats were the Catholic Women's League, Knights
of Columbus, Holy Name Societies, teachers, nurses, Legion of Mary, Catholic
Youth Organization, Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, high school graduates, business
and professional men and business and professional women, as well as the more
general classes for men and women.
The Archbishop of Halifax, the
Most Rev. J. T. McNally, expressed so beautifully the success of the movement
in a Nova Scotia diocese:
"Your request for a few words from me
outlining my 'impressions of a retreat' would scarcely call for a panegyric on
the closed retreat movement, for that is the special purpose of your own paper
for the Catholic Historical Society; nor yet for the working of that movement
in Nova Scotia, since you tell me that Very Reverend Dr. C. F. Curran has fully
informed you upon that.
It can mean only an expression of approval and encouragement, and that I am
more than willing to give. So greatly do I appreciate the work of closed
retreats that I have been elaborating plans for a building adapted to that
purpose, which plans I hope to put into effect ii connection with other
building schemes now awaiting the possibility of realization after the world's
present troubles find surcease.
In its operation I should like to see the retreat house open and available to
all, even the poorest of our people, as its Founder had them related to His
precursor, 'the poor have the them' : I say this, because most of my relations
well-to-do beyond that.
As to the good effects of retreats I have the fullest conviction based on ample
observation, Union who the Divine giver of all spiritual wealth comes most
intimately when we imitate His example of periods of silence, solitude and
heavenly contemplation.
A devoted and assiduous frequenter of retreats is often in my memory as an
example of their effect. He was a friend of mine in Germany who made at least
three retreats during the year. Often have I seen the tears trickle down his
bearded cheeks when he described to me the wickedness of the Nazi rulers of his
unfortunate country.
I fear I have far exceeded the scope of your wishes in this contribution to
your paper. May I in conclusion apply to the closed retreat the lines of
Richard Cracow:
'It is an armoury of light;
Let constant use but keep it bright,
You'll find it yields
To holy hands and humble hearts
More swords and shields
Than sin hath snares, or hell hath darts.'
The Encyclical Mene Nostra of
Pius XI was published at the end of the special Holy Year proclaimed on the
occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the late Holy Father's ordination to the
priesthood and it impressed the world that to reflect on man's relation to God
and sanctification of his immortal soul is the chief necessity in life.
We appreciate great things in
life especially when we are in the danger of losing them. Dr. Hall in the
Proceedings of the first Canadian Laywomen's Retreat Congress expressed well
the need of Closed Retreats for our country. The threat of Nazi aggression has
awakened the virtue of patriotism in all of us. Our public leaders in the past
year or so have made unexampled declarations to the effect that the British
Empire and the democracies are fighting not only for economic preservation, not
only for political independence and liberty but also for greater stakes; that
we are fighting for that way of life which recognizes not only the dignity of
man, but also the immeasurable value of Christianity. We are engaged in a life
and death struggle with violent men who wish to forcibly impose a pagan system
of life on the whole world. Prayer and the Closed Retreat will be a safe weapon
to- use during this struggle. Closed Retreats offer the opportunity to bring
home to all Canadians that the Retreat Movement contains the seed of all that
will safeguard the Christian and democratic ideals for which we are fighting
today. These words were said by His Excellency Bishop Nelligan who is now
Brigadier in His Majesty's Service and Principal Chaplain to the Canadian
Forces.
In 1939 there were seventy-nine
Retreat Houses for men in the United States, twenty-three for women, and
eighteen Seasonal Houses. Now there are a few more. "Let all prayers of
the United Nations be offered each day that the day may arrive in this fair
country of our's when one or more permanent Retreat Houses will arise as
citadels of prayer in every diocese from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from
these lay seminaries will graduate men and women famous for their love of God
and noted for their spirit of apostolate". A Retreatant, after a three-day
Retreat, wrote and dedicated this poem to His Excellency Bishop Cody of
Victoria:
CLOSED RETREAT
Three hallowed days,
Three days of ne'er to be forgotten peace,
Of worldly cares and petty strife, surcease,
And senseless craze.
Subdued
by will,
The spirit was in quietude serene;
And incense sweet suffused the silent scene
As time stood still.
Beneath
that roof
Living was praying and to pray was life,
The Sacred Presence in the very air was rife
With profound proof.
Oft
in the day,
The Bishop spoke of Love, and Truth, and Grace,
The earnest zeal illumed his shining face
For the souls' sway.
Ah!
then, too soon,
The rarest moment of that hour had passed,
The knee was bent, the head bowed for the last,
The final boon.
The
heart so blest
Went forth, eyes bright with unshed tears,
The hymns of praise still ringing in its ears,
Amid unrest.
It
stepped again
Into the garish streets' disturbing glare,
The rush, the clamour, and the cheap fanfare
Of heedless men.
"O
Lord!" it cried,
"If this be life, then send me far away,
Where peace and happiness remain, always
Let me abide."
The yearning soul
Turned in a silent lane, it knew not why;
A steeple cross ascending to the sky
Did it console.
A tear fell, then
The ruby glimmer of the lonely vigil light
That heart distressed, within, it did invite
To peace again.