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“Because you know that the Lord loves you so much at your age, you must resolve to try your best to respond to His love by doing everything you can to please Him and by avoiding everything that might offend Him.”
- St. John Bosco to his students
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Dear Friends of the Daughters of Mary,
In October our Congregation held a retreat for young ladies at our Motherhouse in Round Top. Thirty-five young ladies between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five spent a few days at the convent with us. Our guests arrived on a Thursday afternoon. They were shown to their rooms and given a tour of the building before dinner.
After the meal, the Sisters and retreatants went to the chapel to sing the “Veni, Creator Spiritus” (“Come, Holy Ghost”) to ask God’s blessing on the retreat. The first conference then commenced in the classroom. This conference included instructions on how to make a good retreat and the rules to
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follow during retreat. The most difficult of these rules for most of the girls is the rule of silence. During the retreat, the girls are not permitted to speak to each other, but only to the priest in the confessional, to the retreat master in private, or to God in their heart. This silence from the distractions of the world helps the retreatant to focus on what is most important: God and the salvation of one’s soul.
On the first day of retreat, the girls were in the chapel at 6:45 for morning prayers and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This was followed by breakfast, a little quiet free time, and then a conference. A few times throughout the day, the Sisters sang portions of the Divine Office or a Sister read meditations aloud in the chapel while the girls followed along. The afternoon included another conference, Stations of the Cross, confessions, and Holy Hour with Rosary and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. |
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During lunch and dinner, a Sister read to the girls while they had their meal. The book was an interesting one relating stories about souls converted to the Faith through the mercy of God. After dinner, the girls again met in the classroom for a conference before night prayers and lights out at 10:00.
The retreat ended at noon on Sunday. In the afternoon the Sisters visited with the girls as they went for a hike, played games, related stories, and sang at the piano. |
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Importance of Prayer
During the retreat, the young ladies spent a number of hours each day in prayer. Lifting one’s mind and heart to God in prayer is an important part of any retreat so that one may obtain graces which enlighten the mind and strengthen the will.
However, prayer is important not only during a retreat. St. John Chrysostom says that “it is simply impossible to lead, without the aid of prayer, a virtuous life.” To lead a good life we need the help of prayer. Being busy, having responsibilities, and having little time to oneself are not reasons to pray less frequently - they are reasons to pray more often. In fact, the greater are the demands on our time, the greater should be our prayer life. The Cure of Ars said, “How many enemies to vanquish - the devil, the world, and ourselves. How many bad habits to overcome, how many passions to subdue, how many sins to efface! In so painful a situation, what remains to us, my children? The armor of the saints: prayer, that necessary virtue, indispensable to all Christians.”
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It’s not always possible for every person to make a retreat, but it is always possible to pray. Let us frequently lift our heart and mind to God, Who through prayer, as St. Rose of Viterbo says, “fills us with light, strength and consolation; and gives us a foretaste of the calm bliss of our heavenly home.”
In your prayers, please remember the Sisters. Be assured that we remember you and your intentions in our prayers.
In the Sacred Heart,
Mother Mary Bosco, F.M.
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