On May 11th I entered the gentle, mysterious reality of my personal retreat–days of solitude & silence with personal spiritual accompanyment. Nestled in the huge pines and clusters of spruce trees, Clarendon Wood at the Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Pickering, Ontario, provided me with a well equipped, restful cottage in which to pray, read and contemplate life’s mysteries.
To begin my time of prayer on Pentecost Sunday focussed my attention of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I asked myself: ‘What are my gifts?’ ‘How do I use them?’ ‘How will they develop?’ As I walked the beautiful grounds, I pondered these questions and let the answers surface ever so gently. I realized that it was time to pray formally for an hour. I went to the cottage, centred and began to pray in the Ignatian style of Contemplation.
The Call to Love led me to contemplate the Apparation of Jesus to His diciples on the shores of lake Tiberias (John 21). In the Ignatian style of contemplation I used my imagination to see the shores of the lake, picture the people like Peter & John & the other disciples and place myself in the scene. As Jesus asked Peter “Do you love me?” and Peter responded (three times), I heard the same questions and made my own response in a prayerful, silent way to my God. In my mind’s eye (my imagination) I watched what they were doing at this breakfast scene: Jesus called them ashore from fishing; He prepared some fish over a charcoal fire; He spoke to them . . . I prayerfully made my response.
[In Ignatian Contemplation the person praying in this format reads over the Scripture passage, sees the people involved, hears the words they are speaking and observes their actions. He or She draws spiritual fruit from pondering the passage. Sometimes, the person finds herself or himself in the scene, sitting at the fire or watching the action or responding to the questions. This method of prayer seems to draw up one’s affective response to the mystery in the Scripture.] [cf Puhl, Loyola Press, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius #101–109 for the guideslines of this method of prayer.]
My retreat continued for the next eight days with three one hour contemplative prayer periods (morning, afternoon & evening). Each period began with a few minutes of preparation time to select the passage and get ready to pray. Each one concluded with a time to write a review to record the salient points (graces) following the prayer. (This really means about 1& 1/4 hours.) As well each day I had a meaningful conversation with the person accomanying me on these days of prayer. Each day’s review led to the next day’s prayer after our spiritual dialogue flowing from my formal prayer periods, my spiritual reading (Bangert’s Claude Le Jaye & Alphonso Salmeron, two cofounders of the Society of Jesus with St. Ignatius Loyola) and times for rest and walks around the much-cared-for grounds.
The core of my retreat centered on the Following of Christ, the Second Week of the Spirtual Exercises of St. Ignatius. By contemplating different events in His public life (The sermon on the Mount, the cure of Peter’s mother-in-law, His rejection at Nazareth, His walking on the water, etc.) I came to know Jesus more deeply (a variety of insights and graces arose in me), to love him more dearly (my heart was moved) and to desire to follow Him more closely (living these graces at home will be the proof of the pudding). (If you read this, please say a wee prayer for me. Thanks)
George Leach, S.J. Director
The Jesuit Centre of Spirituality 