Pope Francis asked theworkers at the Vatican (some 4000 of them) tomake a retreat,spend some time in prayer and renew themselves. He was concerned not only for thesecurity of their jobs, but also for their spiritualwelfare. They needed to have peace intheirheartswhichwouldbringjoytotheirwork.

InthefootstepsofFrancis.FollowingtheexampleofthePope,weatManresa,Pickeringdecidedtomakearetreatasastaff.Wehadoftenheardhowthe2000+retreatantswhocometoPickering,triedtoobtainthesamegracesthatSt. IgnatiushadexperiencedatMontserrat-Manresa.But itwouldaunique experience for our staff and auxiliary workers to experience the spirit of St.Ignatius. We would do this by going to Manresa, Spain. The work at our ManresaSpiritualityCentreattimesseemstobeabusinessenterprise.Weworryaboutthebottomdollarandtrytoberesponsibleinourexpenses.ManresaSpiritualityCentreisprimarilyanapostolate,tobringthemenandwomenwhocomeheretohaveanexperienceofGod–theGodwhohascarvedusonthepalmofGod’shand.(Isaiah49:16)

2325 Liverpool Road. Pickering, ON. L1X1V4 905-839-2864

TheEnvisagedGoal.Thegoalwas two-fold.Firsta spiritualgoal: Like theDisciples of Emmauswewantedourtoallowourheartstoburnin an encounterwith Jesus Christ. Thestaff here at Manresa, Pickering is adedicated group. The front ofZice,house-keeping and the kitchen havecontinually showed their care andconcernforthemen,womenandschoolstudentswhocomeheretospendsometime in peace and reZlection. But whowould care for these “shepherds” whocare for the people who come toManresa, Pickering? It was time, wespentsomeperiodasagroupinprayerand reZlection onwhatwewere doinghere.

Thesecondpurposeofthetripwasforthe staff to bond together as a groupevenmorecloselyasateam.

AtFaceValue WereceivedawarmwelcomefromFinaConchillo, at the front ofZice in Spain,whoisthecounterpartofFionaBertok,here at Manresa, Pickering.We had tomake several changes to the dates ofour stay in Spain to make it mostconducivetoourneeds.KimStates,ourchef/chiefintheKitchendidtheonlinebookingandhotelreservation.Itwasalot hard work and checking with theDirectortoseethatwewerewithinthebudget.WehadalreadyplannedthisinSeptemberof2015,butbecauseof thefall of the loonie,we had given up thehopesofmakingthetrip. ButIbelieve,Godhadotherplans.Atfacevalue,attheendofthedayandtrip, we achieved both the goals withZlying colours. The group had fun. Wehadtimetopray.Wehadtimeforquietre Z l ec t ion . We had t ime for acontemplation input each of the fourdaysatManresaSpain.

Prayer Themes

Themes: Weprayedonthefollowingthemes:

Day One: Mark 6:31. The Lord invited theDisciplestocomeawaytoadesertedplaceandrest.DayTwo:Matthew13andRomans1:20.Itwasthegracetoopenoureyessowecouldsee,andears thatwe couldhear, thewonders that theLorddidforus.Day Three: A Trip to Montserrat: ThecontemplationoftheTransZiguration.Wewentupahighmountain.LikeMoses,weaskedthegrace to see the face ofGod.We found this inthecareandconcernofeachother.Day Four: Journey from the mountains ofManresa to theplains ofBarcelona. The gracewas: Create a clean heart in me O God.Contemplation on Acts Ch. 1:1-11. “Yemen ofGalilee why do you stand looking up to theheavens.”

The group found time in the Manresa, Spaingardens, in the chapel, in the Cave ofManresa toreZlect on these themes. We were privileged tocelebrateMassintheCave.AlthoughitwasstiZlinghot–therewasasenseofsacredspaceandsomepricelessgracethateachoneexperiencedinone’sownheart.WecamedowntoBarcelonawithjoyfulhearts.

Basilica of Maria

Interior of Basilica

Manresa Cave

May they rest in peace

The Basilica: When St.Ignat ius came fromMontserrat to Manresa,he spent most of thosemonths in the Cave,which is now known asCova Ignasi . In theevenings,hewouldgototheBasilicadedicated toMary, known commonlyas “La Seu” where hewould sit at the Basilicadoor and listen to thevespers being sung. Onour Zirstdaywewent totheBasilicaandweweregreeted warmly by ther e c e p t i o n i s t . T h eentrance to the Basilicawas € 1, but this waswavedinourcase.

Therewereworksofart,w h i c h i n c l u d e daltarpieces of St. Mark,S t . Michael and St .Nicholas, theHoly Spiritand the Holy Trinitydating from the 14th tothe 16th century. Theywere worth a long timetoadmireandgrasp.

At the Basilicawe spentt ime , toge ther andi nd iv idua l ly i n t hesilenceofcontemplation.

The Cardener River.Saint Ignatius stay inManresa included aunique event that tookplace in front of riverCardoner.Therehehadavision, the so-called

‘enlightenment of riverCardoner’.TheSpaniardscall it Cardener, but it iscommonly known asCardoner by Jesuitsacrosstheworld.

PLACES VISITED IN MANRESA

Manresa Memories

ModusVivendi.AtManresa,Ignatiuslivedonthealmsthathedailybegged.Heneveratemeatnorpartookofwine, though they were offered him. On Sundays,however,heneverfasted,andifwinewereofferedhim,hedrankofitsparingly. His favourite place to pray was the cave on which the Centre of Spirituality is built at present. The experience felt by Saint Ignatius here would flourish later and would bear its fruit: “The book of the Spiritual Exercises.” We were fortunate to be sumptuously fed each day at Manresa, and that included a bottle of wine at each meal. Wine was cheaper than water, besides it brought cheer to our hearts.

Some disappointment: We had planned to visit thevarious places that were connected to the stay ofIgnatiusatManresasomeZivecenturiesago.Therewastheplacewherehehadaneight-dayexperienceofGod.ItiscalledtheChapeloftheRapture.Therewasaplacewhere a miracle apparently took place through theintercessionofIgnatius.ItiscalledtheWelloftheHen.TherewastheHospitalofSt.LucywhereIgnatiustookcare of the sick. Finally, there were the houses of theCaynellesandAmigantonSobrerrocaStreet.Unfortunately, everyone seems to take a holiday inAugust. Consequently,most of these placeswere shut.Aswewentfromoneplacetoanother,someonewouldsay: “Oh, it is closed” to which the group wouldrespond: “Because it isAugust.”Oranotherwould say,“It is August,” andwewould answer, “then itmust beclosed.”

Food at Manresa

Miracle of the hen in the well

The Chapel of the Rapture

The Smiling Pilgrims

Somehighlights. Among the many very deeply feltexperienceswere:1,The trip toMontserrat:Even thoughwedidnothaveaguide toexplain thevarious signiZicant things to view, wesplit up in groupsorwent individuallytotheChurch.Somestoodinalonglineto meet the “Morenetta” – as theblackened statue of our Lady ofMontserratiscalled.

2. The visit to the Cardoner. Again ingroups and as individuals, we spenttime watching the lazy waters of theCardoner Zlow at the bottom ofManresa,veryclosetoSt.Mark’schapelwhereIgnatiuswouldsometimesspendtimepraying.

3. The Cova Ignasi. It was low, and attimesclaustrophobic.Butyoucouldgoback Zive centuries and picture GodformingIgnatius, just likehe fashionedPaul at Damascus. “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name” Acts 9:15.

There were other highlights, but words would be too poor to adequately express these.

It is good for us to be here: In the words of St. Peter after the Transfiguration, we felt it was good for us to be here. However, like Peter, James and John, we had to descend from the Mountain. We were taken into Barcelona, where we spent the last four days of our trip. This was fun and frolic – equally good for soul and body. The main and only thing we visited as a group was the famous Sagrada Familia. It was worth every effort and cost, to see this magnificent Church still in its uncompleted form.

Sagrada Familia The Basílica of la Sagrada Familia is alarge Roman Catholic church inBarcelona, designed by Spanisharchitect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926).The church is a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site. Gaudí devoted his lastyears to theproject,andat the timeofhisdeathatage73in1926,lessthanaquarteroftheprojectwascomplete.Sagrada Fami l ia' s construct ionprogressed s lowly, i t resumedintermittent progress in the 1950s.Construction passed the midpoint in2010 with an anticipated completiondate of 2026, the centenary of Gaudí'sdeath

Trip to Montserrat

On the Third Day of our Stay at Manresa, we thought apilgrimagetoMontserratwouldbeamostconducivethingtodo.

IgnatiuswantedaradicalchangeinhislifeandheresolvedtofollowChrist. Withthisresolution,hewenttoMontserratandspent twodaysmakinga confessionof all his sins. Afterhisconfession,hespentthenightinprayer-asaknightinarms-beforeOurLadyofMontserrat.Attheendofhisprayer,helefthisswordwithourLadyanddecidedtospendtherestofhislife as a pilgrim doing penance. This would eventually leadhimtoManresa. IgnatiuswrotedownhisinsightsinwhatwenowknowastheSpiritualExercisesofSt.Ignatius.WevisitedMontserratwiththehopethatwewouldbetouchedwiththesamegraceexperiencedbyIgnatius.

We arrived at 11:00 and decided to leave by 3:00 each onegoingwith a companion to visit the Benedictine Church andpray.Theexperiencesweremarvellous, too intimate to sharehere.ButlikePeterattheTransZiguration,wefelt“itwasgoodtobehere.”Wehadhopedtoseeandhearthewonderfulboyschoir which is the rage at Montserrat, better than “OneDirection” – but like theusual refrain, “theywereonholiday,becauseitwasAugust.”Howeverthatgaveusmoretimetositin prayer and soak in the atmosphere. Closing our eyes weimaginedIgnatiusthereaboutZivehundredyearsago.Inspiteofthecrowds,therewasgeneralfeelingofdevotionandawe.The foodat the cafeteriawasvery reasonableandvery tasty.There was also a great variety – Zish, Zlesh and vegan.Refreshedwiththisrepast,wereturnedtoManresa.Therewecelebrated a Mass of thanksgiving for our safe trip and forgracesreceived.

Cable Car

The Morenetta- Black Madonna

Montserrat

patiently waiting for the train

Barcelona. In this beautiful city, we did nothaveaZixedagenda.SomewentontheHopOn,Hop Off buses to see the main sights ofBarcelona. Since our interests in the culturalaspects and museums were so different, weeachwent out ownway. However, each nightwe met at a Restaurant where we sat as afamilyandhadagoodmeal.

ThreeoutofthefournightsweremagniZicent.The third night we decide to do the “touristthing of Tapas and Paella.” It proved to berathersad.Thepaellawassoggyandsounlikethe pictures advertising it. The tapas weregood,someeventhought itwasexcellent.Butallinall,wegaveittwostars.The one redeeming feature at eachmealwasthe famous “Una Jarra de Sangria” – a Jug of

Sangria. It came liberally and we quaffed inequalmeasure.Sadly,itwasonlythelastnight,that we realised that there were differentvarieties: Red wine, White wine, Beer andChampagne Sangrias. But we made up inquantitywhatourignoranceleftuswantinginvariety.

Visiting Jerusalem: When the Jews left theTemple in Jerusalem, their common greetingwas“Sametime,sameplacenextyear.”WefeltthesamewayaboutManresa,MontserratandBarcelona. But there was one caveat: Not inAugust,because“itwillbeclosed.”Ifthereisacaptainorsetofcaptainswhowillorganise Zlights and hotel in Barcelona, thisseemstobeaworthwhileannualpilgrimagetogetthespiritofIgnatiusatManresa.