St Ignatius of Loyola received in 1533 the Spiritual Exercises directly from the hand of Our Blessed Mother, these salutary exercise, which in their complete form are preached over a period of thirty days are condensed into a short 5 day retreat here at St Pius X Retreat House.

During these few “Days of Grace,” retreatants exercise their intellect, memory and will, by meditating upon their purpose and goal in life, which is to glorify God and save their soul, and upon the mysteries of the life, death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, And they will at once be convinced that they must first conquer themselves so that Christ may live in them, according to the words of St. Paul: “With Christ I am nailed to the Cross,” and I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2 19-20)

You converted recently. You thirst to learn more about the Catholic faith that is now at the centre of your life. You want to learn how to live as a good Christian in this corrupted world. Come to the five days retreats of St. Ignatius. You will get the straight answers you are looking for.

You are burdened with sin, and you don’t know how to deal with it. We do have the answer for you: The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. There, you will find the strength and the weapons for victory.

You have been Catholic for a long time, even for your whole life. Now you feel that the practice of your religion is becoming a routine. At times, you even have some doubts about the faith or about Tradition. You need absolutely to straighten out your life before it would be too late. Come quickly to the retreat!

You are about to take important decisions that will affect your career the future of your family and of the education of your children… The retreat will give you the best opportunity to make the right decision, putting everything at the right place. Take time to think about during a good retreat!

You want to become more fervent and to improve your spiritual life. You need the Spiritual Exercises. It is a proven method, approved by the Church and recommended by many saints.

But, I have no time! No, it is not true! If you really want to come, you will find time. This is of very serious matter: the eternal salvation of your own soul. Review your agenda, and you will find a 5 days’ time frame.

But, I am not very instructed! All right! The retreat is a wonderful method that is available for all men, like the preaching of Our Lord.

Others need to go for a retreat, I don’t. Are you really sure to be a saint? So many times, we heard retreatants telling us at the end of the retreat that, before coming, they never hought how much thy needed to come to the retreat.

Four elements make up a retreat: preaching, personal meditation, the counsel of the priest, and the sacraments.

The preaching, or the “conferences” permit an understanding of doctrine. Their primary role is to nourish the faith.

The meditations follow the conferences. Their role is to nourish the virtue of charity.

Invocations are provided to help retreatants enter into this conversation with God which speaks quite easily into the free time of the retreat, into reading time or walks and which will become a good habit after the retreat is over.

The counsel of the priest. The third element, quite personal and adapted to each individual, is the conversation of the retreatants with the priest who are at their disposition though the retreat. Whether in the role of counselor or physician, the priest is always a father. With his help, the retreatants works through his difficulties, makes a resolution, discovers the wisdom of divine Providence, or is quite simply reassured that everything is on the right tract. This is where the virtues of prudence comes into play: each one must discover God’s will and make resolutions in order to do that will.

The sacraments. Finally, the fourth element is the sacraments. First and foremost is Holy Communion, the wealth of which is incalculable and even infinite since it contains not just grace, but the Author of grace. We actually enter with Him, with God, Into a common union, into “comm.-union.” What great wealth it is to have five days of complete intimacy in which to strethen that union. We begin to understand better what is the importance of the sacrament of penance, which opens our heart to such wealth and enlarges it that we may better share with others.

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