MI RETIRO: Insights of a Retreatant Albert Benedict B. Soliman IV St.
Andrew
THE RETREAT OF IV-ST. ANDREW AND IV-ST. PHILIP AT THE CARMELITE MISSIONARIES CENTER OF SPIRITUALITY, TAGAYTAY CITY What do people say when the word retreat means? Vacation, peace and quiet, tears. But if you ask me, it is different. It is where one retreats from the world to help his/her soul to return even better than before. Do read this article, and I will tell you of what happened to, as a title of Rizals poem goes, Mi Retiro, My Retreat. DAY 1: Arrival I went to UA at about 6:10 am. I joined three of my classmates aboard the UA bus to fetch the others, student and faculty member alike, at McDo GO Road. As we entered the NLEX at about 7:30 am, we prayed the Rosary. We all prayed for a safe journey to Tagaytay and for the retreats success. After the Rosary, we stopped over for our necessities, and yet a few felt that they to urinate at the middle of the SLEX. When we found a good stopover, we really rushed to the CR. Its funny that we frantically searched for the CR, as though we were participants in The Amazing Race. We were very happy when we arrived at Tagaytay City, seeing the majesty of the Taal at a distance. We were most delighted when we saw our destination: the Carmelite Missionaries Center of Spirituality. The Carmelite Missionaries Center of Spirituality is a retreat house being administrated by Carmelite Missionary Nuns, a branch of the Discalced Carmelite Order (OCD) founded by Blessed Francisco Palau, a priest. It has a simple five-floor hotel, a chapel and several multi-purpose halls, gazebos, gardens and oratories. When we arrived at about 11:30 am, we all went to the St. Teresa of Avila Hall, where we were oriented. After the orientation, we went to the ground floor, the refectory or dining hall. After our lunch, we went to our respective rooms, the girls being on the second floor and the boys on the last. It is good to be at the fourth floor because it has a wide sala and a large veranda. What we saw in our rooms are three beds (with beddings), a CR, a cabinet and a small table and chair. There we stayed until 4 pm, where we went down to the refectory for our afternoon snacks. At 4:30 pm, we had our first session with each section having a separate retreat master and hall, IV-St. Philip at the first floor (the St. Therese Hall) and Iv-St. Andrew at the St. Teresa Hall. Our retreat master got late because of an emergency meeting at the Seminary, and so Sir Romy of the College Department (the one who plays the organ during our Council Masses) was entrusted with this first session. At 6:30 pm, we had Vespers and at 7, we went to the refectory for dinner and roamed around the gardens until 8:30, when our retreat master arrived and we went to the hall. Our retreat master is Rev. Fr. Aljim Tuazon, the Spiritual Director of the Pre-College Department of the Mother of Good Counsel Seminary (our neighbor), as well as the Archdiocesan Vocational Director. For our orientation, he told us that we should rest well and eat well during this retreat for the reason of praying well. He showed us a clip about two kids with progeria, a rare disease that speeds up the aging of a child that would result to his/her death at about 14-15 years.
What is the lesson behind it? Life is short. After our session, at about 10 pm, we all went back to our own rooms to take a shower. All of us boys had a problem with how to use the water heater and so we braved the chilly water. After everything, we slept at 10:30 pm. DAY 2: Retreat Proper We woke up at 4 am (when its supposed to be 6 am)and goofed around until 5 am, when some of us went down to the gardens for a stroll. I unfortunately slipped down but its not that painful. At about 6:30 am, we had Lauds at the St. Teresa Hall with the Philip. It was led by Sir Romy and Among Aljim. After Lauds, we all went down for our breakfast. At 8 am, we all had our respective sessions (with us at the St. Therese and the Philip at the St. Teresa, because of Fr. Aljims request). At 10, we had our snacks and after that, we returned for another session until noon for lunch. We had our siesta until 2:30 pm, when we watched the movie Tuesdays with Morrie. At 4 pm, we had our snacks (again) and returned to the session hall for an activity until 5:45 pm. We then prepared ourselves for the 6:30 pm Mass at the Chapel, said by Fr. Aljim. After Mass, we had our dinner and at 8 pm, we went to the gardens with Among to burn letters to God that we ourselves composed. Then, we had some activities and the best of these is the Death Exercise, where one imagines how death would be. After the last session, some of us retired to our rooms, while others stayed at the veranda and the gardens since tomorrow is our last day. DAY 3: Departure We woke up at 6 am and went to the Chapel for a personal prayer. We then went down at 7 am for breakfast and after eating, we took our buko tarts, buko pies, pineapples and other souvenirs. We then boarded our buses. When we went out of the city proper, we prayed the Rosary, this time, in gratitude for the retreat and for our safe journey to Pampanga. When we had our SLEX stopover, some rushed to the CR to puke because they got dizzy, so we gave them ointments to relieve them. We then continued to our NLEX stopover for our lunch (kanya-kanya na ngayon). After an exhausting trip, we descended from the bus as it goes on its route to UA. We then rushed to the place where we want to return because there is no place like thishome. Some people say that a retreat is just goofing all day, crying, making some noise, hanging together. But I have a different perspective of the word retreat. What is my definition of the word retreat? It is like a time when war rages on. When a commander sees that his army is outnumbered or when his army has won the battle, he would say to his soldiers, Retreat! And when they do, they would replenish themselves, bind their wounds and train more. And after this, they would to the battlefield healthier, stronger and bolder. So it is with what we have experienced in the Carmelite Missionaries Center of Spirituality: we retreated from the battlefield of the world to the quietness of this place in order to replenish, to bind and to train our spirit. Please pray that we, who experienced this retreat at this most sacred place, after pressing Enter, Tab and Space to a new life, may not regret this so as to press Undo, Delete and Backspace back to our old selves. We came home to Pampanga with bandaged wounds and stronger spirits, may
we not become masochists of our souls so as to make our conditions worse than when we went to Tagaytay. Lord Jesus Christ, who was sent by the Father to this world to save us and to reconcile us to one another and to him, your heavenly Father, grant, we pray, that you may give us your assistance, grace and love as we fight in this battlefield, this valley of tears, so that we may one day be counted among those on your right hand and hear from you those words, Come, you who are blessed in the kingdom of heaven, who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
