Spiritual retreats

These retreats start on Monday at 3:00 p.m. and end on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.

Of Saint Benedict:   - For Ladies and Young Girls; May 29 to June 3 and July 24 to 29

                                    -For Gentlemen from June 19 to 24 and from July 31 to August 5

                                     These retreats will take place in Sud-Touraine

Of Saint Ignace:       -For Ladies and Young Girls from April 24 to 29

                                     For Gentlemen from May 15 to 20

                                     These retreats will take place in Sud-Touraine

These spiritual retreats are open to everyone from the age of 17. No one should be prevented from making a retreat for financial reasons. If you have any problems on this subject mention it when registering or at the beginning of the retreat. You will be asked 180 € for the material organization of the retreat. For the work camps, participation is free. For any other information call 06 26 54 19 78. To register, a quick phone call or SMS to this same number is enough.

NB: Father Guillaume speaks a bit of english.

Retreats according to the method of Saint Ignatius and according to the method of Saint Gertrude preached by the Reverend Father Guillaume-Marie Hecquard

These retreats take place at La Houssière in Varennes or in Donzy (Nièvre), generally during the summer period. They will be announced on this page and the agenda page.

Put yourself away from the tumult of the world for a while and turn to the essentials for a few days in order to seek God and better understand his will for us and the direction he wants to give to our lives:

prepare for confirmation, marriage, make an important decision, question your vocation...

• In general, retreats are a way of becoming more fervent, training for holiness. Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical Mens nostra of December 20, 1929, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination, encouraged all the faithful, including the laity, to practice the "spiritual exercises" regularly.

• Pope Pius XI, in this encyclical, recalled the importance of regularly withdrawing from worldly affairs to practice for a few days "spiritual exercises", that is to say, to calmly examine , in prayer, his thoughts and his ways of acting in the world in the light of the Gospel.

• In this encyclical he writes in particular: "The book of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius has established itself as the wisest and most universal code of the laws of salvation and of the perfection of souls, as the most inexhaustible source of piety the highest and most solid, as an irresistible spur and a very knowledgeable guide to help souls to reform themselves and to reach the heights of spiritual life."

• Going on a retreat is an opportunity to answer the big questions of our life, in particular to make decisions about the choice of life in order to be in one's vocation. We can save ourselves in all conditions. There is however a hierarchy in the conditions, and what counts for us is to be in the condition that God wants for us, to be in our vocation. To be in our vocation is to multiply the chances of doing virtuous acts and thus increase the chances of avoiding sin.

• But how can we be sure that we are in our vocation and how can we find our vocation? Perhaps we are waiting to know what God's plan is for our soul? The Saint-Ignace or Saint-Gertrude retreats are a recommended way to make what is called discernment, a measured and carefully considered life choice accompanied by a spiritual director.