Catholic silent retreat

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Anyone experience a silent retreat. How was it for you. It is the greatest thing to experience, you and God one on one. I go to a one that the Jesuits give in Grand Coteau Louisiana.God bless
 
I once attended a five-day silent retreat at a Benedictine abbey that was led by a Carmelite priest from India. It was wonderful!
 
I participated in an all day, silent retreat, before Advent. It was lovely! I wish that it could have lasted longer.
 
Five years ago, I went on an eight-day IGR. Except for the half hour I spent with my guide each day and the half hour at Mass (one hour on Sunday) it was totally silent. I will return for another eight-day IGR at the same retreat center later this year.

In between, I’ve spent three to ten days each year in unguided retreat at an abbey. Aside from Mass and the LOTH prayed in community, I remained in total silence from beginning to end.

These annual retreats in complete silence (no talks, no group work) help me keep my spiritual life from falling into ruin. I would be in a world of hurt without them.

One day, I hope to do the full Ignatian spiritual exercises. One month in silence. The very idea is just so appealing.
 
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Silence is so foreign to our sensibilities. Having a chance to get away from the noise and distractions and immerse yourself in the silence is a real gift.
 
I go to Opus Dei retreats, normally 3.5 days (Thursday-Sunday noonish).

About 11 preached meditations by a priest in the oratory…3 or so a day.
and also short practical talks…how to develop a more lively interior life, how to be a better husband.
Retreatants are in “quiet/recollected/receive only mode”.
Meetings with both a priest and someone who has been trained to give spiritual direction.

Normally, you should come out with 3 or so firm resolutions that will be worked on for the year…you can use these as a framework for progress during your own personal short daily examinations, and confessions (sort of like a feedback loop).

There’s a lot of time for prayer, reflection, forming of resolutions.

Daily Mass, rosary, etc.

I’ve been doing it for about 9 years.

The preached meditations are very well done by Opus Dei priests…there are sort of probing questions inserted during each meditation…
  • do I live as though I have fallen in love with Jesus Christ?
    -what is my attitude toward the call that Our Lord has made to me?
  • do I see my vocation as a light to see every aspect of my life differently?
  • do others say “I want to know God” because of contact with me?
 
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Forgive me for my ignorance, but what does a silent retreat led by someone entail? Are there talks given by the leader? My feeble brain is having trouble understanding how a led retreat could be silent. :confused:
 
The one I go has different talks on Christ and the Church. Then you go and reflect on it. They have pretty grounds that you can walk and just be with Christ and leave the hustle and bustle of life and work behind. Even when you’re eating you have to point to what you want there is no talking from the time you get there to the time you leave.
 
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It’s about 60/40…silent/preached (or short talk).

The goal is to not simply lead ourselves around to comfortable topics/resolutions…it’s a bit more demanding but in a gentle sort of way.

e.g, priest may comment in a preached meditation about how St Peter, after denying Jesus “followed Jesus at a distance”…

And the priest may ask “Where/when do I follow Jesus at a distance?”…and the retreatants wouldn’t of course respond…but simply meditate/run that over interiorly.

He might be talking about the Holy Spirit operating in the Acts of the Apostles…and say

“Are we convinced that the same Holy Spirit is still operating today?”
“Have you been wondering about doing more with your life?”
“As with the wise men, are we convinced that we have seen a star?..are we eager to leave our relative comfort in order to find the child Jesus?”
 
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Yes, we were silent, but we assembled and the priest gave us a talk and led us in quiet prayer twice a day. We could write down questions or issues for him, and he would discuss them during the next day’s presentation. Of course, we spoke at Mass each day 🙂, but meals and everything else we did was without talking.
 
There are different kinds of retreats the one I go to on different things that we believe as Catholics like Christ, the trinity, Mary and the saints and how they can apply to us in Catholic Living today.

Another different kind of retreat is an Acts retreat. Acts retreats are given by parishioners for parishioners, and in this way, serve to build Christian communities at a parish
The acts retreat meets people where they or in their spiritual journey and invites them to experience God in a manner that is both personal and commual.
 
I’ve been to many a silent retreat, at a Jesuit, Franciscan, & also at a Convent Retreat House. I attend every Advent & Lent. Very moving spiritual experience.
 
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I’ve also been to several weekend men’s retreats at a Passionist Retreat Center. There, we also assembled twice a day for a talk on the theme of the retreat by the facilitators. Each time, the theme was different, but usually it was something to do with better putting our Catholic faith into practice in our workplace or with our families. We were also asked to maintain silence everywhere else on the grounds, including during meals, but there they had one big room (with coffee!) where we could socialize and talk if we desired. That was a good balance.
 
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I have been to 3 Individually Guided Retreats (IGR) lasting between 6-8 days and my guide and I talked for about 45 minutes/day about what came up in prayer and what I should go deeper into. I was given new material like bible verses, questions and sometimes written prayers until we met again the next day.

They were at a Jesuit retreat centre and Ignatian spirituality was very present in how I was guided into prayer.

Mass every day and silent prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament for 30 minutes were as a group and the rest of the day and night were in silence. There was a 24 hour adoration chapel at the centre and great outdoors for going on walks around the country side.
 
Thank you for the further explanations, @christofirst and @Edward_H. I understand better now.

@HeDa, that sounds similar to the retreat center I went to five years ago and will return to this year. The 24-hour Adoration chapel really helped me, as I was in a terrible spiritual state at the time and not sleeping well.
 
I used to go on an annual retreat when I was a teenager for several years,given by a great priest.
If I could put worries aside for a weekend or more I would love to attend retreats again
 
If you mean intangible worries (emotional, psychological, spiritual - especially spiritual), take them with you. A change of routine that leaves more room for God may help alleviate them. You might gain insight that will help you to process them better. As I said above, I was a spiritual wreck when I went on an IGR in 2013, but I went anyway and came back much better prepared to deal with it in the long term.

Physical, familial or material concerns often force postponement of retreats, however, and depending upon the specific situation it could be imprudent to insist on participating in a retreat when more pressing matters require one’s time and other resources.
 
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