Cursillo

[whimpy]

Can anyone explain to me what a Cursillo is? Everyone says I should, “Do a Cursillo” but no one is willing to talk about it. Something fishy about that!

 

[cjforJesus]

Can anyone explain to me what a Cursillo is? Everyone says I should, “Do a Cursillo” but no one is willing to talk about it. Something fishy about that!

I believe it is a type of spiritual retreat.

 

[adrift]

Nothing fishy about it. It is a very good weekend.

What is a Cursillo Weekend?

The Cursillo Movement is introduced over a consecutive seventy-two hour period called a “Three Day Weekend.” During the three day weekend, which begins Thursday evening and ends Sunday evening, a team of religious and lay personnel present a series of talks to the candidates and the entire group calls upon the Holy Spirit for enlightenment and guidance. The team and candidates live as a small Christian community over the weekend and discuss these talks in small groups. The discussions provide an opportunity to share insights about the presentations and hear how others received that same presentation. The talks and discussions cover a variety of topics including:

•The lay person’s role within the Church
•Meaning of grace and sacraments
•Importance of prayer and the study of God
•Christian leadership and living Christianity in community
•Our call to bring Christ to others and transform the very environments in which we live
•The importance of supporting one another in our efforts to live a truly Christian life
Throughout the weekend the participants will pray together, attend daily mass and have an opportunity to receive the sacrament of reconciliation. Typically, by the end of the weekend, candidates have a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and a better understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit. Also, candidates leave the weekend knowing that they have been called to spread the Word of God.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

If you are a married person, it’s been recommended to me by a priest who was part of Cursillo that both attend a week-end.

Also, people who have attended are reluctant to share their experience in detail, because they don’t want you to expect what they experienced on the week-end, but to have your own experience.

It’s probably why my priest friend recommends that married couples each attend a week-end on their own, so that they understand each others spiritual development better.

Jim

 

[AJB328]

So this thread got me thinking and I started to look around and it is rather mysterious. I looked it up in my Diocese and found only a very broad/ vague description of what happens at one like the one above but says nothing about how to go about finding out more, signing up, who should sign up, who should consider, etc.

I found a candidate and sponsorship form which makes it sound like something you have to be invited into rather than sign up for.

All the literature I found reminded me a lot of Scientology and seemed very strange. Terms like Rollos, Ultreya, The Closing and Palanca (the last two aren’t supposed to be discussed).

I’d definitely like to understand it more.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

You will be more than welcomed to make a Cursillo retreat.

In fact, it’s the only way you’ll learn what it’s exactly about.

Jim

 

[gh4]

If you want to know what it’s like, there is a huge long thread about cursillo here:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=599000&highlight=cursillo
It’s very long and spans several years.

There are many things about cursillo which may be good, and there are some things about it that are not good. I went to a cursillo 2 years ago and it was life changing, but not in a good way at all. It was very traumatic for me.

Personally I believe that anything worth going to is something people will tell me about. If they keep saying “you just have to experience it for yourself,” I say run away.

Be sure to read the other thread and then make up your own mind about it and if it is something you would be interested in and could tolerate.

Good luck.

 

[Mary_Ellen]

So this thread got me thinking and I started to look around and it is rather mysterious. I looked it up in my Diocese and found only a very broad/ vague description of what happens at one like the one above but says nothing about how to go about finding out more, signing up, who should sign up, who should consider, etc.

I found a candidate and sponsorship form which makes it sound like something you have to be invited into rather than sign up for.

All the literature I found reminded me a lot of Scientology and seemed very strange. Terms like Rollos, Ultreya, The Closing and Palanca (the last two aren’t supposed to be discussed).

I’d definitely like to understand it more.

Rollos (pronounced ROY-ohs) - just a Spanish word - those are the talks presented during the weekend, there are about 10 or so talks on the Christian life given through the weekend. The formulae for the talks are the same on each Cursillo, varying only in the way they are presented by the speakers.

Ultreya (ull-TRAY-ah) - The meetings people who have participated in a Cursillo weekend attend after the weekend. They are usually monthly meetings, held in your local area, the purpose of which is to give support to one another as we live our “Fourth Day” (the weekend is 3 days long, life afterwards is called the Fourth Day, simply a term for living the Christian Life).

The Closing and Palanca (another Spanish word) - there are only three things about the weekend we are not to discuss with those who have not yet participated in a Cursillo weekend. These are two of the three. They are not really that big of a deal but they are pleasant, sometimes deeply touching aspects of the weekend and the point of not discussing them is so as to not ruin the surprises. I had attended a sort of junior Cursillo 25 years before my Cursillo so I already knew about the Closing and the Palancas. From what I remember about that first experience, when I was 18 years old, these were very pleasant and uplifting aspects of the weekend. I wish I could have been surprised the second time, too, but that could not happen.

Other than the three ‘secrets’ there is nothing we cannot discuss about the Cursillo weekend but like every retreat, each person’s experience will vary depending on the presentations of the weekend and the receptivity of the participant to what God has prepared for them. As another poster wrote, we may not want to put expectations in your mind before the actual retreat. We refer to attending the retreat as “living a Cursillo weekend.” Like everyone’s life, every one is different.

As for being invited, if you are interested in attending (or living) a Cursillo weekend you will need a sponsor who has already lived a weekend. You should be able to find one through your state’s Cursillo organization - they should be able to hook you up with someone local. This person will help you by answering questions you may have about the weekend, helping with transportation, praying for you and with you, and supporting you in living the Fourth Day, especially in the weeks and months immediately following the retreat. I’ve not been a sponsor so I’m not sure what else a sponsor does.

I hope this helps.

 

[Sheeniac]

If you want to know what it’s like, there is a huge long thread about cursillo here:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=599000&highlight=cursillo
It’s very long and spans several years.

There are many things about cursillo which may be good, and there are some things about it that are not good. I went to a cursillo 2 years ago and it was life changing, but not in a good way at all. It was very traumatic for me.

Personally I believe that anything worth going to is something people will tell me about. If they keep saying “you just have to experience it for yourself,” I say run away.

Be sure to read the other thread and then make up your own mind about it and if it is something you would be interested in and could tolerate.

Good luck.

I read every post on that thread. Yikes.

This sounds like it’s not for me. I need my own private time, and I dislike ‘love bombing’. Interestingly enough, the poster who came in at the very end and said he was involved in giving a talk said that there was love bombing, whereas others denied it.

There’s no reason for secrecy - that’s a huge turn-off for me.

There’s a silent retreat given by the FSSP for women over a weekend. Not too many details given. I emailed, and was given enough details to know it would be perfect for me (strong emphasis on St. Ignatius’ exercises, devotion, access to spiritual direction, and a lot of time for personal reflection and time with Jesus). No ‘I can’t tell you since it would affect your experience’.

Plus, I know the basics and beyond pretty darn well already.

 

[Bruised_Reed]

So this thread got me thinking and I started to look around and it is rather mysterious. I looked it up in my Diocese and found only a very broad/ vague description of what happens at one like the one above but says nothing about how to go about finding out more, signing up, who should sign up, who should consider, etc.

I found a candidate and sponsorship form which makes it sound like something you have to be invited into rather than sign up for.

All the literature I found reminded me a lot of Scientology and seemed very strange. Terms like Rollos, Ultreya, The Closing and Palanca (the last two aren’t supposed to be discussed).

I’d definitely like to understand it more.

Adrift offered a excellent description above.

It’s nothing like Scientology. Wow. Cursillo, Rollos, Ultreya and Palanca are Spanish words so they might sound strange. The Closing shouldn’t sound too strange - what is a closing ceremony? A ceremony at the close (for HP fans “I Open at the Close”). Mary_Ellen gives you some good definitions and you can google the others .

I haven’t been on a Cursillo weekend but my mom ran some and I have been on retreats that had a similar format. One was for teens and a young woman had many friends family members go so she knew all about what was coming and it changed the experience for her. It was similar for me and that particular retreat was offered only in the diocese but it was so similar in format I would tell the people running the weekend what was going to happen next.

I think it’s silly that so much focus is made about the “surprises” and what it comes down to is that some people cannot articulate the deeper aspects of the their experience on the weekend. And some may be spiritually immature and their experience is more shallow so they talk about the surprises. If the latter are the ones who end up on the team running the weekend the wrong emphasis spreads and they deviate from the original format and it won’t be what Cursillo was meant to be by the founder.

 

[Bruised_Reed]

I read every post on that thread. Yikes.

This sounds like it’s not for me. I need my own private time, and I dislike ‘love bombing’. Interestingly enough, the poster who came in at the very end and said he was involved in giving a talk said that there was love bombing, whereas others denied it.

There’s no reason for secrecy - that’s a huge turn-off for me.

There’s a silent retreat given by the FSSP for women over a weekend. Not too many details given. I emailed, and was given enough details to know it would be perfect for me (strong emphasis on St. Ignatius’ exercises, devotion, access to spiritual direction, and a lot of time for personal reflection and time with Jesus). No ‘I can’t tell you since it would affect your experience’.

Plus, I know the basics and beyond pretty darn well already.

Love bombing is not a formal part of the weekend but it happens. Some people do experience and others don’t (they aren’t denying it happens just that it didn’t happen to them or, as I’m explaining, it isn’t something that is “in the manual.”) Some teams deviate from the format and things get wonky. It’s unfortunate.

Most people seem to put the emphasis on the weekend when the most important part of Cursillo is what happens after - from adrift’s post:

The importance of supporting one another in our efforts to live a truly Christian life

It should be about going out and evangelizing but not feeling like a lone ranger. After the weekend there are small groups that meet to talk about your experience in the trenches and to support each other.