OSV: 15 catholic things to do before you die

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You’ve seen them on television, in magazines and in books – lists of things you should do before you die.

This got us wondering, what would a Catholic version of a “things to do before you die” list comprise? Here is what some of our staff members suggested:
list

how many have you done??

my list is still a little short…
 
That’s pretty thought provoking. 😊

I must say that although I have done a few of those things, I have many more that I haven’t.

I’m not much of an international traveler, so a couple of those I don’t see happening, but the others are very attainable, and sadly, very rarely thought of. 😦
 
Except for the travel (because of the costs, etc.), it seems that we all can do the rest here at home. I know that I’ve done at least several of the tasks on the list.
 
I’ve been fortunate.

I’ve been to Lourdes, Fatima, Santiago de Compostella, Vatican and many other religious sites.

I’ve also volunteered a good deal but I can always do much, much more!👍

I’m having my priests for dinner in a few weeks. I’m a bit nervous:o
 
Spirithound said:
I highly recommend the silent retreat. It will change you.
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I agree with a retreat as it forces you to allow God to peel off all the onion skins and penetrate your conscious heart. And the list is quite good. However, I do question why Lourdes would be on there and Rome is not. My only addition is to spend three months on your parishes prayer chain as it will give you glimpse of the work the saints in Heaven do every day.
 
Some of those things, like fasting, should be things we do every week, not once before we die. Joe
 
What is a silent retreat? I never heard of this, unfortunately.
 
A silent retreat is simply one in which silence is supreme. meals would be taken in silence. There would be no unnecessary talking in common areas or retreat rooms. Bible readings or prayers would also be in silence. There might be opportunities for spiritual direction but there needn’t be. I love silent retreats 🙂 👍
 
Dunmoose said:
A silent retreat is simply one in which silence is supreme. meals would be taken in silence. There would be no unnecessary talking in common areas or retreat rooms. Bible readings or prayers would also be in silence. There might be opportunities for spiritual direction but there needn’t be. I love silent retreats 🙂 👍
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how does one find a silent retreat??
 
Dunmoose said:
A silent retreat is simply one in which silence is supreme. meals would be taken in silence. There would be no unnecessary talking in common areas or retreat rooms. Bible readings or prayers would also be in silence. There might be opportunities for spiritual direction but there needn’t be. I love silent retreats 🙂 👍
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I have a silent retreat every time I’m home, since I live alone. 😉 I’m not sure I would get as much out of that because it’s not out of the ordinary for me. I actually get more being around other people and sharing the faith and stuff like that. I can imagine if you are a person that is surrounded by people and noise all the time, the silent retreat can be a great experience though.
 
Jeanette_L said:
I have a silent retreat every time I’m home, since I live alone. 😉 I’m not sure I would get as much out of that because it’s not out of the ordinary for me. I actually get more being around other people and sharing the faith and stuff like that. I can imagine if you are a person that is surrounded by people and noise all the time, the silent retreat can be a great experience though.
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true, i’m usually in silence also, 🤷
 
Dunmoose said:
A silent retreat is simply one in which silence is supreme. meals would be taken in silence. There would be no unnecessary talking in common areas or retreat rooms. Bible readings or prayers would also be in silence. There might be opportunities for spiritual direction but there needn’t be. I love silent retreats 🙂 👍
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chewchoo said:
how does one find a silent retreat??
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Jeanette_L said:
I have a silent retreat every time I’m home, since I live alone. 😉 I’m not sure I would get as much out of that because it’s not out of the ordinary for me. I actually get more being around other people and sharing the faith and stuff like that. I can imagine if you are a person that is surrounded by people and noise all the time, the silent retreat can be a great experience though.
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chewchoo said:
true, i’m usually in silence also, 🤷
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Same here, I’m in my room most of the time I’m home.

But, even with that, I think a truly silent retreat would also mean turning off all distractions.

No TV.
No Computer (no CAF!). Don’t even leave it on with the monitor turned off, either. You shouldn’t hear any eletrical hum.
No pets in the room, if any.
No lights on (ok, if it’s night-time, some light, otherwise you’ll be tripping over things!).
No heat/air-conditioning/fans running in the background.
None of your favorite things to tempt you in your room (like a video game, movies, novels, crafts, etc.).

Perhaps have a room (a prayer room) with minimal things in it. (A table, chair, but without a bunch of misc. items in the room) Maybe a religous picture or two for meditation or to help focus.

Sometimes, when I turn everything off in my room, and there’s no background electrical buzz, it’s quiet, and there’s a peaceful feeling.

I’d probably wait 30 minutes or so before praying, too, just to calm down all of the fast-and-furiously-flying thoughts throughout the day.
 
chewchoo said:
how does one find a silent retreat??
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Aside from the ideas you’ve already been given by later posters, you can also go to a retreat center or monastery/convent. Some monasteries will have a medallion that guests can wear if they want to be left alone in silence. retreat centers ahnd monastic guesthouses usually can accomodate someone who simply wihses to make a silent private retreat.
 
I have gone on three silent retreats (do it annually). This is the process that I am familiar. If you IM me, I will send you the link of the retreat center which I attend.

Retreat Center is located in the country with plenty of outside area to walk including the Stations along a path/creek. It has no TV, phones, or any outside contact (except in the case of emergency). My center is grounded in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Each retreat is run by a retreat master (it may be the retreat center director or he may have brought in a visiting retreat master) who conducts the conference. He is a Priest and often has another to assist with Spiritual Direction (depending on the number of retreatants).

Thursday evening: Check into the retreat center. Have dinner which includes a chance to have fellowship and meet the other retreatants. After dinner, all retreatants go into “high silence” which requires that all conversation stops except for in Confession and Spiritual Direction. After dinner, there is an orientation conference which talks about all that will happen over the weekend, Mass, a short break and then we come back for evening prayers.

Typical Friday and Saturday: Begins with breakfast (in silence as are all meals), morning prayers, a break and then the first conference. Our retreat center has 12 conferences spread out over the next few days. Because the Ignatian Exercises are geared to a 30 day silent retreat, you only cover some of themes of the entire excercises each year. Also, each Retreat Master has a slightly different take on each conference so even if two years in a row you get the same conference theme, the different retreat masters expose new insight.

During each day there is time to go to Spiritual Direction, we have a mid-day rosary, Mass before dinner, evening conference and day concludes with evening prayer. 24 hour Adoration is available.

Between conferences, there is usually Scripture reading that either reinforces the previous conference or precedes the next conference. There is time for exercise and/or walking the stations. Remember, from Thursday evening to Sunday evening there is absolutely no conversation. You are in silence. This silence removes all of our daily distractions and allows God to deeply enter our conscience so that He does more of the talking and we are mostly listening (unlike most prayer time when at least I do most of the talking).

YOu begin to long for another retreat in mid-year. You come to miss the deep conversation with God. However, I guess they want the heart to be “lonely” or “wanting” as they strongly suggest that you make your retreat annually.

Sunday: a little different as Mass is moved into the morning but otherwise routine is the same. Day ends with dinner whereby there is open conversation. Depending on the retreat master there may or may not be “sharing” during dinner.
 
This is an interesting idea…I’ll have to give it some thought.
 
I have done some of the items on the list but unfortunately not enough.

I would add Visit the Vatican to the list though. It’s a wonderful experience that I highly recommend!
 
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