Some confreres from various communities of our Province gathered in Cape May, New Jersey for their annual retreat, October 8– 12, 2018. The theme of the spiritual exercises was taken from the Gospel of Matthew: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (11:28) and most of the time was dedicated to stay and reflect before God in the Blessed Sacrament.
In the invitation to attend the retreat Fr. Marek Sadowski, Provincial of New England wrote: “Most of us serve in parishes and because of all our activities, we sometimes do not have time for private adoration”. And describing this time of encounter with God he continued: “Also, when serving in parishes, we prepare many conferences and preach many homilies. During this retreat there will be no homilies and conferences.”
Confreres from our communities in Brooklyn, NY (both houses), Derby, CT, New Haven, CT and Provincial came to Villa St. Vincent, a retreat and recreation residence of the CM Eastern Province almost on a coast line of Cape May, NJ. The retreat started on Monday afternoon, October 8 and finished on Friday morning, October 12.
Indeed, Adoration of the exposed Blessed Sacrament was the highlight of each day of the retreat. Twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon Jesus Christ was present in the Blessed Sacrament for adoration, common prayer of the Church (Breviary), meditation and reflection in silence. Eucharist followed the exposition every day. Of course, there was time for social activities and staying private in silence. too.
On Friday, on their way back to Brooklyn and Connecticut all confreres visited Brother Joseph Zurowski, who is a resident in St. Catherine’s Infirmary, St. Vincent’s Seminary, Philadelphia, PA, the Motherhouse of the Eastern province. They came right in lunchtime meet brother Joe, other Confreres and visiting Miraculous Medal Shrine. Everybody enjoyed the visit very much.
From left: Paweł Zych CM, Grzegorz Markulak CM, Marek Sadowski CM (Provincial), Eugeniusz Kotliński CM, Steven Grazio CM (Provincial, CM East), Joseph Zurowski CM, Sławomir Szucki CM, Joseph Wisniewski CM, Michael Carroll CM (CM East), Jan Urbaniak, Tadeusz maciejewski, Rafał Kopystynski, Joseph Szpilski, (photographer not on the picture – Jan Szylar)
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