Personal Retreats

Personal Retreats

Personal retreats have been a part of Christianity since its beginnings. We know from scripture that Jesus himself took retreats, going away to quiet places “as was his custom.” At the beginning of his ministry, he went into the desert for forty days, fasting and praying and battling various temptations.

St. Paul, too, at the start of his ministry, went away to the desert for an extended period.

Photo by jamie brame – “Gethsemani Abbey near Bardstown, KY”

Throughout the history of the faith, great saints and countless unknown Christians have left their work to go apart for awhile and commune with God alone. They have gone into their rooms, or camped in the wilderness, or gone to retreat centers and monasteries and churches.

Where do you go for retreat?

Christmount offers quiet time during the week, especially in the winter and spring months. Weekends at retreat centers are frequently the busiest times. However, you might want to sign up for a spiritual retreat led by a retreat leader if you desire interaction with others.

Photo by jamie brame - “Watters Garden at Christmount, mid-autumn morning”

You might try getting used to the retreat experience by making a “mini-retreat” in your home or at your church. A three- to four-hour retreat schedule might look like this:

Preparation for retreat

Spend some time disconnecting or turning down phones so that they will not disturb your prayer. Set up your prayer space, making sure that you have things like a Bible, journal, candles, and optional things like incense, icons, meditation cushions, quiet music, etc.

If you are doing this at home, warn your family members. Ask them to respect your time of silence, telling them when you will begin and end. At a church, be sure and speak to your pastor about your using the church for retreat (making sure that things like heat or air conditioning are available as well as deciding what room you will use besides the sanctuary or chapel).

Be sure and consider that you might want some refreshment during the retreat time: again, make sure that you have what you need for this so that minimal time will be spent preparing.

Your retreat time begins when you have gotten everything set up.

A Schedule (this is for a morning retreat from 9 A.M. until noon)

9:00 Opening Prayer

Call to Worship and Doxology

Three Psalms read slowly and quietly, each with

a doxology

Silence

Scripture and lectio divina – read the scripture

three times, each time followed by silence and

listening for words and phrases that stand out

to you as you read

Verbal Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

Benediction

Silence

9:30 Journal about your intentions for your retreat. Reflect

on any particular issues that pop into your mind from

the scripture reading you did in the Opening Prayer

time.

9:45 Quick break: stand up and stretch, walk around, go to

restroom, get a cup of coffee/snack

10:00 Quiet reading

10:30 Mid-morning Prayer (same order as Opening Prayer)

11:00 Go for a walk

11:20 Silent meditation on the presence of God

11:30 Stretch

11:35 Final journal entry

11:45 Closing Prayer (same order as Opening Prayer without

lectio divina – just read scripture once and sit in

silence afterwards)

12:00 Clean up and end your retreat.

An extended time would include longer walks, more quiet reading and journaling, perhaps some pure lectio divina outside of the worship setting, and several worships scattered throughout the day. Once you get into the habit of retreating privately once a month or so, you will develop your own particular style of retreat.

Meals during retreats should be kept simple. Like with the rest of your retreat, planning ahead is a good idea. At retreat centers, you may have access to a kitchen; larger places often provide meals as part of the retreat package.

It is a good idea to take at least one personal retreat a year.

There are other retreat models available, but the best individual retreat is one that balances between sitting still and walking around, with sporadic breaks and different kinds of spiritual exercises so that you don’t get bored. You can include yoga, labyrinth walking, and other types of moving prayer/meditation.

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