The Long Retreat
Prayer: Exterior Views
Sacred Heart Novitiate: Novaliches
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Prayer is definitely an interior event but St. Ignatius, in his instructions in the Spiritual Exercises, stresses the importance of finding a proper place to pray and even suggests changing the place of prayer if the desired graces are not being received. He also suggests different "views" during the four weeks of the retreat depending on the matter of each particular prayer. Typical of Ignatius, he also stresses the importance of choosing a spot (and a posture) according to the needs and dispositions of the individual retreatant. On this page I would like to show you some of the places where I was blessed in prayer, both during formal prayer and informally during such times as walks and jogs. I could not get my camera to capture what was "inside"!! The best interior view is always one's own so perhaps look into doing Ingatius' exercises yourself!! The long retreat was really a wonderful experience for me. Most of my tertianship has been spent seeing the Philippines (and seeing the world on the way). The universe became all the more beautiful and, at times, tragic, as I explored my own faith life and our world today in the context of St. Ignatius' excercises-- a journey that has already been well rewarded.
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This is where I prayed most often during the retreat: on the covered porch behind the chapel. I think I fidget too much for sitting in a chapel and would distract others-- this place was perfect. I focused on the corner and was thus able to look within as well as outside!!! Hardly anyone passed by but I could tell almost exactly who would come by when as we all tended to develop pretty predictable schedules.
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Ignatius suggests 5 one hour prayer periods during the first three "weeks" (actually sections as a week can be made shorter or longer depending on the disposition of the retreatant) and 4 during the last week. The first period, which I began about 20 minutes before dawn and the last period at night were in my room. I usually prayed looking out the window in the morning and looking towards my icons (with a candle illuminating the Theotokos) at night. There was a practical concern for being indoors as well: mosquitos!!!!
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The yellow frame shows you about what I could see from my window while praying (I took the picture hanging out the window so you would not see the heavy metal casements and screen). It was quite breathtaking each morning to see the trees appear with the dawn.... it's a quick process as we are near the equator and sunrise and sunset are rapid events!!! Nevertheless, the dawn became an important part of each initial prayer.
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During the fourth week, in which one contemplates the resurrection and Christ's mission to the
Church I changed completely my normal day position to a porch behind the retreat house wing that has a breathtaking view of the valley. It seemed to better suit the type of prayer for me. This picture shows a rain storm on the mountain. The weather came over the mountain and across the valley-- another breathtaking sight!
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In the first week one is invited to pray on sin in the world and in one's personal life. I often came throughout the retreat to pray at the graveside of Richie Fernando, S.J., a Jesuit scholastic who was killed in Cambodia protecting his class from a disturbed student wielding a hand grenade. I also met Richie's mother here, a very warm and engaging person. His family had come this day to honor his memory for All Saints and Souls day, an important event in the Philippines.
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On October 31 it is the custom in the Philippines to honor the dead by setting out candles and flowers in the cemeteries. Some families spend the entire night at the graveside eating and talking. The candles burn all night to issue in "All Saints Day", November 1, when the people of the Philippines honor their departed at Mass (this is done in the United States on November 2, but not in quite the same way!). The Jesuit cemetery was ablaze with candles the night of the 31st and I came there to pray and have a very moving conversation with one of the Novices (don't tell anyone I broke silence-- it was worth it-- plus he was NOT one of the novices on retreat!).
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Here is the main chapel where we had liturgy at 6:15 PM (there were about 68 of us on retreat from all over the world). The novices did most of the singing, the best of it in their native language!!! Huge bats would fly into the chapel, snap up the mosquitos and then leave out one of the side doors. We also had a moth dive bomb the main celebrant one night ( I understand that moths can be BIG in the Philippines and this one was bird size!). I sat in the back with a group of Columban seminarians from Fiji. There are two break days on the long retreat so I got to know them during the breaks (and when they on very very rare occasions broke silence).
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The day before the retreat began I bought this orchid for 80 pesos (two dollars U.S.). It had two flowers on it and 8 buds.... every few days of the retreat a new flower would appear and they all lasted throughout the retreat!!! On the last week I donated the flower to the Novices for a shrine they set up to honor St. Stanislaus Kostka, S.J., the patron saint of novices. This way all the retreatants could enjoy the beauty of the orchid and besides, all Poles are related so Stash must be some kind of cousin, right?!
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This is part of the Novitiate property that was sold off to create "Sacred Heart Village." Much of it is vacant (as you can see, but in amidst the tall grasses and rushes are roads-- perfect for jogging. Plus the more populated areas had lots of aggressive dogs so I spent the first few days of the retreat finding a route through "dog patch" that would avoid canine predators. One trick was to jog early as people lock up their dogs at night. The other trick was to find the "vacant quarter."
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The yellow line indicates my route. I pass only one house and that is unoccupied. The house in the foreground has lots of mean dogs-- note that the yellow (a carefully chosen color) line does not approach it!!! Many graces just seemed to show up as I jogged along these paths. I got my old stamina back and was able to do 75 minutes at a stretch (not fast mind you but consistent). It was a fantastic place to jog (except that I got shin splints and had to cut back to every other day-- I am known to get carried away at times). Ignatius compares his spiritual exercises to physical exercises so why not do both? I DID!!!
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Just so you have an idea of what the streets are like in the "empty quarter" here is one that I jogged down every day.... I took this in the evening (note my shadow) and the sky is not as fantastic as normally is true of the morning but hey, I usually jogged on the clear days!!! The grass is about 12 feet tall so when you are on the road you can only see grass and the buildings at the end of each street. Sometimes huge flocks of birds would take wing.... fantastic!!!
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Here is an example of a dramatic tropical morning. I took this on a walk with one of the Columbans on our first break day. The skies here are quite beautiful indeed-- and clouds and overcast are quite welcome as sunny days produce very high temperatures!!! Most days were 85 degrees so when Ignatius invites the retreatant to "imagine" the scenes in the Gospels and enter into them the weather is right up to snuff (except that the humidity is a bit higher than on a day in Jerusalem!).
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In the afternoons I would take long walks..... the novitiate is built on the highest hill in the area. Walking on the retreat house grounds didn't suit me much-- it's hard for me to be "silent" when I know or want to know the people there. So sometimes I would walk around the local shopping mall and be alone in the huge crowd. Another advantage of the mall was that there were no dogs-- unlike the neighborhoods and even my jogging track during the day!!! The dogs seemed to have a sense that I was afraid of them and normally they would capitalize on their instinct!!
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Bells are an important part of Church life in the Philippines. They ring frequently during the liturgy (I once attended an "eight alarm Mass") and throughout the day. This Church (well, you can just see the top of it) was just down the block from the retreat house and it rang the hours each day. My first Sunday here I was jogging in the empty quarter (which I imagined to be a monastery cloister) and suddenly all three bells began ringing out the beginning of Liturgy-- the sound was just fantastic and literally transported me!! That was one of the unexpected graces that retreat directors talk about, I suppose!
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General Index of Travel Photographs
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