Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-10
REST FROM THE WORLD
WOMEN OF FASHION WHO SEEK
RELIGIOUS RETREATS.
The Means by Which They Deepen
Their Spiritual
Lie.

From the New York Tribune.
At first sight there is something incon-
| gruous between the strenuous and often
worldly life OF the average woman Of Ieis-
| urs and the religious retreat. yet the num-
Der of women who each year escape to
the cloister for rest and spiritual refresh
ment prove that the retreat meets a need
| that clubs and society and even family life
! do not altogether satisfy
/ Under the name of quiet days" retreats
of day are held IN several New York High
Episcopal churches These quiet days are
| given at the churches Of ST. Mary the Vir-
| gin and the Church of the Holy Comnun-
| ion, to mention only two; also at st. John
Baptist House. the mother house of the
Sisterhood of st. John the Baptist. in East
I'm street and at the convent school of the
| Sisters of st. Mary. in East 46th street
Devotions begin at an early hour and con-
f1nue till the late afternoon broken only by
period for luncheon. which Is generally
| served in the refractory Of the convent Of
| the clergy house
| At 81 John Baptist House and st. Mary's
School there are In addition to the quiet
| days. annual retreats at Advent and Lent
| lasting three or four days. ST. Gabriel's
! Convent at PeekskiI on the Hudson, be-
| longing to the Sisterhood Of St. Mary, is
! favorite place with New Workers for re-
treats and here an annual retreat of four
| days Is held in June. Lent coming too early
| In the year to make a retreat In the coun-
| try at that time practicable.
The Anglican Church.
The institution Of retreats Is coeval with
| monasticism. but In the Anglican Church
| it seems to have originated about 1872. in
which year the evangelist fathers of Cow
| ley held twenty-one retreats In various
parts Of England. The formation of numer-
GUS religious communities has tended to
increase the scope and popularity of the re-
treat q spiritual exercise and q means
OF deepening the religious life.
| A retreat should be a time OF perfect
solitude. During 1t the visitors are expect
ed to lay aside all worldly thoughts and
cares and lead the life Of the community.
There must be no receiving or writing of
| letters; If books are read, these must be
solely upon religious topics; companionship
and unnecessary talking must be Stunned !;
all wandering thoughts Of work and the
| world, of pleasure and ambition, must be
rigfdy checked.
For the rich woman who goes on a re-
treat-and poor women can seldom spare
the time-all this Is In sharp contrast to
her usual life. Instead of rising at IL or
! II o'clock. and spending an hour in the
| hands OF her maid before facing the duties
| Of the new day, she is expected to be up
and dressed by O'Clock. and ready for an
instruction in the chapel, followed by the
holy communion. Early as 1t is, the life
of the community around her will have be-
| gun to stir good two hours earlier. for
| the sisters and novices have proba bly, arisen
at > o'clock to sing Lauds and Prime a. in
| itial links in the long chain Of devotions
that is to encircle the day. From these
! earliest offices, however, the visitors are
excused.
Meals and Meditation.
By the time breakfast is served in the
convent refectory, at s or $40 O clock, my
| lady will be pretty hungry. Then. fortified
by plain meal, she will return to the
| chapel for Mathis at o'clock: fierce, with
! an address. at 10 o'clock. followed by an
| hours meditation: at II o'clock, Sext fol-
| lowed by short instruction. Dinner and
recreation will occupy the time from l till
o'clock. then back to the chapel for
! Nones, with an address and hour of medfta-
| ton. and then Evensong at g. At o'clock
| tea or supper is served.
| Two more services remain to complete
the day-Vespers, which come about I 40
O'CLOCK and are accompanied with an ad-
| dress and followed by an hours medita-
| ton, and then. finally, Complne which is
! sung at $50 clock. and is the benediction
| of the day. And so to bed in the small
| ceh-ilke chamber. bare Of frivolities and
| !uNurles. but containing invariably a prize
| dieu and crucifix and one or more pictures
| OF devotional character, to arrest and in
struct the worldly mind. Silence is an in
tegral factor OF the retreat. This In itself
woman. AT meals book Is passed In some
| converts from one to another to he read
aloud In turn: and the visitors are warned
beforehand not to become so absorbed IN
their food that they cannot FOLLOW ths 900
! ing intellgent1y
Upon entering on a retreat, a profession
OF purpose Is often required to be signed
by each visitor, in which 'knee,,nv ~ ~
| presence Of God" she defines the ends ~
be sought and her own relation to God the
church and the world. This profession of
purpose Is very solemn and impressive
lormuia, A resolution In writing Is also
expected from each visitor, and In this she
Is to state definite sin or fault to which
she is prone-such self1shness, or bad
temper. over-indulgence in things to eat
or drir land register the resolution to
conque IT. "kneeling in the presence of
God" AS the purpose of the retreat is
not tc each new truths but to give a new
vein ct life, ample provision is made for
seH-e-amlnatfon, meditation and contem-
patton, and many opportunities are Offered
and must be embraced for personal counsel
and instruction from the priest who prea ches
the retreat
No Commercialism,
To the average church woman the terms
Lauds, Prime and the others will be new
but In reality they are old, dating back 70
medieval church. They are intended to
symbolic the seven chief events In the
Passion Of Our Lord, thus bringing to pass
! the saying Of the Psalmist, Seven times
in the day will I praise Thee, O Lord.
Lauds, which rightfully should be sung al
midnight, and Prime. symbolic the going
forth to bear the cross: Tierce the hour Of
the cocks Growing in the hall and the de-
NAL of the Master by Peter; Sext. the hour
when He was nailed to the cross: Nenes,
the hour when he died; vespers, the re-
moval from the cross; Compline the hour
when He was laid In tho grave
One conspicuous thing about retreats Is
the total absence Of commercialisnn in
them. The sisters exact no payment for
their hospitality. nor the priest for his
nlinistrations. Whoever cares to Join q re-
treat In the right spirit Of reverence and
earnestness may do 50. Those who can nf-
ford it make an offering before returning
into the world, according to their means
than as the payment Of a debt.