The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-09-16

time is arranged as follows: They
rise at six in the morning, then after
prayer made in common, the retreat
ants hear Mass in the chapel, and az
ter breakfast read pious book for q
short time, and then take recreation,
during which they walk in the gar
den, play billiards or bowl. AT a
quarter after eight they 60 back to
the chapel and for half an hour listen
to an explanation of some elementary
points Of the Faith, afterwards re-
turning to their rooms to mediate on
what they have heard, and to read a
pious book, the Imitation of Christ
or the life of some saint. AT half
past ten there is another instruction,
following upon which they are free
to pass the time as they wish. In
the afternoon a similar order Of ex-
ercises is followed, and at half past
nine the bell rings for bed. They
pass three days in exercises of this
kind
AS the minister remarked, the re-
| 0u1C0 eAAS AAAIO 1C11dl WH0H Tie
men return to their ordinary occupa-
tons, they address themselves to
their task in quite another spirit and
exercise a most salutary influence
upon their comrades. The formation
of an organization by the men who
have made these retreats is one of
the most important results that fol-
low. The members set aside one day
of recollection every month, when
they renew the good resolutions Of
the retreat.
From a religious point of view"
writes the Protestant author, sthe re-
suits are most striking. Some church
es which, short time before, were
almost abandoned, are now crowded,
and religion has become the main
spring of the workingmen's lives.
Going to Mass and Communion, or
ganizing professions, which number
hundreds of participants, with ban
ners and music, in localities in which,
g. short time before, materialism was
making great Roadway, are very COM
mon occurrences"
| But it is not only the masculine
part of the working population which
is the object of the maternal solicitude
of the Church. Similar retreats are
organized for the women. The arti-
Gle of the Protestant pastor describes
a retreat organized in Liege for work
ing girls. They arrived in divisions,
each one under the direction of a
lady, who was appointed for that pur-
pose. In fact, in each parish, one or
two ladies take upon themselves the
duty of getting into relations with
the priests and employers in order to
induce the young girls to make these
retreats, and to accompany them to
the place designated for that purpose.
Of course only young girls of ire
proachable character are invited. At
Protestant ladies of Stockholm were
permitted to assist. Describing the
gathering they said:
"One of the principal causes of the
satisfactory results obtained by this
retreat was the remarkable ability of
the Jesuit Father Wierdt who di-
rected it. He was just the man for
the occasion. Although he gave four
instructions day, the interest in his
discourses was so great that everyone
was eager to hear him, because his
practical counsels for the formation
of character were given in such a
manner that every one Immediately
set about following his advice. What
! he attempted chiefly was to make re-
ligion the motive force in their every
day life. It was impossible not to
see the beneficent influence which
these few days, taken out of the
habitual surroundings of the retreat
ants, exercised on these young work
ing girls. When we hear with what
conscientiousness and courage they
overcame the difficulties which met
them in their factories and elsewhere,
we were convinced more than ever of
the immense utility of works of this
kind
/