Snow, Silence and Teilhard: 5 Day Ignatian Silent Retreat

The snowstorm pounded the ridge line of the Blue Ridge Mountain Calcagnini Retreat Center just as Georgetown University’s 5-Day Silent Ignatian Retreat began on January 2 with 15 retreatants whose spiritual and physical needs were attended to by 4 spiritual advisers, an organizer, a cook, and a custodian.

Other than the one hour daily conversation with the spiritual adviser, my greatest joy was to experience five whole days of total silence: no one’s stories to listen to, no distractions, no dinner table conversations. I was able to taste the delicious food I did not have to prepare and marvel with gratitude at the dishes I did not have to wash.

I am still experiencing the fruitful impact of the retreat. The poem Patient Trust, by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ has helped me with those deeper problems where I have seen progress, know the result I want, but the resolution of which seems to be so elusive.

Above all, trust in the slow work of God,
We are, quite naturally,
impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. 

For the full poem please click here .

Suzanne Odiorne, LL.M Georgetown University

Georgetown’s Five-Day Ignatian Retreat is open to undergraduate and graduate students, alumni, faculty and staff. To learn more please click here .