3 September, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day

The Annual Retreat

1. It is useful, one might say necessary, to spend some time now and again with God in meditation on the eternal truths. It is too easy to become dissipated by contact with the many worldly things which distract us from our final end, which is God, and from the sanctification of our souls. With dissipation comes carelessness, spiritual lethargy, and tepidity; and we know that tepidity eventually leads us to commit sin. A retreat is one of the best ways of recollecting ourselves and of renewing our spiritual energies. It should not be thought that retreats are suitable only for priests and religious. They are suitable and even necessary for all of us, because we are all in need of recollection and of a new impetus towards holiness, which should be our common goal.

An annual retreat, therefore, should be the aim of all the faithful, even of the laity. Sometimes we are disgusted and frightened by the desolate spectacle which the world presents. Faith has grown weak; religious indifference is invading all sections of society, the forces of progress have achieved an almost universal and soul-destroying corruption of morals. How has this happened? We get the answer from the prophet Jeremias, who laments that in the supreme moment of trial, the chosen people abandoned God. “With desolation is all the land made desolate, because there is none that considereth in the heart.” (Jer. 12:11)

Let us resolve not to neglect this great means of sanctification. If possible, let us make a retreat every year.

2. In this matter, too, Jesus has set us an example. Before beginning His public life, He retired into the desert for forty days to fast and pray. It is when we are silent that God speaks to our hearts. When we are confused by the bustle of the world, it is hard to hear the voice of God. “Silence,” says Lacordaire, “is the fatherland of great thoughts.” When we are alone with God we are better able to appreciate the vanity of earthly things and to realise our own insignificance. We appreciate, moreover, the beauty of virtue and the necessity of striving earnestly to acquire it.

Silence, however, is not sufficient just as recollection is not enough. Silence and recollection should not be allowed to deteriorate into inactivity or idle speculation. No effort should be spared to root out vice and to plant in its place the seed of virtue. Let us remember that a retreat is not just a time for listening, but a time for action; therefore it is necessary to employ the mind as well as the will in the task of our spiritual reformation.

3. When Bernini was contemplating the personality of a Saint whose statue he had been commissioned to sculpt, he went thoughtfully into a shop where uncut marble was sold. “What are you looking for, sir?” asked the shopkeeper. “I am looking for a saint,” replied Bernini, as he gazed at a block of marble which stood before him.

When we go on retreat, we could be said to resemble this lifeless block of marble. We must wait for the grace of God to give us life. By our determination we must chisel away whatever is superfluous, mould our personality, and give to the shapeless mass the image of a saint. The whole purpose of our retreat should be to cleanse ourselves of the dross of sin and to transform ourselves into saints.