The MSOLA as experienced by a young woman in a silent retreat in Lublin Poland.
The White Sisters in Lublin, Poland, started December quite busily! On Friday evening 2nd December, we 3 young women made ourselves at home in their house, beginning a 3-day retreat in silence. The theme of the recollection was taken from the 43rd chapter of Isaiah, in which the Lord explicitly says – “You are precious in my eyes and I love you!”
Shortly after our arrival, in order to better prepare ourselves for the upcoming meditations, we familiarised ourselves with the retreat schedule and, later that evening, we were invited to enter into silence. Of course, the norm in this situation is to completely disconnect from all electronic devices and other appealing things such as books or the on-going World Cup.
We greeted Saturday morning with a breakfast in silence, after which we started the first meditation, and then the second one as well. This special marathon of concentration on the Word of God alone was interrupted by a delicious lunch prepared for us by Sr. Victoria; this was followed by a time of individual conversations, during which each of us had the opportunity to share with one of the sisters our experiences of the meditations already experienced.
Probably not everyone feels the same way, but for me the opportunity to benefit from the attention of a pair of kind ears and sharp eyes proved to be extremely necessary and valuable. Especially as we had another meditation that day – the one that was the crème de la crème of the whole retreat.
Later we participated in Holy Mass, and in the evening, we had the chance to listen to the testimony of Sr. Gosia’s life which was an interesting complement to the entire retreat programme, it provided an opportunity to see into the experience of another human being.
Just like the day before, we ended this day with a focal point – almost an hour of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, summing up the day’s reflections. Sunday, on the other hand, was spent in a final meditation and sharing of retreat reflections. Of course, we ended it with Mass and a lunch full of conversations and smiles.
Writing this note from the perspective of a few days later, I can see that this time allowed me to take a deep breath and to remind myself once again that Advent, as well as the whole year, is a busy but also a joyful and longing expectation for the coming of the Lord.
Melanie. K. participant, Lublin, Poland
