From 3-8 August Rev. Fr. Andre Forest, founder of the Canons regular of St Augustine in Sant’Animo near Sienna, will come and preach our annual retreat.
The enthusiastic and reinvigorating theme will be that of the beatitudes: They are the life-rule of the New Testament, given by Christ himself, the elating path traced by his grace, far more demanding than the Decalogue but the only ones capable of uniting ourselves intimately to God in his Trinitarian mystery:
A warm thank you to Fr Forest who succeeded in immersing our souls in the perfume of this joy, joy beaming through his words and on his face. He will remain in the Annals of Villatalla as the first preacher to our little foundation.
We were four monks to follow this retreat, amongst others Brother Ansgar Santogrossi, American, and a young Franciscan of the immaculate, Brother Egidio-Maria Mariani, Italian. Both had the intention to join us but will finally be leaving us for a formation at the seminary of the FSSP in Denton and the other to return to his Franciscan community.
The enthusiastic and reinvigorating theme will be that of the beatitudes: They are the life-rule of the New Testament, given by Christ himself, the elating path traced by his grace, far more demanding than the Decalogue but the only ones capable of uniting ourselves intimately to God in his Trinitarian mystery:“Bessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven […], Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Such is the Christian paradox: participating in the sufferings and in the Cross of Christ is a source of immeasurable interior joy. “By this wood joy for the entire world has come” (Good Friday liturgy).
A warm thank you to Fr Forest who succeeded in immersing our souls in the perfume of this joy, joy beaming through his words and on his face. He will remain in the Annals of Villatalla as the first preacher to our little foundation.
We were four monks to follow this retreat, amongst others Brother Ansgar Santogrossi, American, and a young Franciscan of the immaculate, Brother Egidio-Maria Mariani, Italian. Both had the intention to join us but will finally be leaving us for a formation at the seminary of the FSSP in Denton and the other to return to his Franciscan community.
