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WHITEHOUSE, Ohio — Twenty-nine women participated in the Eparchy of Parma’s Annual Women’s Retreat Sept. 27-29 at the Lial Renewal Center. Father Robert Jager was the retreat facilitator. The biblical scholar is originally from Kosice, Slovakia, and currently serves as the administrator of St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Parish in Columbus and St. Barbara Mission in nearby Dayton.
The retreat theme was, “Listen, O daughter, and see and incline your ear” (Ps 4410). Retreatants prayed the Paraklesis to the Mother of God on the two evenings of the retreat.
Imitating the silence of the Mother of God in the Bible, whose only instruction to us is “do whatever he tells you,” the retreatants were asked to practice silence on the second day of the retreat.
Father Jager said silence is important because there is no spiritual growth without it. Silence is not just about being alone. Silence is to “be with myself in front of the Lord.” He preached about how, in silence, one should take away all distractions as much as possible and use the words Eli instructed the young Samuel to say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” However, just like Samuel, it might be difficult to recognize God’s voice at first and a spiritual guide would be helpful to learn what God’s voice sounds like.
Father Jager gave a series of detailed instructions and specific Bible verses throughout the day for the women to take into their period of silence after each talk. Some of the main points in being silent before God are to be honest, even crying out in anguish; to remove distractions; to listen; to pay attention to the Bible verses that stand out, either because they are troubling or encouraging; and to journal, so that those verses can be repeated and meditated upon throughout the day during other silent times, such as while walking, driving, eating or showering.
Cecilia Hendricks of St. Stephen Parish in Allen Park, Michigan, said the retreat “was a refreshingly different approach of exploring silence in the Byzantine tradition.” Her mother, Mary Hendricks, said, “It was great getting to pray our own Byzantine prayers with other women.”
Father Jager also led the retreatants in various prayer services and Divine Liturgy.
Christine Bratnick, who had never attended a silent retreat before, said she “liked how Father (Jager) provided the perfect progression and guidance of how to use Scripture in a silent retreat.”
Byzantine Catholic women will have another opportunity for a spiritual retreat in the spring. The annual retreat organized by St. Mary Parish in Marblehead, Ohio, will be held on Pentecost weekend, May 29-31. It will take place at Our Lady of the Pines Retreat Center in Fremont, Ohio.
Father John Chirovsky, a Ukrainian Catholic priest who works at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Pittsburgh, will lead the retreat. For information: [email protected] or (865) 696-7809.
Caption: Participants at the annual eparchial women's retreat pose with retreat leader Father Robert Jager at the Lial Renewal Center in Whitehouse, Ohio, Sept. 27-29.
As published in Horizons, Nov. 17, 2019.
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