The spiritual retreat not only for catechists took place at the Borromean Sisters, who provided us with an almost family-like environment of their monastery, allowing us to fully focus on the spiritual program. The spiritual program started with a holy mass in the monastery chapel of St. John Nepomucene Neumann with Father Cyril Havel. This was followed by the evening program on the theme of mercy and the need for storytelling, emphasizing that each of our lives is a story, and it is crucial to involve Jesus in it. Through the storytelling of biblical stories, it is important to connect the lives of ourselves, the listeners, and Jesus himself.
On Saturday, the day-long program was connected with the pedagogy of Franz Kett with an Easter theme – in the morning with Father Cyril focusing on doors – the Holy Gate, and in the afternoon on the theme of the Lamb with Jitka Nováková and Lucie Jiráňová. A beautiful story with amazing catechesis. Under Lucie's guidance, we each crafted our own lamb.
In the evening, most of the group returned home, but some of us stayed until Sunday, and that evening we enjoyed a lovely tour of St. James the Greater Church with Prachatice patriot Lenka and Father Petr Plášil, the parish priest of Prachatice. “Since St. James' Church in Prachatice is one of the jubilee sites for obtaining plenary indulgences, we took this opportunity as well – thank you Father Plášil for the sacrament of reconciliation, the joint prayer, and the tour of the church,” says one of the participants of the spiritual retreat. On Sunday, Lenka and I went to mass at the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Chroboly, where we admired the beautiful Lenten decorations. Before that, however, in beautiful weather, we walked to the nearby forest chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes. We were truly grateful for this additional bonus. This pilgrimage site, with its fragile and often painful history, remains a compelling and serene place for everyone thanks to the faith and dedication of many. A big thank you goes to all the lecturers and also to Sister Bohuslava and all the others.
