November 28, 2021
Dear friends,
We are addressing this message to you because over the past few years you have attended one or more of our silent personally guided retreats. Montreal Directed Retreats has provided an opportunity for you, and for many others, to spend quiet time away and to find God in the prayerful silence of our hearts.
The origin of our retreat ministry began 49 years ago when a group of dedicated persons living in Montreal attended a weeklong retreat at the Jesuit retreat house in Guelph, Ontario. Inspired by their experience while becoming familiar the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola, they got together soon afterwards to form Montreal Directed Retreats (MDR).
Gradually over the past year or more, three spirituality centres closely associated with Ignatian spirituality in Montreal - Villa Saint-Martin, a Jesuit retreat house, the Ignatian Centre of Montreal, and Montreal Directed Retreats - have joined together to form one integrated group called the Ignatian Spirituality Centre of Montreal (ISCM).
The result of this merger is a greater coordination of our various ministries, including that of silent directed retreats. Presently Villa Saint-Martin offers a wide range of retreats, 3-day, 5-day, or 8-day. While many of our retreats will take place at Villa Saint-Martin, we will also be looking to provide retreats at other retreat locations such as the Cistercian Abbey in Rougemont.
Our old Montreal Directed Retreats website will be available for a certain period of time, but for more complete information and scheduling for upcoming retreats, please refer to the following website: ignatiancentremtl.org.
Little has changed from the retreats that you have been familiar with under Montreal Directed Retreats. The format of our silent directed retreats with the ISCM is very much the same, and our team of spiritual directors continue to make themselves available to accompany you.
The Lord Jesus will be our guide and the focus of our developing retreat ministry. We pray that He grace each of you as you continue to come to Him on retreat with open and sincere hearts.
The Montreal Directed Retreats Organizing Team.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-11
Welcome to all who desire to deepen your relationship with God. Come and join us, and learn how to pray with scripture in the way of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
During this time when many of us are confined to our homes, Montreal Directed Retreats (MDR) supported by the English Speaking Catholic Council (ESCC) will be offering daily online sessions beginning Monday, May 11 at 10:30. The sessions will be free and accessible to all through Zoom.
Each session will include a short teaching on the Ignatian method of prayer, listening to a Scripture reading and entering into the experience. Following a quiet time, there will be opportunity for sharing (optional). The sessions will be 45 minutes in duration and will run from Monday to Friday.
If you wish to join us, please fill out this registration form and click send. When registration is complete, we will send you a Zoom link to join the group (the link will only be shared with participants who register in order to maintain online security). Your contact information will not be shared.
Please feel free to share this invitation with anyone who might be interested. Note that praying with Scripture is not bible study but rather a method of prayer. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at Montreal.Directed.Retreats@gmail.com.
For the past 49 years, Montreal Directed Retreats has been helping individuals of various faiths to find “rest for their souls” through silent personally directed weekends.
A “Retreat” is a time for drawing back from the bustle of daily living and the stress thereof in order to gain perspective for life’s many challenges and to recenter one’s life in God.
Although a weekend may seem a very short time, God can “do marvellous things” in our souls. Indeed, the Lord awaits us with open arms to give us guidance and abundant blessings. We have only to open ourselves to God’s generosity. Will you accept the invitation?
We welcome you to this site and invite you to take some time away for yourself.
To learn about retreat centres in the Montreal area, click here.