From the Writings
of Saint Peter Julian Eymard
Eucharistic Retreats
Four different retreats lead us into an atmosphere of silence and solitude. Treats of the spiritual life, the intimacy of mystic union found with Christ.
FIRST
A RETREAT OF SEVEN DAYS
ORDER OF THE DAY
So that those who wish to follow these retreats may be spared the trouble of making their own order of the day, we give here the general plan for life in retreat drawn up by Fr. Eymard himself.
A fixed time for rising.
In the forenoon, two meditations of a least 45 minutes each.
Before the mid-day meal, particular examen.
In the evening, the rosary, followed by a half-hour of spiritual reading, a third meditation, and the Stations of the Cross.
The ruling spirit of the outer life must be silence, solitude, modesty; of the inner life, patience, peace, prayer.OPENING OF THE RETREAT
ADVICE
Recite the Veni Creator and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin.
Commend yourself to the protection of Saint Joseph and your holy guardian angel.PREPARATORY MEDITATION
I feel a great need of making a retreat. I have not made one for so long! I need one to help me to atone for the past, sanctify the present, and prepare for eternity.1. I need to make a good retreat in order to do penance for the past and thoroughly cleanse my conscience, so that I shall have no anxieties at the hour of my death.
2. I need a retreat for this present time in order to see what obstacles oppose my spiritual progress, the life of Jesus in me. Above all, I must learn the designs of God's love and grace concerning me, the particular way he wills to lead me to him.
3. I need a retreat for the future in order to be prepared for sacrifices, suffering, death. I need one in order that I may be at the disposition of God's will, to serve him and glorify him in myself and in my neighbor by every means. He may point out to me.
FRUIT
1. I must give thanks to God for this precious grace of retreat: a grace which includes all others; a grace which, by itself alone, can make full atonement for the past and bring me for always to the state of perfection to which our Lord calls me; a grace which will prepare me to receive in his good time the grace of graces, final perseverance. How good God is!2. I must make this retreat with joy as a preparation for the heavenly nuptials, for my intimate union with Jesus Christ, my divine Spouse, and that for all eternity!
3. I must come to it with good will, ready to suffer everything and to do everything that God shall point out to me.
4. I will try, therefore, to follow the order of the day conscientiously.
The Eucharist and Christian Perfection (1)
Two retreats that help us follow the beatitudes of the sermon on the mount. Encourages us to live on earth the happiness found through Jesus, our Eucharistic Love.