Spiritual breaks

I came to a retreat after losing my husband, following a long illness, during which I felt helpless in the face of the suffering and death. One year passed by. Thanks to the teaching received during the retreat, I learned to be a witness to Christ, without shame, in the peace of Christ, in this world of physical and mental suffering that I come across daily through my medical profession.

On leaving, we are all loaded up with the teaching we have received. We are filled with hope, thanks to the opportunity of living like a genuine Christian family during the course of the week. We met people from every walk of life, all gathered together by the same Spirit of Charity that we want to pass on to our friends and family.

After drifting away from the faith during her teenage years, Laure rediscovered Christ as an adult. “Spending a week with the Lord” is now an essential part of her life. She experienced a spiritual retreat in a Foyer de Charité. An annual encounter that is vital for her “to return to the daily routine with a fresh infusion of joy”.

I felt that my work situation was a complete failure. I did not want to hear any talk about the Church.
Having rebelled violently against my alcoholic father who destroyed my childhood and youth through physical and psychological abuse, I could sense how chaotic my life was.
During the retreat, I personally experienced the tenderness and mercy of the love of Christ. I was able to begin a process of reconciliation within myself and with those who hurt me, especially my father, with whom I was able to re-establish relations. Since then, I have been experiencing deep peace and joy. I am born again to a new life. He is the one who leads the way and opens up a real path to freedom.

Lucile and Patrick go on a spiritual retreat each year in a Foyer de Charité. They appreciate the welcome of the community, the quality of the teaching and the essential break in a very busy life.
After six days of being “waited on hand and foot, and nourished spiritually”, they return from their stay in a foyer feeling pacified, regenerated and reunified… For them, “a retreat in a Foyer de Charité is worth 10 Club Med holidays!”

On leaving, I am completely amazed by the retreat, like a child who has discovered a treasure, an infinite treasure of love. It is the discovery of a Father God, full of tenderness, in whose arms you can throw yourself without restraint and with confidence.

I found joy again. Having been born into a Christian family, I used to be very loyal to the practice of my faith. Yet, over the years, during my schooling, my faith declined and I felt that I could no longer pray. I came on a retreat, having been dragged along by my future wife and I left with two things: firstly, that God is Father; secondly, that Mary is Mother of the Church.

We returned just a few hours ago from a retreat in a Foyer de Charité and we would like to thank you for all the favours we received: Our two children came back relaxed, with some ideas of songs that they would like to introduce as part of our daily family prayer. They really enjoyed the food! THANK YOU to all the people who took care of them.
This morning, while on a short walk, we managed to tell each other some very important things, in a gentle and profound way.
THANK YOU to the preacher for the subject matter of the teachings, for his humour and for the power of his prayer. Thanks to your foyer, we have been inwardly refreshed, we tasted the peace of God, we learnt to pray, to find our bearings… and more! In short, THANK YOU!

I wanted to go on this retreat to verify the catechism I had received. I had a long list of questions at the beginning of the week. I crossed them out one by one as the retreat progressed. The retreat helped me to understand the intelligence of the faith.

I came seeking to be fully refreshed because I had no longer been practising my faith for a very long time and I did not know how to pray. The idea of God had been given to me by my family, but this personal encounter with God had never taken place. During the retreat, God came to meet me every day. I understood that God is Love. I will start one day at a time, little by little, because, here, too, this is a beginning. I feel joyful about this beginning because I now understand the extent to which God lives within me on the path that he is leading me on.

Thank you for this simple and loving welcome that made us feel good as soon as we arrived…
A fantastic and enlightening week in this haven of peace, and yet it took me some time to get used to the silence…
We do not know each other, not even on a first name basis… And yet we spend our time passing each other, meeting, always in a peaceful atmosphere… The silence allows us to develop our other senses…
We communicate by making gestures, which become increasingly gentle and delicate, through a smile, a gaze and our prayers.
The usual rules governing how we interact with each other take on a deeper meaning in the beauty of the silence… Compassion, mutual help, service, attention to others, respect, and as the days go by, you find yourself living at the same pace as the smallest, slowest, weakest person, etc.

I discovered that faith is not simply a collection of ideas, but that it is rooted in the practical realities of our lives. We want to be witnesses of the love of Christ for men in our work.