'Women of Manresa’: Ignatian silent retreat draws women to The Cenacle

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

For almost 100 years, men seeking spiritual respite from life’s craziness have attended weekend retreats based on the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises offered by the Jesuits at Manresa Retreat House in Convent, Louisiana.

That same replenishment is now being offered to women since The Cenacle on the Lake has begun collaborating with Manresa to offer “Women of Manresa” weekend silent retreats.

Response to the silent women’s retreats has been overwhelming. Since the retreats were announced in January, 590 women have registered. All scheduled Manresa for Women retreats are fully booked except for two in 2024, said Aline Harbison, executive director of The Cenacle on the Lake.

“There’s a lot of sound in silence,” said Jesuit Father John Brown, a recent presenter of the St. Ignatius weekend retreats at The Cenacle. Father Brown is president of Jesuit High School.

“We all have such a longing for God, a longing to be intimate with God, knowing him like a friend,’’ Harbison said. “These retreats give women an opportunity to encounter Christ in a tried-and-true exercise.

“God inspired (St. Ignatius) to get to know God a long time ago, but its efficaciousness still exists. People need to get away from their busy lives. With the environment that the Jesuits provide through preaching their retreats, it’s easy for God to work and fill hearts.”

How dream was realized
With men re-registering for Manresa retreats annually, there was never room to add a women’s silent retreat. St. Catherine of Siena parishioner Mark Truxillo, a long-time Manresa attendee and now a captain, approached Manresa’s director, Jesuit Father Richard Buhler, about The Cenacle in Metairie having Ignatian retreats for women. Then, Father Tim Hedrick, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena, became a Cenacle board member and offered the idea to board members, who endorsed it immediately.

Jesuit priests will conduct the retreats for the first few years.

“We want to build upon the strong foundation of Manresa and establish a solid foundation and then introduce lay men and women to present in the same way Manresa has lay men present,” Harbison said.

The Cenacle’s facilities – more than 56 bedroom/bath suites (with room to expand), a chapel, meeting rooms and beautiful grounds bordering Lake Pontchartrain –  comfortably accommodate the retreat format.

By adding the retreats, Harbison says The Cenacle on the Lake is actually returning to the center’s roots, when the Cenacle sisters opened it as a women’s alternative to men’s Ignatian formation at Manresa. The new name also reflects its beginnings.

“That’s exactly what we are trying to do – embracing and being more intentional about Ignatian spirituality and offering opportunities to encounter Christ in that way and looking at the world and meeting the needs of the women where they are,” she said.

Build on success
The Women of Manresa, similar to the men’s retreats, offer the identical, 11-talk format, Masses, meals and more, Father Brown said. Even the booklet used during the men’s retreats was replicated, only substituting the Cenacle name.

“It’s identical,” Father Brown said. “(The retreats) help attendees hear God more clearly, help them feel free to saying no to sin and free to accept forgiveness from God … to be who God made them to be.”
In talking with the women at The Cenacle, Father Brown discovered many had a connection to Manresa.

“These are the daughters of guys who have done 30 retreats at Manresa; these are the wives, the mothers,” Father Brown said. “Sometimes, I think these women feel left out and want to get that experience. I am definitely giving them the Manresa treatment. We are using the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, using Scripture to grow closer to God, to be able to overcome the things that hold you back in service to God and to be able to feel refreshed and ready to take on the world again.”

Family encouragement
Amie Chauvin, 30, from Houma, is one of them. Her father and brother had attended Manresa for years. When she heard about the Cenacle’s four-day silent retreat, she jumped at the chance and invited her sister Kayley Chauvin and mother Terri. Her dad encouraged her to go, saying it was the best weekend of the whole year.

“It’s something I’ve longed for as a Catholic,” Chauvin said. “It’s a special time for some restoration and revelation for whatever God has in store for me.”

Harbison wants to help more women “draw closer to the Lord,” she said. “The Manresa retreats have such a solid reputation, so we are using that to reach out and bring more women to the retreat center.”
Her desire is to establish a monthly group of Manresa for Women retreat participants or anyone who wants to explore Ignatian spirituality.

Women of Manresa retreats with openings in 2024 are April 18-21, with Jesuit Father Jon Ponce, and Aug. 1-4, with Jesuit Father Richard Hermes.

“The Lord is calling me to greater depths in our relationships, and my retreat has inspired me to forge ahead and see what he has in store for us,” said Pam Truxillo, who attended a May retreat. “I walked away feeling like I had been in the presence of Jesus … and I fell in love with Jesus all over again!”

“We are standing on formidable ground, and the women asked for it,” Harbison said. “It was really meant to be a place for Ignatian spirituality.”

The Cenacle on the Lake holds its annual gala “An Evening in Italy with Chef John Folse” Aug. 18 at Chateau Golf and Country Club in Kenner. Visit https://neworleansretreats.com/womenofmanresa. To join a waiting list for a full retreat, visit https://neworleansretreats.com/waiting or call (504) 267-9604.

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