First Annual Lenten Retreat at the Holy Virgin Cathedral

[April 1, 2007] Impressions of a day, and of an event such as the first Lenten retreat at the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin in San Francisco, are difficult to put to paper. The immense amount of planning and preparation that goes into a day-long retreat—joyously and effectively carried out in this case by the youth of the cathedral—ultimately results in a clear programme and schedule; an agenda for some twelve hours that participants and organisers will spend together. And if, at the end of the day, one can say "the preparations were effective, the programme worked", one has not done badly.

But the Lenten retreat that took place on the Sunday of our Mother among the saints, St Mary of Egypt, was something more than could be described by its programme and its planning—a day prayerfully anticipated and borne to life by "the Spirit of peace, everywhere present and filling all things", God Himself. To be present was for me a great blessing and gift, and in the closing days of the Great Fast both a consolation and encouragement by which to meet the week of the Passion, and ultimately the bright Resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

The day began, as all days should, with prayer—fully within the celebration of the Divine Liturgy commemorating St Mary, a great ascetic, chanted in English in the presence of the relics of the great modern-day ascetic and wonderworker, St John of San Francisco. The voices of the assembled youth were mixed with those of other parishioners and guests to form a choir that sung with great reverence the divine service, among a congregation of the faithful that, despite the early hour, filled the church.

The homily at the Divine Liturgy recalled the opening lines of St Sophronius’ Life of St Mary of Egypt, "It is good to hide the secret of a king, but it is glorious to reveal and preach the works of God " (cf. Tobit 12:7), and these words came, for me, to frame in the whole of the day. Following a time of fellowship and—importantly—Russian breakfast cuisine produced in abundance by the cook of St John’s Orthodox Academy, the focus of the day turned to just this: the glory of the ‘works of God’ bound up in the life of His Church. Hieromonk James (Corazza) gave the day’s first talk, on "The Divine Liturgy, the Divine Services, and the so-called 'Real World'", speaking from a collection of personal reminiscences and prayerful considerations of the shape and form of the holy Liturgy. Fr James’ special gift is his sincerity, the ‘down-to-earth’ nature of his words, and the gentleness with which he not only speaks about, but provides an example of a life transformed by the Liturgy.

Fr James’ talk was followed by one I myself gave, on "Prayer, the Person, the Liturgy and Orthodox Life". To have been blessed with the opportunity to speak to the group of people assembled for this retreat was for me a deeply moving experience: the fruit of the Spirit’s work to unite the witness of our Russian Orthodox Church in the modern world, bringing together participants from many diverse backgrounds in a cathedral which has for over fifty years been a testimony to the truth of Christ’s Church [there were 170 participants at the retreat, form the Bay Area, Corvallis, Los Angeles, Placerville and San Jose – Editor]. It was for me the first visit to the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin. I can only hope it will not be the last.

Both talks provoked engaging discussions and question-and-answer sessions—a sign that those attending the retreat were not present passively, but actively engaging in the life to which the Church calls us with special attention during the fast. Following these discussion sessions, a concert was given by the St John’s Men’s Chorale, many of whose members were speakers or organisers of the day’s events. The music was beautifully sung; a reminder that the life in Christ consumes not just the mind, but the voice, the ears, the heart—the whole of one’s being. And then the day ended, as it had begun, with prayer: Lenten vespers sung at the kliros by participants in the day’s activities, who, despite now having been present for the whole of the day, sang with energy and joy as we together began the final week of the Forty Days.

This Lenten retreat was a day of many small miracles: sacrifices made by so many to attend; talks that without advance preparation addressed common themes and ideas; hearts opened and—I have no doubt—in some cases changed by the experience of common love and devotion that was the overwhelming spirit of the retreat. But the day itself was a great miracle: a meeting-place of young and old in the temple of God’s glory, to learn, to share and to grow in the blessing of the life to which all are called. As St John of San Francisco once said, ‘The Church is blessed: it is a holy place, where the grace of God eternally abides’. This grace was not only proclaimed, but experienced and known throughout this day. I pray this was but the first of many such retreats to come in the years ahead.

And now, though those in attendance have returned to their home communities, we find ourselves nonetheless united in prayer and in the spirit of this important retreat as we enter into Christ’s passion and ultimately await Paschal midnight. May we be blessed with the prayers of His saint, our Father John, that we too may behold with our own eyes the Resurrection of Christ.

Matthew STEENBERG
Oxford

The photo gallery of the Cathedral Retreat and Concert

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