Our annual retreat comes to an end today. Every morning has been dedicated to a conference and reflection time; every afternoon we visited the different places of the life of Francis de Sales, and had little explanations in the places. Five of my students are on this retreat, and so they know a lot of the details, but they are very happy to see the actual places. However I realize that the vast majority of the Salesians participating in this week have no idea about Francis de Sales. So, between the talks of Fr Morand Wirth and Fr Jozef Strus', I fill in some background for some of the Indians (like, what is the Introduction to the Devout Life, and what are the Calvinists). We are talking some very basic information, because they are really clueless about Francis de Sales (and pretty clueless about Don Bosco too, as I found out in the four short hours that we were in Valdocco). So, I've told them they should come and do the ISS course (yeah, as if!).
Well, I'll be back in Rome overnight: tomorrow I will leave for Slovenia for a week of conferences and such.
Showing posts with label Annecy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Annecy. Show all posts
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Annecy retreat - Thorens and La Roche
Today on the retreat, Fr Morand Wirth led us through the first day according to Part Five of the Devout Life in his morning conference. In the afternoon, we took a tour of the birthplace of St Francis de Sales (Thorens) and the town of La Roche, where he had his early schooling.
Just beside the parish church is a simple monument to St Francis de Sales. It serves as a welcome sign to the town and divides the town's principal street. Among the monuments to Francis de Sales, it is quite simple and, for this reason, also quite lovely.
La Roche is a town of medieval origins, rich in history and significance for Savoy. It is today the tenth city in size and influence in Haute Savoie. It is also the town where Francis de Sales and his three cousins received their primary schooling. The parish church has an onion dome. This is a sign that the townspeople fought with Napoleon in the campaign against Russia. Napoleon lost the war and many in his empire lost their lives, but the onion-dome belltowers still proclaim the heroism of the townspeople. It is, I suppose, a consolation prize.
Thorens - Salesianum: the first stop in the talking tour or retreat pilgrimage was the birthplace of St Francis de Sales. Nothing remains of the original chateau, burned during the 30 years war. Over the site of the place where the master bedroom stood is now a chapel to commemorate the birth of our saint. It is a bit of a disappointment for us, but the best we can have now, 400 years later. It brings home the undrstanding that these placid hills were outraged by generations of wars. So if we could not visit the actual home of the child Francis, at least we can stand on the same spot.Birthplace of St Francis de Sales
Church of Saint Maurice, parish church of Thorens. It is here that Francis de Sales was baptized on 28 August 1567. He chose to be ordained bishop in this same church. This took place on 8 December 1602.Saint Maurice, Thorens
Thorens: Monument to St Francis de Sales
The De Sales Family CastleSalesianum: this is the name of the home of the De Sales Family. It is also known as Chateau De Sales, and it is a real castle. This terrain and structure predates the arrival of the De Sales Family to Thorens. It was orginally a fortress, built to defend the valley from the onslaught of the French. Francis' father and uncle were responsible for this line of defense in the years after Savoy regained its independence in 1559. Francis' younger brother Louis de Sales, also a military man, secured this castle as the family home. After the birthplace of Francis and his brothers and sisters was destroyed by fire during the Thirty-Years War, this became the main residence for the de Sales family, and remained so until just a year ago when the last descendent of Louis de Sales died. His widow has closed it to the public in the past year.
La Roche-sur-Furon
Monday, April 17, 2006
Easter journey and retreat preparation
Last night (Easter Sunday night) a group of us left Rome for Torino. The group included students and staff from the UPS, from Testaccio, as well as various Salesians from the Roman province. Our destination is Annecy, for the annual retreat. We will be led through the retreat by Morand Wirth through the places of St Francis de Sales.
I am making this my annual retreat, and while I have been to Annecy three times already, I have never spent more than two days there. Needless to say, I am looking forward to this.
Okay, we got to Torino at 6:30, and reached the mother house at Valdocco at 7:15. Waiting for us was John Roche, who is from my own province of course. John is also taking part in this retreat, as are several others from the Don Bosco community of the UPS. He did not come with us on the bus last night because he traveled to Torino directly from Treviso, where he has been helping with Holy Week confessions. He has now had the experience of the Cure of Ars, for from the Saturday before Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday, he was hearing confessions for seven hours every day. And because there were a lot of people for the masses too, he was needed to preach. He said he learned more Italian in the confessional than in the Italian classes he took last September!
After morning prayers in the church of St Francis de Sales, and breakfast in the pilgrim lunch room, there was free time until 11:00 mass in the basilica. I saw a friend of mine from the 1970s, Franco Lotto. We visited for about an hour, but then I noticed that our Roman group was wandering around aimlessly. That's when it dawned on me. It is Easter Monday, which is a holiday in Italy. All the shops are closed today! So what are these guys going to do for the next two hours before Mass?
Saying goodbye to Franco, I went and found John Roche and a couple of Indian classmates of his (both of whom are named Sebastian) and offered to show them some of the historical places in the vicinity. They were pleased with this, and so I took them on a brisk walk to see some of the places within walking distance: the Rifugio, the little Hospital of St Filomena, the mother house of the Sister of St Anne (all founded by the Marchesa Barolo), the Cottolengo, the Insane Asylum (where they tried to cart off Don Bosco, but he slammed the carriage door on the monsignori, and they ended up there instead), the Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation, the main street of 19th Century Torino (Grosso Dora) and the path that Dominic Savio and John Cagliero used to take to get to school, the school where Savio, Rua, Cagliero, and classmates did their Middle School, the church of St Francis of Assisi, the City Hall, the church of the Dominicans where Don Bosco and the Oratory Boys ministered to the Cholera Victims in 1854…
As I say, I brought them to these places really quickly, just touching the surface, since we only had about 90 minutes. But John and the two Sebastians were very happy, since they had heard of these places, but never even seen a photo of any of them. If there had been time, I would have taken them to the Cathedral to see the Shroud (encased, not on display), but there was no time really.
After mass and a quick lunch, we left Torino for the four hour bus ride to Annecy. Annecy is the home town of Francis de Sales. There were 57 of us on the bus (a bus which was designed for 40, but which has squeezed in more seats. It is not exactly American Airlines for leg room!) Then this evening, we started the retreat formally.
I am making this my annual retreat, and while I have been to Annecy three times already, I have never spent more than two days there. Needless to say, I am looking forward to this.
Okay, we got to Torino at 6:30, and reached the mother house at Valdocco at 7:15. Waiting for us was John Roche, who is from my own province of course. John is also taking part in this retreat, as are several others from the Don Bosco community of the UPS. He did not come with us on the bus last night because he traveled to Torino directly from Treviso, where he has been helping with Holy Week confessions. He has now had the experience of the Cure of Ars, for from the Saturday before Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday, he was hearing confessions for seven hours every day. And because there were a lot of people for the masses too, he was needed to preach. He said he learned more Italian in the confessional than in the Italian classes he took last September!
After morning prayers in the church of St Francis de Sales, and breakfast in the pilgrim lunch room, there was free time until 11:00 mass in the basilica. I saw a friend of mine from the 1970s, Franco Lotto. We visited for about an hour, but then I noticed that our Roman group was wandering around aimlessly. That's when it dawned on me. It is Easter Monday, which is a holiday in Italy. All the shops are closed today! So what are these guys going to do for the next two hours before Mass?Saying goodbye to Franco, I went and found John Roche and a couple of Indian classmates of his (both of whom are named Sebastian) and offered to show them some of the historical places in the vicinity. They were pleased with this, and so I took them on a brisk walk to see some of the places within walking distance: the Rifugio, the little Hospital of St Filomena, the mother house of the Sister of St Anne (all founded by the Marchesa Barolo), the Cottolengo, the Insane Asylum (where they tried to cart off Don Bosco, but he slammed the carriage door on the monsignori, and they ended up there instead), the Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation, the main street of 19th Century Torino (Grosso Dora) and the path that Dominic Savio and John Cagliero used to take to get to school, the school where Savio, Rua, Cagliero, and classmates did their Middle School, the church of St Francis of Assisi, the City Hall, the church of the Dominicans where Don Bosco and the Oratory Boys ministered to the Cholera Victims in 1854…
Monument to St Joseph Cottolengo at the famous hospital that he founded
After mass and a quick lunch, we left Torino for the four hour bus ride to Annecy. Annecy is the home town of Francis de Sales. There were 57 of us on the bus (a bus which was designed for 40, but which has squeezed in more seats. It is not exactly American Airlines for leg room!) Then this evening, we started the retreat formally.
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