St. Elizabeth's Retreat, 9/22/07 ~ by Mildred Green

The 2007 St. Elizabeth Parish Retreat was held at St. Francis/St. Emma in Powhatan, Virginia. As some of us arrived Saturday morning to start our retreat, we were greeted by Mieko Timmons and Barbara White, president of the Women's Group. We settled in to tell one another how we got turned around on the road! A total of 57 people came, including 4 young people.

The first group gathering was in the large room. The official welcome was given by Sr. Emma, with a little history of the place. St. Francis de Sales, at Mt. Pleasant and St. Emma, at Belmead, have a rich human history that includes Native Americans, African Americans and Europeans. The St. Francis/St. Emma site was build in the 1890's and had two high schools, one for girls and one for boys. These two educational institutions influenced the lives of many African American women and men. The schools located on adjacent plantations once owned by Phillip St. George Cocke, a wealthy Virginia planter.

Sr. Maureen then gave us some housekeeping information, as well as discussing places of interest to take a look at. The James Morris family along with the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament looks to the FUTURE and works to restore the granary, one of the historic structures on the grounds.

Sr. Angela: The drum calls us to prayer. As music of drums played, Sr. Angela gave us some thoughts of spirituality to reflect on. "Today is a day to treat yourself." A visual presentation put us in touch with God's Presence. There were questions for discussion: How do you LIVE spirituality? What components do you feel are essential to you spiritually? What words describe spirituality for you? How does spirituality affect your daily activities, work situation and relationships to the natural world?

As we went outside for about 15 minutes, we were asked to reflect on the four questions. Also, not to speak with anyone at this time, find a quiet place. We came back and shared our wisdom. There were lots of remarks about the questions. They were written out on small colorful stickers and placed on a board that was placed over the Altar at Mass.. Here are some of the comments: Look for and finding God's love ~ Let go! ~ Slow down and look ~ A daily quest ~ Trust on a higher being ~ Humble ~ Kind ~ Communicate daily with God ~ Prayerful ~ Compassion ~ and many more. The sun came out. What a beautiful day. Spirituality is not a choice; everyone is spiritual. It is what we do with our spirits and souls.

Sr. Elena: Her Mystery of Creation slides showed her wonderful work with the camera; her fantastic prints showed us how Nature speaks to us. We truly walked in God's Presence. She read a poem by Henry David Thoreau called "Walking." We took off in all directions for our Walk in God's Presence. Some went to the Historic Cemetery; some to the pond, the Mansion, the Memorial Garden, stables, granary, the St. Edward Cemetery, the dam and after a long and dusty hard path, down to the James River to dip our feet in the River. Some of us were outdone; walking back was out of the question, so we waited for the cars to come back for us. We had a choice to walk alone or sharing time with a friend on our walk. We truly met God through Nature.

Before going on our Nature walk, Fr. Andrew asked us to read Matthew: 2-7-8. He also prepared us for the Sacrament of Penance with some of his wisdom for those who wanted. Sr. Elena was available for Spiritual conversation.

Sr. Jean took people on The River of Life Tour, showing them the picnic spot and all the interesting things about the river. The young people and young at heart took advantage of this.

Some of us took some time to go through the memorabilia in the Mansion. Familiar names and faces jumped out at us, as we looked at the photo albums. On display is a picture of our own, the late Ron Handy, in his military uniform from the class of 1960. Other newspaper articles brought the place alive for me. All the different rooms of the Mansion, seeing them just takes you back in time. It's so sad to see the great place deteriorating. We prayed for the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.

Mass was said by Fr. Andrew. He reflected on how Prayer can save many; prayer for your enemies. Only when you forgive that person in your heart. St. E's choir was amongst us for enjoyable selections, as always. We ended our retreat with a few announcements.

Thank you to all the Sisters for a job well done and the Women's group also. I think all enjoyed themselves. Meeting God Through Nature was just fantastic.

~ Photos by Mildred Green ~