Looking for Lenten retreats and events? Here’s a sampling of what’s in-person and online
Prayer is one of the three pillars of Lent, along with fasting and almsgiving.
Lent is also a time for personal reflection and as the pandemic recedes somewhat, more in-person Lenten events are being offered this year.
Virtual retreats and events, so essential during the pandemic, are still available and make Lenten prayer convenient.
Local in-person events
Local retreats
The Benedictine Sisters at St. Walburga Monastery in Elizabeth are offering mini retreats throughout Lent. On March 2, learn about Joseph of Nazareth: A Man of Action. Share a morning with him in Scripture, poetry and video, and see what the quietly powerful carpenter of Nazareth can offer us in our own journey with God and those we love. On April 5, the sisters offer a Quick, Quiet Tour Through Holy Week from the joyful procession into Jerusalem, to the quiet intimacy of the Last Supper, to the devastating sorrow of Jesus’ Passion and Death, to the sheer amazing joy of His Resurrection…and ours. Spend a morning meditating and sharing on this death-to-life journey and let it prepare you for the special days of celebration. Both start at 9 a.m. Coffee and light refreshments provided. Click here to register.
The sisters are also offering two full retreats during Lent. March 24-26, “The Psalms: Good Enough for Jesus, Good Enough for Me” will be held and April 6 -9, “A Monastic Easter” will be offered. This retreat will focus on the beautiful ceremonies of the Easter Triduum, celebrated in the unique style of Benedictine monastic liturgy. Click to register .
Stations of the Cross
Walk the Stations of the Cross on five consecutive Fridays in March at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Westfield. Enjoy a Simple Soup Supper at 6 p.m., followed by Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. You’ll be guided by different speakers each Friday, with readings, music, and candlelight setting a moving scene in the Church. On March 31, Bishop Michael Saporito of the Archdiocese of Newark will guide you. For further information call 908-232-8137, ext. 1007.
A first-class relic, 100 Eucharistic miracles
On March 4-5, Our Lady of Blessed Sacrament in Roseland will hold a Prayerful Lenten Weekend of Mary, Mercy and Eucharistic Amazement.
The church will host a relic of the first millennial cause for sainthood, Blessed Carlos Acutis, and an International Exhibition of Eucharistic Miracles of the World. Starting at 8: 45 a.m. on Saturday, a Mass will be celebrated followed by rosary, confession, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and mediation.
Enrich lenten experience with Mother Teresa
The Parish of St. Helen in Westfield will host a viewing of the documentary on the life and work of Mother Teresa called “A Greater Love.” The public is invited to watch the documentary at two showings Thursday, March 16, 10 a.m. or 7 p.m. Please reserve your spot at by contacting MaryKominsky@gmail.com.
Pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago
The documentary “Santiago: The Camino Within” will have a special showing on March 28 at Clifton Commons. The movie portrays the spiritual journey of pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, the ancient route to the burial place of the apostle St. James at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The physically demanding and spiritually challenging trek has fascinated people all over the world since the Middle Ages. Led by Bishop Donald Hying, the pilgrimage through such holy land will inspire the viewer on his own interior journey into a contemplative relationship with God. Click here for tickets at Clifton Commons in Clifton.
Learn about Jersey’s Blessed Miriam
Seton Hall University presents Msgr. James Cafone S.T.D. who will present a lecture “Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich: A Catholic Breathing with Two Lungs” on Thursday, March 30, at 2:30 p.m. in the Chancellor’s Suite of the University Center. Learn about and celebrate this “Jersey girl” from Bayonne – who showed by her life that we are all called to sanctity. Blessed Miriam Teresa’s practice of faith, both East and West, will be a focus of this lecture. Her intercession continues to garner blessings in the lives of the faithful. Click here for more information.
Road trip
The National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland (setonshrine.org) has a half-day retreat. Join Father Aidan Rooney, CM at the upcoming half-day retreat on March 25. Reflect and learn on what Charity demands of the individual person and society. These reflections will weave Church teaching with the Vincentian charism, and function as a kind of examination of conscience. The event is free, but registration is required. Click here for more information.
Online retreats
Daily scripture in your inbox
In preparation for the Paschal Feast, Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology (ICSST) at Seton Hall University invites the world community to join in reflection and prayer as part of its annual Lenten meditation series, this year themed “Reflections from the Holy Land.” Participants will get an emailed daily reflection. Accompany the school on a spiritual pilgrimage to Christ’s victory over sin and death through written reflections authored by seminarians and members of the ICSST community. Photographs taken by seminarians on a recent pilgrimage add a vision for pondering and reflecting on biblical teachings, Scripture and emotions of key sites such as Bethlehem, Nazareth and Cana. Each brief encounter, delivered by email, will help participants to allow the Holy Spirit to open their hearts to the transforming grace of God. To subscribe, please click here.
Spending Lent with a monastic community
The Norbertine canons of St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, California, are hosting a virtual Lenten retreat, Ad Cenam Agni (theabbotscircle.com/ad-cenam-agni). It’s a daily series of reflections, sermons, chants, and conversations.
There will be a new video presentation every Friday, and new content every day during Holy Week. The abbey hopes the virtual retreat will provide a sense of spending Lent “with our monastic community, with the canons of the abbey” and experiencing their prayer life, Norbertine Father Ambrose Criste, director of formation at St. Michael’s added. “It’s our job to pray. We’re the professional pray-ers.”
Participants in the retreat can see “why an abbey like ours is a light on the hill because we show the church what it looks like to live lives fully committed to prayer.”
Prayer adventure
Loyola Press (ignatianspirituality.com) has an eight-week Ignatian Prayer Adventure, adapted from the Ignatian spiritual exercises. Jesuit Father Joseph A. Tetlow, author of “Considering Jesus,” will offer weekly video reflections.
Men and women who served Jesus
Boston College is holding its first online Lenten retreat on Zoom from March 8-11. The retreat is free, but registration is required. Author Laura Kelly Fanucci will discuss “the men and women who served Jesus in his darkest hours — including Mary Magdalene, Nicodemus, and Joseph of Arimathea.” Click here to register.
Lent for busy people
Creighton University (onlineministries.creighton.edu) in Omaha, Nebraska, is offering an online retreat that will continue through the Second Sunday of Easter. “This retreat is meant for busy people,” the webpage states. “If you have time to pray for a half an hour each day during Lent, that is wonderful. If you can’t, it is very important to carry on a brief conversation with the Lord, each day, about the graces asked for each week.”
Featured image: Light streams through a stained-glass window in the Norbertine canons’ Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Silverado, Calif., in this undated photo. (OSV News photo/courtesy St. Michael’s Abbey)
