Marian retreat scheduled for January

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MAGNA — A two-day Marian retreat will be celebrated for the first time at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Magna.

The retreat, with a theme based on the book 33 Days to Morning Glory, will be presented by Father Gustavo Vidal, pastor, on Jan. 7-8. At the end of the retreat, participants have the opportunity to prepare to consecrate themselves to Our Lady.

“This is something new to our parish,” said Deacon Carlos Cortez, who is responsible for the registration and is helping Fr. Vidal organize the retreat.

Attending the retreat is important, the deacon said, because “We are all called through our baptism to be set aside for God.”

Fr. Vidal will begin the retreat with a healing Mass. During the retreat itself, people have the opportunity to learn about the lives of four saints: Louis Grignion de Montfort,  Maximilian Kolbe, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Pope Paul II.

The retreat also will serve to form different communities in the parish, the deacon said.

The parish has been working to promote a devotion to the rosary among their parishioners, and this retreat is part of that effort.

“To have Mary present in our daily lives is very important because she is our celestial mother who intercedes for us, who takes care of us, who protects us, who always is looking to bring us closer to Jesus,” Deacon Cortez said.

Through praying the rosary, people receive many blessings, he added.

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, like many others, suffered during the pandemic. Many parishioners stopped attending Mass, and “they are barely starting to come back,” Deacon Cortez said. He hopes this Marian retreat will help the parish community strengthen their ties to the parish and to their faith.

“This retreat has made me very happy; since we announced it, people have been contacting me, stating that they want to attend as families, and that is a big blessing,” he said.

All people are welcome to participate in the retreat, whether or not they are parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Consecrating the parish and the parishioners to Mary, promoting the rosary and forming different communities within the parish in the “long run will bring lots of blessings to our Church,” the deacon said.“We needed something like this retreat. … Before the arrival of Fr. Vidal, we were very lethargic, but he has awakened us.”

At the end of the retreat, participants will take with them the book to start 33 days of study and meditation in preparation for their consecration to Mary, if they choose to do so.

“Then we will have the opportunity to all gather once a month,” Deacon Cortez said, adding that people who consecrate themselves to the Blessed Mother commit to praying the rosary every day as well as the consecration prayer at least once a week.

Another Marian retreat, titled “A Lenten Journey with Mary,” will take place March 4-5 at  St. Mary Catholic Parish in West Haven. This will be the annual Lenten retreat of the Militia Immaculate Villages. For information, call 801-621-7961.