From the four corners of the United States dozens of friends of the Institute came to the Shrine of Christ the King in Chicago for the national retreat of the lay Society of the Sacred Heart. The Very Reverend Monsignor Gilles Wach, Founder and Prior General, presided over these annual spiritual exercises.

This retreat opened on Friday, June 15, with Solemn High Mass and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament offered by Monsignor Wach for the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Solemn High Votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin was celebrated on Saturday morning by Monsignor Wach. All present renewed the consecration to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception following this Holy Mass.

Preached by Monsignor Wach and Canons of the Institute, the conferences focused on the spirituality of Saint Francis de Sales, the importance of the Holy Mass and Liturgy, and the daily rule of life practiced by Society members.

On Saturday evening Monsignor Wach conferred the Cross of St. Francis de Sales and thus received into the Society of the Sacred Heart friends of the Institute who had attended the general retreat the previous year. The canonical Hour of Compline being part of the daily prayer life of a member of the Society, this night office of the Church was chanted as well.

On Sunday, June 17, the several hundred faithful assisted at the Solemn High Mass of the External Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart which closed this annual retreat. Monsignor Wach conferred the cassock to two new clerical oblates, thus receiving the two men into the ecclesiastical family of the Institute. The oblates having made their commitment to serve the Church, the many faithful present participated in the chant of the Litany of the Most Sacred Heart, imploring an abundance of graces and blessings upon these generous young souls and their future years of service.

After the festive reception which followed the Mass and ceremony, a concert of Renaissance and Early Baroque music was offered as a cultural ending to this happy gathering of the Institute's spiritual family.

This fourth annual national retreat for the Society of the Sacred Heart in the United States strengthened the unity of the Institute's spiritual family through Liturgy, Salesian spirituality, and fraternal friendship.

Special thanks to Mr. Jay Balza for the photos.