In the middle of the month dedicated to Our Lord’s Most Sacred Heart, over 130 friends of the Institute from across the country gathered at the scenic campus of the University of St. Mary of the Lake Conference Center in Mundelein, Illinois, about thirty miles north of Chicago. In this setting of superb architecture and natural beauty, the annual retreat for the ever-increasing members and postulants of the Society of the Sacred Heart, the Institute’s spiritual branch for the laity, was held over the weekend of June 13-15.
On behalf of the Prior General, Monsignor Gilles Wach, the Institute’s Vicar General, Monsignor Michael Schmitz presided over this year’s retreat. The liturgies and spiritual conferences were offered in the majestic chapel. The splendid centerpiece of the historic campus, the chapel is a graceful combination of the classical Roman and of traditional American styles.
The retreat began with Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration. The Mass of Ember Friday in the Octave of Pentecost was then celebrated by Monsignor Schmitz, who preached about the necessity of making a spiritual retreat. On Saturday, Monsignor gave two insightful spiritual conferences which included reflections on the Holy Eucharist and on the relationship between grace and dogma in the life of the Church. The Marian consecration in honor of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception was renewed by the participants following the Mass of Ember Saturday, during which Monsignor gave a sermon about the role of the Holy Ghost in our sanctification. In the early afternoon conference the national chaplain of the Society, Canon Matthew Talarico, explained how the Rule of St. Benedict, patron of the Society, offers practical but profound wisdom for the daily lives of lay persons within the Society of the Sacred Heart.
On Saturday evening Monsignor Schmitz conferred the cross of Saint Francis de Sales on behalf of the Institute’s Prior General to 15 new Society members who, having attended the general retreat of the Society the previous year, had now completed their year as postulants. The canonical Hour of Compline being part of the daily prayer life of Society members, this night office of the Church was chanted as well.
On Sunday, June 15, Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, a talk on the Society’s Constitutions and a question and answer session was conducted by the chaplain, Canon Talarico, as well as by the governor general of the Society in the United States, Dr. James Sutherland. As an appropriate conclusion to a weekend of heavenly grace and inspiration, the faithful assisted at Solemn High Mass celebrated by Monsignor Schmitz. This festive Liturgy included Gregorian Chant, sacred polyphony, and instrumental interludes performed by members and friends of the Society.
Offering nourishment for the soul, the weekend also included happy moments for good company and conversation among the members of this spiritual family. The Conference Center grounds along the wooded banks of the lakeside likewise provided a restful opportunity for spiritual repose and retirement.
Regular meetings of the Society of the Sacred Heart are held in the Institute apostolates under the direction of the local priest. In addition to the daily Office of Compline and daily Mass or spiritual communion, Society members make the total consecration to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and pledge daily prayers for the members of the whole Institute family throughout the world.
After a year of discernment during which postulants practice the Rule of Life in accordance with their particular state in life, one becomes a member by receiving the Cross of St. Francis de Sales which hangs from a blue cord, symbol of the Marian consecration. Neither an award nor a badge of honor, this cross is meant to be an outward sign of interior consecration of love and service to Our Lord’s Most Sacred Heart through the practice of the daily Rule of Life, as well as a visible sign of one’s devotion to Holy Mother Church and of one’s dedication to the spiritual family of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. In a 2010 decree the Apostolic Penitentiary states that both plenary and partial indulgences can be obtained by members who receive this Cross of St. Francis de Sales.