Sign of the Cross
Heavenly Father, we come before You with humble hearts as we prepare for our TEC
weekend. We thank You for the gift of this time to seek Your presence and to deepen
our relationship with You and bring others closer to you.
Pour forth Your Holy Spirit upon us, O Lord, that we may open our minds and hearts to
Your divine will. Grant us the grace to listen attentively to Your word, to reflect deeply on
Your love, and to respond with faithful hearts to Your call.
Bless our retreat with the light of Your guidance and the warmth of Your love. May it be
a time of spiritual renewal, healing, and transformation. As we journey together, may we
grow in unity and love, supporting one another in faith and in truth.
We entrust this Novena and our retreat into the hands of our Blessed Mother, Mary.
Through her intercession, may we be drawn closer to Your Son, Jesus Christ, our
Savior and Redeemer.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day: Servant of God Fr. Walter Cisek
Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J. was an American Jesuit priest who secretly entered the Soviet Union during World War II to minister to persecuted Christians. Arrested as a supposed “Vatican spy,” he spent five years in Moscow’s Lubyanka prison and fifteen more in Siberian labor camps. Despite brutal conditions, he continued to live his priesthood in hidden ways, celebrating Mass in secret, hearing confessions, and offering spiritual strength to fellow prisoners.
His writings, especially With God in Russia and He Leadeth Me, have become modern spiritual classics. Ciszek’s life is significant because he shows what radical trust in God looks like when everything else is stripped away. His cause for canonization is underway, and he is remembered as one of the most powerful witnesses to faith, perseverance, and surrender to God’s will in the 20th century.
Reflection:
“The tension you feel before talking publicly is something that you cannot control entirely. Yet this nervous tension should not so influence you as to interfere with your thinking. The consciousness that you are doing the right thing and doing it solely for God should be the force penetrating every word you say. Of course, you have limitations, and in the course of the talk, you will make blunders, saying something not exactly as you should have, or even praising yourself publicly, which is humiliating. Yet all these insufficiencies, shortcomings, and defects are so human that, in some way or another, they will always manifest themselves in your speech. But to feel discouraged by this, or to be too touchy about committing them, is a sign of pride and a sin against God. The faults you have, and which you may commit, not deliberately and maliciously but because of your frailty and limited intellectual capacity, should be a source of true humility and a cause for betterment.” Personal Reflections Written April 29, 1964 (With God in America pg.51)
Intentions:
Through the intercessions of the Saints, we pray for TEC 286:
· The team that they stay open to the Holy Spirit in their lives before and during the weekend- we pray.
· The Tecites- For those attending or thinking about attending. That the Spirit moves their hearts to be open to the TEC weekend. – We Pray
· (Feel free to add any special intentions you would like prayed for) – We Pray
Heavenly Father, in preparation for this retreat, we lift our hearts in gratitude for Your boundless love and mercy. We thank You for the graces and blessings bestowed upon us during these days of prayer and reflection.
With humble hearts, we invoke the intercession of the saints who have accompanied us on this journey. Saints who have gone before us, lighting the path with their faith and devotion:
Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us
St. Joseph, Pray for us
St. Therese of Lisieux, Pray for us.
St. Padre Pio, Pray for us
Servant of God Fr. Walter Cisek, Pray for us
