Young
Catholic Adults and Schola Gregoriana Retreat
Douai
Abbey 28th to 30th
October
For
some years Associates of the Schola have been joining with the YCA on a weekend
retreat, usually in the autumn at Douai Abbey.
The YCA is a group which promotes the spirit of orthodoxy with charity;
it has a deliberately non-divisive
outlook, and uses the Church’s devotional heritage in order to aid souls. It promotes celebration of Masses in the
Extraordinary Form, Adoration, the Rosary, and other devotions. The YCA aims to
promote a spirit of beauty and reverence in the Sacred Liturgy. This aim accords with the similar aim of the
Schola to proclaim the word of God through the divinely inspired music of the
chant. At these retreats the Schola
leads the singing at Mass and the daily Offices, and encourages YCA members to
join in rehearsals. The lecture
programmes of the YCA and Schola rehearsals are linked and timed to allow
members of either organisation to attend both. Each day ends with a social
gathering at which old friendships are renewed and new ones made.
At the outset Christopher Hodkinson
distributed music books covering the entire weekend, as usual beautifully
prepared with translations alongside the Latin, coupled with full rubrics. On
the Friday evening we sang Compline of the Feast of SS. Simon and Jude, ending
with a Procession and Aspersion with Holy Water during the singing of the
solemn Salve Regina. Next morning we
sang the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday (EF) at a High Mass in the
parish church according to the Roman rite. Later in the morning rain curtailed
the Marian Procession in the Abbey grounds in honour of Our Lady of Fatima.
That evening we sang First Vespers of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King, and after
supper Compline in the Abbey Church sung with the Community. On Sunday morning the Missa Cantata for the
same Feast was celebrated in the parish church by Fr. Thomas Crean, the
Chaplain to the YCA, according to the Dominican rite.
Douai Abbey is a splendid venue for
these very successful retreats. Food and
accommodation are excellent, and participants benefit from the peaceful
atmosphere of the Abbey and the beautiful surrounding country. Everyone left
hoping for a repeat visit next year.
Grey
Macartney
