Heavenly days in Hells Canyon

Family Retreat in Oregon

Los chicos en su lugar privilegiado durante la Misa The children at their privileged place during Mass Die Kinder genießen ihren Logenplatz bei der Messe
Santa Misa Holy Mass Heilige Messe
Rezando el rosário Praying the rosary Rosenkranz
Procesión con el Santisimo Sacramento Procession with the Most Holy Sacrament Prozession mit dem Allerheiligsten
Manualidades Crafting Spaß beim Basteln Fotos: Santos © 2006 Albúm de fotos – photo album – Fotoalbum

USA, Angie Santos. Heaven visited Hell’s Canyon, Oregon, this August 10^th through 13^th,when a group of families gathered there for a retreat to learn about Schoenstatt. And with all the family meetings, liturgical celebrations, and fun-filled outdoor activities the families shared, the days were truly heavenly.

For 15 years now, a group of around 20 deeply devout Catholic families from Oregon and Washington have been meeting for a weekend retreat in a camp house in Hell’s Canyon, Oregon. A beautiful river surrounds the house with breathtaking views on all sides; the house is also rustic and remote—no cell phone signal gets through there and the only way to approach it is by a gravel road. As for the families, they bring their tents and camp outside. Over the years, the families have had different people come to give the retreats, and this year, they wanted to learn about Schoenstatt. So Marge Rolen, a very active Schoenstatt apostle from Oregon, helped organize the retreat and secured Sr. M. Petra Schnuerer from Milwaukee to come give the talks for the adults. In addition, Sr. María Elena Vilches came to help out with the young people.

The retreat began on a rainy Thursday night, which had some early surprises because the electricity, water, and telephone all went out that evening. Thankfully, service returned early the next day, and the families had wonderful, sunny weather for the rest of the weekend. Sr. Petra had prepared talks about Schoenstatt, motherhood, fatherhood, education and complementation. The schedule included the Rosary, Mass, and even Eucharistic adoration on Saturday.

Family, children: a blessing

Many of the families who attended are related, and among them were two couples of grandparents. One of these sets of grandparents is the Kleins. They have 15 children, and five of their children were participating in the retreat with their own five to eight children each. Grandfather Klein, a farmer, did not understand why couples these days have such small families and why they think that kids are a burden. He is very proud of his kids and their 39 grandchildren. On the contrary, he says, children are a great joy, one of God’s greatest blessings, and larger families are very possible because the older kids always help take care of their younger siblings. The proof of this was evident all around, as many older children were holding their baby brothers or sisters, and even a four year old took care of her two-year-old sister with great care and responsibility. Most of the families involved in the retreat home school. Kathleen, the owner of the house as well as the organizer of the retreat, walked around the house with her baby boy in her arms, taking care of everything with a great smile. Kathleen’s husband couldn’t attend the retreat because two of their eight children were in a baseball championship,

During the retreat, Sr. Petra gave very interesting talks and shared about her experiences with Father Kentenich. Sr. María Elena gave talks to the girls and also had many crafts prepared for the children, so that both the boys and the girls were able to enjoy building small shrines out of ice cream sticks. On the last night, the Sisters showed a video about the shrine and Father Kentenich. The families also wanted to know more about Sr. María Elena, so she gave her testimony. Throughout the retreat, Marge and Sr. Petra made books and materials about Schoenstatt available for the couples to buy. From this, there is great hope that people will get interested in Schoenstatt and begin to form groups. In fact, the girls on the retreat have committed to starting a group soon. Interestingly, Sr. María Elena had just finished a girl’s camp in the Jesuit Mission in Oregon where the Movement has their Home Shrine.

Prayer moments

Perhaps the most "magic" moments at the retreat were those of the Rosary and Mass, where everyone, including small children, prayed devotedly and sang with all their hearts. The Holy Mass took place in the family room, and the children followed from the stairs to the loft on the second floor. A father and his son provided the music for the retreat. A retired priest who accompanied the retreat, full of life and ideas, kept making the comment, "Yes, this is the true church...these wonderful families gathered as one to pray and praise the Lord." Everyone prayed the Rosary outside, and Sr. Petra marveled at the fact that even the little children sat with their rosaries and prayed as if it was the most natural thing to do. On Saturday afternoon, a solemn procession with the Blessed Sacrament was held, and there was adoration at the tree house, which was specially cleaned and cleansed for the occasion.

In the afternoon, the families had fun swimming and sunbathing in the river or going hiking in the Canyon. The food for the retreat was prepared by a group of outside women, usually consisting of delicious barbeque and fresh salads.

Hell’s Canyon, in spite of the name, was a beautiful setting for this retreat, but the real beauty came from inside the hearts of these families, who love the Church deeply and who made the days there a little piece of heaven.

English edition: Amy Peebles, Austin, TX, USA