Retreats for those seeking to deepen their spirituality

The Companions of the Transfigured Christ (CTC) is offering directed retreats for individuals and small groups seeking to deepen their spiritual practice and discover God’s Will.
Interested persons can contact the CTC about their requirements including how long they want to be on retreat, a weekend or week. There will be a consultation with clients to evaluate the type of retreat that is best for them.

“The retreat can take different formats, generally we do silent directed retreats, which means a lot of the time, besides the structured moments and prayer with the spiritual director, the person is left for a time with God,” said Fr Mikkel Trestrail, co-founder of the CTC.

The retreat house is in the vicinity of the Queen’s Park Savannah and Botanical Gardens, so persons are encouraged to go out and “commune with God and nature”. There is time with the Blessed Sacrament, Mass and prayer. “Sometimes they will be given various scriptures or activities to do depending on their need and type of retreat in order to help them with their journey,” Fr Trestrail said. There is a follow-up in the spiritual direction session and further guidance given.

The retreat incorporates an Ignatian style of retreat direction and/or psychological, developmental tools and reading material. Fr Trestrail said, “A lot of it will be rooted in their needs and what we feel is best for them.”

He is a trained massage therapist so a session can also be scheduled in as part of the retreat. Lunches are provided by the Tabor House Bistro which is managed by the CTC.
Retreats are generally led by Fr Trestrail and Kyle Dardaine, another founder of the CTC. They were trained in spiritual direction by the Mercy Centre Inc, Colorado Springs, USA. Fr Trestrail also received training in vocation formation.

He said, “The last 12, 13 years we have been journeying with people in one on one…we offer blended retreats, spiritual and developmental or as we call it psycho-spiritual, we bring all of that to the retreat as well as our backgrounds in psychology and spirituality.”

The charism of the CTC inspires them to “companion the Transfigured Christ in His Word, Eucharist, and His people”. Fr Trestrail added, “we have a real gift and call to accompaniment…we really have a way of creating a space where people feel listened to and where they can also listen to God that is what we try to help people do, build the tools inside themselves of how they can listen to God.”

He used the transformative experience of climbing Mt Tabor as an analogy for the retreat. CTC facilitators are like Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus and listening, and like the apostles, witnessing to the glory of God being revealed in the retreatant’s life.

Listening to the Father’s voice directing them to listen to him or her and providing the retreatant space to find and connect with God, who is already present in their life.
They go down the mountain and continue their journey with Him “and set their face like flint for Jerusalem as Jesus did.”

For more information, contact Fr Mikkel Trestrail at 279-3531.

By Lara Pickford-Gordon