A visit to Madonna House

Today turned out to be a beautifiul day to drive up to Madonna House for spiritual direction and some unexpected fellowship. The day was clear and sunny, the roads dry - if full of potholes. Upon arrival at the main house, Jesse found an icicle nearly his size and did what any little boy would do...posed with it as a weapon!

While I spoke with Fr. Robert, Jesse and Paul spent time in the Russian library in the dining room in the main house. Jesse made domino forts for his Lego guys, and Paul visited with whomever happened to pass through.

When it was Paul's turn, I joined Jesse in the dining room, and spent the next while chatting with a few old friends - some staff, and a couple that we run into every few years in various places. We also saw a young friend whom we had met at our Nazareth family retreats a few years ago and who is entering the Poor Clares later in the spring. Our supervisor from the fostering agency, also a friend of Madonna House, just happened to decide this morning that she was coming for a visit, so we got to see her too.

In the parking lot of the gift shop, I spied a slightly familiar face - it was one of the professors from the Academy whose blog I happened upon last week thanks to a mutual friend. I introduced myself and we watched as his toddler son negotiated the water and ice flooding the parking lot. It was good to put a name and face together with the real live person. :)

Then, when I went to the gift shop to pick up a couple of things, I said hello to my friend Rae who works there, and as I did so, I noticed that one of the other clients was looking in my direction. I didn't recognize him, and figured he was just a friendly "valley" type. He said my name as I passed by him, and introduced himself; he was one of Jeremy's mentors in high school, and one of the few people in his entire school career who had a memorable impact on his life. I didn't recognize him at first as it had been a few years since I'd seen him. We chatted for awhile - I found out he is actually from Barry's Bay - and I kept thinking how funny it was that I kept running in to all these people that I know, from all different places in my life.

On the way home, I was thinking about this, how Madonna House and its spirituality draws people from all walks of life, from all corners of the earth, to grow in the love of Jesus and His Mother. In the middle of backabush Ontario, a beautiful thing has been happening for several decades. It's worth the nearly three-hour trip through winding backroads to come to this place of peace and love. I always leave refreshed and ready to return to my vocation. It was good to get spiritual direction during Lent, to hear that I am on the right track with my Lenten efforts and to get some encouragement to keep persevering in the ways that I sense the Lord is leading me.

I love Madonna House and the ways in which its spirituality is easily transferable to home life. While we don't take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, there are elements of each of these in the life that we live. We try to live fairly simply, and that can be challenging in a suburban neighbourhood. We have tried to create a place of peace, a sacred space that is our home. People have often remarked how peaceful our home is. By God's grace it is indeed that - a refuge for any who come to our door. We try to be open and present, being just "us", nothing very extraordinary. All that to say, it is much easier to make the transition from spending the day out in the country at our little peaceful oasis of Madonna House, back to surburban life, when our home echoes what we left behind in Combermere. We have to live the Gospel wherever we are, and for us it is in the suburbs. Thank the Lord, though, that we get to experience a change of pace and a change of scenery every couple of months.