"For Your Marriage" - An Initiative of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops

We wanted to share this great resource that can be used in conjunction with Retrouvaille, and in fact lists Retrouvaille under their support section.

Are you ready to give your marriage a Fall "tune up" or "cleaning"???
Many times as the seasons change we think of all we have to "do" physically to those "things" that seem to demand our time, attention, efforts and maintenance....Houses that need paint, driveways that need sealing, cars that need tune ups and tires, yard that need raking and gardens that need tilling - the list goes on & on and you GET the point...

Here is an enormous resource filled with targeted information and helpful articles to give your relationship in marriage a "jump start" this Fall. It is packed with many items of interest which may assist you and your spouse in finding the "tools and utensils" needed for "house cleaning"!

Every topic from finances, to sexuality, to even empty nesting is on their homepage!

This month in particular, we found this article which is a featured story by Sheila Garcia quite helpful in our own marriage journey through the "seasons".... the points Sheila makes are so important especially BEFORE the holiday season is upon us as couples....

Click or paste the link below to read -
"Try a Five-Point Tune Up for Your Marriage"

http://foryourmarriage.org/try-a-five-point-tune-up-for-your-marriage/

We have also enjoyed reading the "Virtue of the Month" with this month's being "Kindness"...
http://foryourmarriage.org/try-a-little-kindness/

Please visit the "For Your Marriage" site often - and find insights and new ideas to rekindle and give a boost to your marriage!


Happy House AND Heart Cleaning Everyone!

Annual Retrouvaille Retreat Reflections - August 2010...

The 2010 Retrouvaille of CT Retreat was held on the Vigil of the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady.
There was no better place to worship, reflect, fellowship & celebrate amongst our Retrouvaille "family"at the location of the Clelian Center in Hamden, on Mount Sacred Heart.

The Butterfly bushes were in full bloom - and the yellow monarchs, a true symbol in God's creation of "hope and healing" were plentiful and "friendly". They appeared to beckon us on the path of the Stations of the Cross on the Mount.

It was a lovely day and our hearts were full of the beauty of such a holy place...Mother Clelia's quotes were even pertinant to our retreat theme as we read them on our walk amongst the lovely roses and flowers as well as religious statues.

We explored through the presenting couples throughout the day - "Our God Given Humanity" - the good, the bad, & the holy... The couples shared emotional moments of affirmation, joy, laughter, sorrow, tears, relief, connection and love.

At the end of the day we were all filled with a grateful spirit for all we had come away with and offered up that appreciation to the Lord in a celebration of the Mass, lead by Fr. Jonah.

The next day in reflecting and discussing the retreat and our Retrouvaille of CT group in a broader sense - my husband shared this thought with me that was just so simple and yet so profound I felt it needed to be shared here on the group's blog....

"What is so powerful and such a uniting force is that this gathering of individuals and married couples starts with something lacking in most of our society & our world today...it is the very starting point at which the healing, repair, recovery and thriving of a marriage has to begin...with the virtue of "humility in heart" and we are ALL on an equal footing here at Retrouvaille because we all KNOW and have been brought there by whatever has happened to us. What matters is that we are there together at that starting place..."

Once that place is reached it is like the "seed that with the "Son's" love in the spring becomes the rose"... (lyrics from the Retrouvaille theme song)

We were all symbolically & physically given these "seeds" as a token at the conclusion of the Mass, along with the words above to take away as a reminder the very essence and spirit of beginning anew and "rediscovery" in our marriages.

Many thanks to all who hosted, presented, labored, provided & prepared meals/snacks and participated in this year's Annual Retrouvaille Retreat!