Holy Saturday Retreat for Veterans

Holy Week can be a meaningful time for veterans to gather for a retreat patterned on the liturgy. The three days from Maundy Thursday to the Vigil of Easter are particularly poignant as we symbolically journey with Christ through his passion. On Maundy !ursday, we remember what it means to serve as Christ washes feet and communes with his disciples. On Good Friday, we visit the stations of the cross, suffering and dying with Christ as He descends to be with us in our hells. With Him we endure suffering and death, and on the Vigil of Easter we rise again in the waters of baptism, reaffirming what it means to be God’s servant people on earth. On retreat, veterans engage their spiritual questions: “What wisdom can come from my suffering?” Those in transition may ask: “I’m no longer what I was, but I no longer know who I am. What parts of me are still in the tomb? Can I hope for resurrection?”

Purpose

• Use the liturgical power of Holy Week and community worship to facilitate healing and transformation.
• Provide a healing community for veterans.

Process

• Plan a retreat beginning after Good Friday worship, through the Vigil of Easter, facilitated by a trusted caregiver, pastor, spiritual director, or counselor.
• After Good Friday worship gather at the church or off-site in a retreat setting. The length of the retreat may vary, extending late into Friday night or continuing through Holy Saturday.
• Consider beginning with Holy Communion and rejoining the congregation for worship at either the Vigil of Easter or Easter Day.
• Use veterans’ images and experiences as connections to the Way of the Cross service.
• Activities and topics may include:
  • sharing recent dreams, especially from Good Friday night;
  • engaging in a brief physical work project;
  • journaling and talking about one’s journaling;
  • using art as expression: wood, prose or poetry, natural objects, music, ceramics, paint, or drums;
    writing a lament using Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” as a template;
  • centering prayer and meditation;
  • sitting in solitude or in a natural setting; hermitage with a question or an assigned scripture passage;
  • receiving a massage or other specialized mind/body/energy work;
  • sharing meals;
  • engaging in story-telling around a fire.