The November weather was perfect-sunny and not one drop of rain. Otherwise, the retreat followed the same schedule as before COVID. Thus, I felt extremely SAFE attending all the retreats-and hardly noticed the miniscule inconveniences, to which most of us had already gotten used anyway. Manresa had implemented a lot of safety measures & procedures to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission: attendance was limited to a maximum of 40 people, masks were mandatory at all times when inside buildings, physical distance was maintained, everyone had a room with a sink/toilet, each retreatant was assigned his ‘private’ seat in the Chapel & the dining room, tables in the dining room were spaced 2 meters apart and Plexiglas dividers were at each table, meals were served by the kitchen staff and of course, as of September, 2021, proof of vaccination was required. The last one, in early November, 2021, was my 30th!
Fortunately, since my last review (November, 2019), I have attended 3 Ignatian weekend retreats in Manresa, all of them during COVID. Nevertheless, it was offering ZOOM retreats, available on Manresa’s YouTube channel. Manresa, like all other similar establishments, was closed for several months and no retreats were given.
