“Spiritual desire must prevail”: retreat in the silence of an abbey
Report: Religious tourism is booming. Faced with the chaos in the world, a growing number of French people, believers and non-believers alike, are turning to spiritual retreats. Report from Sainte-Marie-de-la-Pierre-qui-Vire.
In the abbey cloister. ARNAUD FINISTRE FOR "LE NOUVEL OBS"
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It is probably a simple coincidence, but a ray of sunshine illuminates the parlor and the face of Laurent (all first names have been changed) at that moment: "I am leaving full of serenity and confidence. It was very, very enriching." This May morning, this sales director in his forties has packed his bags, cleaned his (small) room, and is preparing to return to the Paris region after a five-day spiritual retreat at the Sainte-Marie-de-la-Pierre-qui-Vire abbey in the Morvan region, about fifty kilometers from Auxerre. Although a practicing Catholic and active in his parish, he was only on his second retreat. The first, a month earlier, in a Jesuit community in Clamart, was "completely silent, forbidden to speak to anyone, even to another retreatant encountered in a corridor, it was a bit hard" ...
This sudden need to withdraw from the world to reflect comes after a hellish 2024: burnout, which he can still recount in great detail, a death in the family, two motorcycle accidents from which he miraculously survived. So, at Pierre-qui-Vire, Laurent played the "game" to the hilt, the only retreatant present at the vigils, the 2 a.m. service, more surrounded at lauds (6 a.m.), then at the biblical commentary by a monk (8:30 a.m.),…
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