St.Catherine’s Catholic Church, Limassol

We would like to inform you all that the first venture of the vocational team was a success. First and foremost we raised our hearts to God for His wonderful blessings to all of us and we prayed to Him to bless us always. We thank Fr. Andrew Verdote for organizing the retreat with the collaboration of parents and with the participation of sisters. Well done Fr. Andrew!

The Theme of the retreat was “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” We had participants and priests from all the Parishes to strengthen our unity, that was something beautiful and enriching to all..

We thank the Franciscan sisters in Limassol for giving us the School at our disposal.

We started the retreat at 10.00 am with the Registration, 10.30 am with a warm welcome and an inspirational prayer by Fr. Andrew Verdote . Then the children and parents were led to the theater where they had to find the hidden theme of the day it was great fun to see the movements of all even though still they could not find one…

Rev. Fr. Vito continued with his inspirational message to parents and children & Mr.Benito Mandavani spoke to the Greek speaking participants.

Then the children were divided into groups according to their age, 3 to 5 were given to Lavina D’sa and Jaida Gustaham, 6 to 9 with Sr.Antonia and Alan D’sa. 10 to 13 with Sr. Roly, 14 to 16 with Fr. Miguel. The parents were guided by Fr. Vito, Fr. Zaccheus and Fr. Andrew Verdote

The children did coloring and the older ones were asked to explain the pictures and to personalize the theme. We could see that the children were very happy and were encouraged to participate .The time passed so fast, that they had to stop and had some time to play.

The parents’ skill and knowledge of the Bible were tested with a Bible quiz. It was fun and a learning experience for them. Then came lunchtime, it was a great pleasure to see the bond of love and the joy of sharing.

The children were led to the yard for a game of Pyniada. Then we all went to the theater to watch the movie about the prophet Jeremiah, the parents enjoyed watching it but the children found it a bit difficult to understand.

Later we had a short break and then all were taken to the Chapel to have a half hour of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Center of our lives. The children with the priests and Sr. Roly of the different parishes came forward to offer their prayers before the Blessed Sacrament and parents had their prayers too. We concluded the Family and children’s retreat at 4pm.

We would like to say that it was a great occasion for the different communities to bring them together as one family. God bless each and everyone for their generous help for making this day meaningful to all the parents and children.

Sr. Roly – Limassol 10/11/2012