advent" "
Participating in an Advent retreat by Internet? It’s possible on the website . Notre Dame du Web (NDWeb) is an Ignatian spiritual centre on the Internet, run by men and women religious and laypeople of the French Catholic Church. The organization, created in 2001, has as its statutory aim “proposing, with the help of all current and future means of communication, human and spiritual services and formation, inspired by Ignatian teaching and spirituality”. To this end, NDWeb is organizing free of charge retreats that may be followed individually, in families, parishes or groups. The Advent retreat is being held from the first week of Advent right down to Christmas Day. Each week, the centre will send participants a message by e-mail with advice and proposals for prayer in the form of multimedia animations, meditations, spiritual exercises and contemplation. A “golden book” permits the exchange of opinions among the participants (some 700 in 2003). But on the same site it is also possible to take part in other retreats: for example, the Easter retreat, “Premier pas” (“first steps”), which provides an introduction to personal prayer, and “Venez e voyez” (“come and see”), to deepen knowledge of Christ.
