From Sunday, 28 September, to Friday, 3 October 2025, the annual retreat took place at the community of the Fathers in Lommel (Belgium), under the direction of the Father Provincial Eugène van Heijst on the theme “Eucharistic spirituality in the history of salvation.”

The ten participants of the retreat were warmly welcomed by the six Fathers of Lommel. From Nijmegen, the following participated: Father Jim, Father Piet, Father Jan, and Brother Louis; from Amsterdam: Father/Bishop Jan, and the associates Alexander, Lucia, and Thea. Also present were two sisters from Genk (Belgium): Gerarda and Odette.

The retreat took place largely in silence, except for midday and evening meals, and the first evening of welcome was a warm gathering. The agenda was very full: breakfast, Lauds with Eucharist, conference, midday prayer with lunch, conference, adoration, Vespers with dinner, and finally Compline.

During the conference, Father Eugene presented his latest book entitled "The Eucharist, Paradise of Love. Eucharistic Spirituality in Salvation History" (July 4, 2025).

This work began with the following sentence uttered by Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, the Papal preacher, in 2022 before the Roman Curia during his first Lenten meditation:

The Eucharist is inseparable from the history of salvation. However, it is present in three different ways, in the three times – or phases – of salvation: it is present in the Old Testament as a prefiguration; it is present in the New Testament as an event; and it is present in the time of the Church as a sacrament. Prefiguration anticipates and prepares for the event, while the sacrament “prolongs” and actualizes the event.

Fr Eugène’s book is structured in the same way and presents texts from the Old Testament, New Testament and history of the Church. Each text is accompanied by a reflection on the manner in which it can help us to live a spirituality based on the Eucharist to better understand this Sacrament.

Each day, several texts from this book were discussed. After studying some illustrations (including those by the book’s illustrator, Koen Lemmers), we considered prefiguration (Old Testament), the event (New Testament), and the actualization of the event. For each theme, we examined which elements from the Old and New Testament texts could help us in our Eucharistic spirituality.

Fr Eugène did the same retreat with the French religious and lay associates in September 2025 at Colombier. There too, priests and lay people from the Eucharistic Fraternities studied his book.

Here are some examples of the topics discussed:

• A half-day was devoted to the theme “Manna from Heaven.” What are the challenges I face today, what are the current needs, and how can I meet them? Compare this to our Father Eymard, who, notably in Paris, gave a beautiful answer to this question.
• Or again, on the theme of “The Last Supper,” “Do I also believe that Christ is present?” “Do I allow myself to be transformed? Is there room within me?”
• And the theme of gift of self: as far as Father Eymard himself is concerned, he had a strong character and had to try to be less severe towards his confreres (especially towards De Cuers). Father Eymard had to evolve to accept this about himself. At the end of his life, he realised: “But what have I done up to now?” He became increasingly aware that he had to make a choice, not for his works/God’s works (founding a congregation, giving lectures, etc.), but that he had to make a choice for God. Father Eymard discovered more and more that he should not offer his works, but himself. Non tua, sed te, it is not about your works, but about you. And he did this through the difficulties he encountered in his own Congregation. Christ gave himself on the Cross and gives himself in the Eucharist. Can I associate myself with this? Can I give myself for the other like Christ, but then as a white martyr? We read Rule of Life number 2 in what Christ’s gift of self and the self-giving of Eymard are paralleled. Father Eymard associated himself with Christ’s gift of himself. The gift of self, which became clear during his retreat in Rome, the interior cenacle, the fruit of the Eucharist. This requires a dynamic in which this self-giving will be required every day, not only of Father Eymard, but of every Christian.

Finally, great gratitude to the priests of Lommel for their warm hospitality. With great care and love, they gave us a wonderful time in their community. Many thanks also to the cooks; the food was excellent. The family bond was clearly palpable. Wherever we are, priests, brothers, associates of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, we are united in the Eymardian family.

Thank you to our provincial, Father Eugène van Heijst. During this retreat, we received much inspiration to live from the Eucharist. God is present and works with his salvation from the Old Testament to the present day.

Amsterdam, 19 October 2025

Madam Thea van der Klei
SSS Associate of Amsterdam