Since 1922, St. Charles College in Grand Coteau has been the site of the Jesuit Novitiate for the New Orleans Province. Before becoming the Novitiate and Jesuit Spirituality Center that it is today, it opened in 1837 as a boarding school for Catholic boys offering elementary, secondary, and higher education. The town of Grand Coteau itself is steeped in history, being the site of an 1863 Civil War battle. More significantly for a Jesuit, then-Blessed John Berchmans appeared at the Sacred Heart convent down the road from the College curing one of the sisters in 1866. This was the miracle required for the canonization of Berchmans who had died as a Jesuit scholastic.
In this historical environment, and surrounded by 775 acres of pasture, the novices do the 30-day retreat of St. Ignatius and study the Constitutions in order to learn about the Society of Jesus and to discern whether to follow Christ poor, chaste and obedient as vowed Jesuits.(From http://norprov.org/news/novicebios2008.pdf )
2 comments:
This is so interesting--I has no idea about any of Grand Couteau's history. I only know it as the place to go for great retreats! I love to read your blogs they are so informative.
It is so beautiful. Wouldn't be great to do a retreat there?
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