Retrouvaille is a French word meaning rediscovery. What does that mean to a couple or one individual in a marriage who thinks they know their spouse, all their insecurities, nastiness, all their bouts of anger or silent treatment, maybe their addiction to alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography or infidelity?
Why would they want to rediscover any more of that?
What is there to rediscover in that?
The next Retrouvaille weekend will be held in Bismarck on Jan. 15-17. There are six aftercare sessions that follow. Because it took many issues and often many years to breakdown a marriage, it takes more than just a weekend to fix and recommit to a marriage.
If you think Retrouvaille can help you or someone you care about have them go online to
www.retrouvaille.org or call Tara Brooke, Director of Family Ministry, at 204-7209 with questions. As this is a confidential program, couples are only given the location of the weekend upon registration, and the number is limited.
History of the program Retrouvaille is a national program designed to help marriages with all kinds of difficulties. Former Director of Family Ministry, Joyce McDowell, first brought this national program to the Diocese in 2007 knowing that people needed help, struggling in many areas of relationship and either counseling didn’t work or the cost was prohibitive. Priests were asking where they could get assistance for their parishioners in these circumstances. Retrouvaille provided the answer.
Each year there have been between 20-35 couples taking part in the weekend, coming in pain, uncertainly, wondering why they were bothering, or simply to get their spouse or another family member “off their back.” The majority of couples leave with a renewed sense of hope for their marriage because they had taken the time and were given the tools to rediscover the man or woman they had fallen in love with when they married.
Retrouvaille can be truly a weekend miracle. The emotional pain evident on the faces of the individuals arriving on Friday evening is replaced with the vision of renewal when they depart on Sunday.