My last trip to Northern Norway turned out to be very fruitful and that's why I would like to share this experience with you.

October 2022 was my fourth retreat season in Tromsø in an arctic city. This time I led 4 retreats there: The "Foundation" of the Spiritual Exercises.  (5 days, 12 participants) and The First Week of Spiritual Exercises. (6 days, 2 participants), The Jesus Prayer Retreat (5 days, 6 participants) and the individually guided retreat (6 days, 1 participant).

The retreat took place as before in the Carmel in Tromsø – the northernmost Catholic contemplative monastery in the world.

As regards the place: Northern Norway is specific – a harsh climate and raw, beautiful, majestic nature (mountains and sea). Some are in love with "such climates", and others, including Norwegians, are surprised how you can like them and how you can live there (yes, you can go there once to see the polar lights). Northern Norway is also "specific" because there also come here people who, after various life turmoil, want to start their second part of life just here. Therefore, some people still approach the Ignatian retreats organized in Tromsø with distrust and rather sceptically – because "what can be good from the North?"

A multinational community

And yet ... people came not only from different parts of Norway, but also from abroad: from Sweden, Great Britain and Hungary. It should be added: they flew especially for the retreat - from the airport to the Carmel and from the Carmel to the airport. The Catholic Church in Norway and in Scandinavia is in general a multinational community and so were the participants of these retreats: Norwegians, an Eritrean, two Hungarians, an Italian, three Portuguese, a Rwandan, a Nigerian, a Slovak, a Lithuanian and two Polish. The Norwegians participating in the retreat are Catholic converts. One of them became a member of the Catholic Church two years ago. Socially and professionally, the participants included two psychiatrists, from Oslo and Stockholm ("in case of emergency", I would be in good hands), a manager, a pharmacist, nurses, a bus driver, a carpenter, a reindeer herder (an indigenous Sami), social workers, teachers and employees of church institutions (including Caritas). At the end of the retreat, one of the participants, a Norwegian woman, said: "My trust and my love for the Catholic Church has grown." Another one confessed: "I have found that I am in the right Church" (not that I have anything against ecumenism – W.N.).

A very particular experience

The particularity of these retreats is a combination of 3 factors: (1) the place itself – the Carmel is located in a panoramic place on the island of Tromsøya with a view of the mountains and the sea (fjord), a place described as mystical (by some: "magic"), (2) hospitality and ambiance created by the Carmelite Sisters (including delicious meals) supporting retreatants with their prayers and (3) the singularity of St. Ignatius and his path to knowledge and union with God – in this case, combined with the "ascent of Mount Carmel".

The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius is a path that opens perspectives in the development of a relationship with God and leads further.

More and more people are finding this road in Northern Norway. The question inevitably arises as to who will accompany these people on this path, because one man – even a Jesuit – will not suffice.  

Wojciech Nowak SJ