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The Jesuit Retreat House
5629 State Road
Parma, OH 44134
Phone: 440.884.9300
Fax: 440.885.1055
E-Mail: info@jrh-cleveland.org
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Copyright © 2000-2007
Jesuit Retreat House
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What Is A
Retreat? | Calendar | Typical Weekend Retreat
Meet a
Retreatant
Alice Paulus
One of the elements
that make a retreat house special is the diverse array of people who come to
visit. Every winter, for example,
the Jesuit Retreat House gratefully welcomes a spirited retreat group of women
from Gesu Parish in
University Heights
,
Ohio
. For the past 17 years, the Gesu
women have come to our place of peace to rest, reflect, and renew their
spirits - and at every one of these retreats, there was Alice Paulus.
At age 98,
Alice
moves and communicates with the energy and aplomb of someone much less
advanced in years. Born in
Randolph
- a small town near
Ravenna
,
Ohio
-
Alice
moved to the
Cleveland
area when she married her late husband Clarence.
She became a Gesu parishioner in 1930: a time when, according to
Alice
, the church was lodged in a temporary location on the campus of
John
Carroll
University
. Much has changed since then, yet
Alice
remains a registered parishioner with Gesu to this day.
What is the secret of
Alice
’s agelessness? The answer to
that is between her and God, yet one may still venture a guess.
One thing that has kept her going is a robust volunteer regimen.
Over the years,
Alice
kept herself busy with a variety of causes, from liturgical change at Gesu
during the aftermath of Vatican II to delivery of food with the Meals on
Wheels program. Through it all, it
was her presence as much as her
actions that made a difference. As
she put it, her experience with Meals showed her that “the food was not as
important to the people as those who delivered it.”
Indeed, she noted, the people to whom she delivered meals would often
talk with her, and some would show off their gardens - even as their food
started to grow cold.
Another ingredient in
Alice
’s recipe for a long, happy life is her spiritual exercise.
A longtime member of a Christian Life Community prayer group, Alice
spent years following a personal prayer path that included daily Mass,
frequent retreats, and twenty minutes of meditation per day.
While her ability to travel and attend Mass has been somewhat reduced
of late, she still meditates every day with the help of a tape-player.
She also takes the time to retreat at the Jesuit Retreat House with her
Gesu women’s group. She is here
every year because retreats “make me alert to possibilities of
devotion…make me conscious of making time for it.”
Alice
has always been a woman for others.
With 4 children, 15 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren - 3 of
whom attend
Gesu
Catholic
School
-
Alice
“has a lot of birthdays to remember.”
She remembers them all, and she also remembers to spend time with God
in prayer and on retreat. It
seems that time has paid off, and then some, for
Alice.
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