Months ago, himself was invited to visit the Jesuits in Ljubljana on the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola. They were launching the Slovenian translation of a website he works on, Sacred Space. I tagged along as I count myself as one of their volunteers and I’m a big fan of Ignatian spirituality.

We stayed in the Jesuit retreat house, which opens up to the public when there are no retreats going on. Such retreat houses, and indeed monasteries and convents, can be great places to stay – they’re usually central, reasonably priced, and quiet. And, of course, have the added bonus of churches and chapels and rooms for quiet reflection.

We got a tour of the college and the centre itself as well as St Joseph’s Church next door.

In 1948-49 the communist Yugoslav government began the persecution of the Jesuits and arrested six members of the community. In April 1949, a week after Easter, the government confiscated all buildings, including the church. The Jesuits were expelled and forced to move to the ruins of Bogenšperg Castle, isolated in the hills, 35 km away from Ljubljana. From 1949 to 1996 (partially until 2003) the residence was used by the national film company (Triglav film, later renamed Viba film) for film production. The interior of St. Joseph’s Church was completely stripped of its sacred objects and symbols and turned into a film studio. The House of Spirituality, on the other hand, became the city’s pediatric hospital until 1987. It was also a gynaecological hospital and abortion clinic. In the years 1987-2009, the former House of Spirituality, i.e. the hospital, became a building of administrative offices of various pharmaceutical companies, construction companies, etc.

The church is stunning in its simplicity, so different from the other churches we visited. It offers the only English mass in the city.

The College is a residence for young men attending university in the capital. They live as a community, taking additional classes, some discerning a vocation (and not necessarily to the Society of Jesus). [Read one student’s account of his stay.] Something similar operates in Budapest, in Maria utca, which also offers mass in English. The buildings are being renovated, keeping much of the old but contemporising it, too. 

It wasn’t in St Joseph’s though, that the feast of St Ignatius was being celebrated. It was in the suburbs in a thriving Jesuit community anchored by the Church of the Incarnation of Christ the King.

Here, on a Wednesday evening, the Bishop and some 25+ clergy concelebrated mass. I didn’t understand a word that was being said other than when the Provincial Fr Miran Žvanut, gave himself the nod from the altar. [Proud moment. Tens of thousands of people use the site every day from all around the world.]

Perhaps it was the acoustics; it’s a modern church built when the parish outgrew the lovely old church beside it. I suspect though that it had more to do with the congregation.

The choir was in full voice. The congregants answered loudly and clearly. There were no murmured responses; it was all heart.

I spotted five superfluities of nuns. Intrigued, I approached one after mass and asked her to name the convents: Ursuline, School Sisters of Maribor, Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (I think), the Missionaries of Charity, and another I can’t remember. Other than the first and last, none of the familiars from my school days – the Presentations, the Mercy, the Loretto – were present.

I mentioned that I’d not seen so many young nuns, different nuns, anywhere before.

‘Come to Poland,’ she said.

If I’d finished my sentence, I’d have added ‘except in Poland.’

It was an impressive showing with as full a church as many Sunday masses in Ireland. More than one person mentioned how it was a shame that so many people were away on holiday!

In times when religion in general and the Catholic Church in particular is getting a ragging, it was heartwarming to see so many giving voice to their faith. Afterwards, on trestle tables set up outside, parishioners shared their specialities, chatting happily about the mass and showing solid interest in the website.

I was too busy to eat, caught up in envisioning a Catholic Church with women priests.

Maria Teresa Morgan wrote an informative piece on St Ignatius and his relationship with women. In it, she mentions the concept of a ‘stalker saint‘. St Ignatius is my stalker saint, too.

Near the top of my list of things to do in the next year or so is to go back to Ljubljana, to the Jesuits, on retreat.

I am grateful to Vida and Simon for facilitating the experience and for the spiritual uplift it gave me.