A weekend Lenten retreat for women is planned at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in the Bronx, to be conducted in Spanish and set for Saturday and Sunday, March 9-10.

Auxiliary Bishop Joseph A. Espaillat will serve as principal celebrant and homilist of the opening Mass.

The retreat is called “Congreso de Mujeres,” (Congress of Women), hosted by the New York archdiocesan Charismatic Renewal. The theme will be “Vengo a Sanar.” (I Come to Heal).                                 

“It is important to recognize their identity as women, and help them to know their identity as daughters of God,” Juan De La Rosa, a lead administrator at the parish, told The Good Newsroom this week.

This is the second year the annual retreat will be held.                          

De La Rosa, who will be one of the event speakers, is also the Charismatic Renewal director. He said the gathering will include Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament twice. Father Alberto Rivas from the Archdiocese of Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, will also be a speaker, as well as Sister Jesusyessenia, SCR, from the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.       

“It is important to provide testimonials that God loves them, serving each woman with love and giving the best of ourselves for the common good of the Church of Christ,” said Maria Mentado, who will serve as an event volunteer.   

Mentado, mother of two and grandmother of a toddler girl, noted she was dedicated to raising her son and daughter with the faith, as she was raised when she was a child and into her teen years.   

Also planned is a Sunday morning panel discussion by several women psychologists and medical doctors. “They will respond to questions about women’s physical, mental and spiritual health,” De La Rosa said.     

The retreat choir is set to be from the Isha-Bethel Ministry, the women’s group at the Hispanic Catholic Charismatic Center in the Bronx (The center site hosted a three-day Lenten retreat for men, Feb. 23-25; about 170 attended).   

The event hours each day at Tolentine will be 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Bishop Espaillat will celebrate Mass at 11 a.m. Saturday. Father Rivas will serve as principal celebrant and homilist of the closing Mass, 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

The Congress of Women gathering will be held inside the parish’s Centro Padre Smith (Father Smith Center). St. Nicholas of Tolentine is located at 2345 University Ave., the Bronx. For more information call the parish: (718) 295-6800.