The next Second Stage Retreat by Corazón Puro is set for Friday, Sept. 25, to Sunday, Sept. 27, at Saint Crispin Friary in the Bronx. Corazón Puro is a Bronx-based Catholic outreach ministry that serves primarily Hispanic teens and young adults.

Organizers said a First Stage Retreat “forms the head and the heart through dynamic talks, healing services and shared identity.” It is a three-day spiritual bootcamp to prepare the young faithful “to live in a society that is working against you.” Each participant receives a chastity ring upon completion as a symbol and reminder of the pledge, which is made at the closing of the retreat Mass.

The bilingual retreat is open to youth and young adult ministry leaders ages 15-35 “who have had a conversion experience and are looking to deepen their relationship with Christ.” Retreat applicants must have attended Corazón Puro’s monthly formation meetings at least three times. All are welcome to return and re-live and renew a chastity promise. (The latest First Stage Retreat was in April; the next one will be in February.)

Second stage retreat

Corazón Puro’s Second Stage Retreat “emphasizes personal prayer and contemplative silence. The formation focuses on the topics of family, human development, relationships, and emotional chastity.” Those retreats are open to anyone 18 and older who has received a chastity ring from a First Stage Retreat six months or more earlier. Corazón Puro usually hosts one first stage and one second stage weekend retreat per year.

“We typically have two priests in attendance for confession, and we conclude with fellowship,” Salomon Cariño, director of Corazón Puro, told The Good Newsroom.

“We have various committees assigned to different tasks; we have a committee for logistics; we have a committee for finance, and we have a committee for spirituality, in charge of scheduling priests for confession and rosary prayer services. We also have a committee in charge of social media, for announcements and promotions.”

Cariño noted that these roles assigned to the teens and young adults help in their faith leadership formation, service responsibilities that they “bring back to their parishes and put into action. All this helps them in their faith journey, their spiritual growth, to know more profoundly their encounter with God, their acceptance of Jesus as Savior. We ask God for their healing during these retreats.”

The formation meetings

The next monthly formation meeting of Corazón Puro in the Bronx is set for Saturday, July 18, at Saint Crispin’s Friary, 420 East 156th St. (6 to 9 p.m.). The next monthly formation meeting of Corazón Puro in New Jersey is scheduled for the next day, Sunday, July 19, at Prince of Peace Chapel, 219 Pompton Rd., Haledon, N.J. (4 to 7 p.m.).

Corazón Puro (Pure Heart) forms missionary leaders who empower fellow youth and young adults to live the fullness of life in authentic love and inner freedom through an intense relationship with Jesus Christ and service to their community. Organizers seek to encourage members to go out to their parishes and communities to give what they receive at Corazón Puro. The fruit of this standard, they said, is four affiliates: Dallas Corazón Puro, South Texas Corazón Puro, Nicaragua Corazón Puro, and Pure Heart Philippines.

Fr. Agustino Torres, CFR, founded Corazón Puro in 2008. He is the ministry’s spiritual director and president emeritus. Saint Philomena, a martyred virgin, is the ministry’s patroness (born circa Jan. 10, 291, in Greece; died circa Aug. 10, 304, in Italy. Canonized 1837. Patron saint of infants, babies, and youth). For more information, visit Corazon Puro.