Days with the Lord
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Days with the Lord (DWTL) is a private 3-day retreat catering to young Christian girls and boys. It was founded by Jesuit brothers in the Ateneo de Manila University and has since then been incorporated into several other institutions in the Philippines as well as in the United States. Some of these schools include: Xavier School, Immaculate Conception Academy, and many others.
Though it maybe classified as a retreat it isn't exactly considered one nor is it in most cases referred to as a retreat (in its Ignatian sense). Bro. Mike Bulan (AHS batch 63 who was moderator of the Days With the Lord from SY 2004-2005 to 2005-2006 said it is more of "a spiritual workshop".
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[edit] Origins
The Days with the Lord was created to supplement the needs of Ateneo de Manila High School students which were not entertained during the annual fourth year retreat. The first session of the Days with the Lord was in November 11-13, 1966, which was very much different from what the Days with the Lord is now. 16 sophomores(it was then given to sophomores unlike today where it is exclusive to the juniors and seniors of the Ateneo High School) were brought to the house of former Jesuit novice Bert Bengson. Along with the students were a group of Jesuits namely Fr. Francisco Glover (who is dubbed the founder of the movement), Ed Garcia, Jun Jesena, Armando Dael, Darding Pineda, Mike Egan and Chirs Comroy and Dr. Onofre Pagsanhan.
[edit] First Crisis
Two years after the start of the activity, the community received its most devastating blow when an accident occurred involving a gun. The accident resulted in a court trial which continued for several years and it was descided by the school administration to discontinue the Days with the Lord. Though the Ateneo High School Days community hibernated, other communities flourished which included Xavier School and Immaculate Conception Academy.
[edit] Revival and the Glory Days
In 1982, Bro. James Dunne, who was then just a student councelor descided it was time to revive the Days with the Lord. Together with four selected student leaders, Abet Cuesta, Mark Macaventa, Chito Salazar, and Raymundo Sison, joined Xavier High School batch #26, on August 8, 1982. The following month, with the help of Xavier Dazers, the first batch of the new Days was held at the Ateneo de Manila. To date more than one hundred thiry batches have been held, all with tremendous success.
The Ateneo High School community now boasts the most of number of batches. As of October 22, 2006, the 231st batch concluded its final mass and is a two weeks away from the 232nd batch.
The Days has become such a success that it was said that your high school life is not complete unless you go through the three days of the exercise. Though many will testify to this, the Days with the Lord was never made a requirement in the Ateneo High School until school year 2006-2007.
[edit] Facts
- All DWTL communities now celebrate the date when the first session of the days began which is November 11. Every Year a mass is held which is sponsored by one community called the Grand Days Mass. The 39th Grand Days Mass was held at the heart and origin of the Days with the Lord, the Ateneo de Manila High School in 2005.
- Omar Diaz, along with alumni members of the Ateneo de Manila High School Days with the Lord and other alumnae members from schools such as St. Scholastica's, Assumption, and ICA started the A-Days community in the Loyola schools in the summer of 1998. The first batch had 10 participants. What began as a one-off retreat that Diaz's org Kaingin wanted to offer its members turned out to be something bigger than what the staffers of that batch had imagined. Before that batch was over, clearly, the staffers all agreed, there had to be another one. And another. And another. The A-Days community has grown through the years and is up to its 34th Batch as of this writing.
- People who volunteer to staff during the sessions are called staffers
- Directors are selected every batch, in the Ateneo High school community two rectors are usually chosen each batch. These people are called rectors.
- People who have gone through the Days with the Lord are called Dazers
- The numbers after a dazer's name is his batch number (the number of the batch he participated in). In cases where there are two numbers the first number is the batch the dazer participated in and the second is his rectoring batch).
- Though there have been many rumors of "hazing" it has never been truly proven as dazers are sworn to secrecy.
- Contrary to popular belief all participants are given the choice to back out at any moment during the 3-day sessions and the schools are held accountable for their safety.
[edit] External links
- ayson.ph/dwtl - an old site containing records of the Days with the Lord considered by many *to be the official website of the Days with the Lord
- AHS DWTL goes online - Ateneo de Manila High School Days with the Lord Yahoo Group
