Incarcerated Women Find Spiritual Freedom at Kolbe Ministries Retreat

Women incarcerated at Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women warily entered the Kolbe Prisons Ministries Retreat March 14 – 16. As the Kolbe core retreat members gave them support, the love of Christ, and the Gospel message, many of them were surprised by a joy that went beyond their confined circumstances.

Forty incarcerated women registered for the retreat at LCIW. The facility is temporarily located in Baker while a new facility is being built in St. Gabriel, where the original facility was flooded in 2016.   

Kolbe Prison Ministries is named after St. Maximilian Kolbe, the patron saint of prisoners who was martyred in a German concentration camp during World War II. 

The ministry, which is based on the ACTS retreats format, presents three-day retreats within the prison followed by ongoing Catholic formation.

Retreat attendees conveyed that God touched them with signs of his mercy and compassion throughout the retreat.

Brooklyn Brown was raised Baptist. She attended Masses with a friend at LCIW but had questions.

“(The retreat team) did a really nice job of answering questions,” said Brown, who found praying the living rosary with the other women interesting. 

“When I walked out of there God had to be moving somewhere, Brown said, “because there’s no other way all these people could be moved at one time.”

She added, “There are really no words for the washing of the feet (ceremony). I cried like a big baby. At first, I felt, I don’t know about this – do I really have to let someone wash my feet? I didn’t want them to do that but then something opened up. I saw the little lady across the way crying and then I started crying and everyone was holding hands.”

Brown noted a fellow retreatant said, “I’ve never seen so many happy Catholic people in one place.”
Top right photo: Women participating in the Kolbe Retreat gathered for a group photo.
Above photo: The Kolbe Ministries Retreat at Louisiana Correctional Institute for Woman included Mass, fellowship, testimonies, and adoration. Photos provided by Deacon Timothy Messenger
 Brown asked Deacon Tim Messenger, LCIW chaplain, if she could have a rosary so she could pray the devotion to help her stay focused on prayer.
“I also started the surrender prayer. We had little (devotional) books that they gave us, and it had it in there. I have that little prayer book under my pillow.”

Loris Houston, who also attended the retreat, said she had heard good things about the two previous Kolbe retreats and asked Deacon Messenger to place her name on the list for the next one.

“When I got on to this one, I was so excited because I was in a dark place. (I decided) I’m just going to be real. I had a lot of stuff going on but when I went to the retreat that morning, I told God, I’m going to leave all that stuff out because I want an open mind. 

“When I got there the ladies greeted us with singing, clapping, making us feel loved. When you’re going through something, you need to feel loved,” said Houston.

The Stations of the Cross also provided some powerful opportunities for Houston to reflect. Likewise, her heart beat fast when her feet were washed during the washing of the feet ceremony.

“I cried, and I’m not emotional unless it’s about something at home,” said Houston.

And she sensed more love when the women gathered in a circle to pray a live rosary. She had only heard about the rosary before the retreat, but didn’t know how to pray the devotion.

“Now I need the rosary to start my day, because I can’t do it without the beads – the rosary,” said Houston, who talked to her family about her experiences.

Fellow retreatant Stacey Blount was raised Catholic and attended a Catholic school. Attending Masses and the retreat experience helped her understand things she didn’t appreciate when she was younger.

“I really enjoy the tradition of the Mass. I enjoy it coming straight from the word of God and it’s not a performance. It’s not someone trying to interpret or translate the words, they’re saying exactly what the word of God says,” said Blount.

She went to confession for the first time in 30 years during the retreat. 

“A lot of people were touched that they went to confession and got things off their chest,” said Blount.

“I'm taking a church history class right now and I was able to really connect the dots on it through lot of things they were saying. That was really interesting. And they broke it down in a basic, almost kindergarten style for some of us.”

BIount added, “It's been a long time since I had something that powerful work inside of me.”

Retreatants wrote down questions on pieces of paper and put them in a basket and Sister Marie Josepha Kluczny, RSM, of the Diocese of Lake Charles, answered them.

“They are really grateful that God called them to be here and to understand that God can bring healing from suffering – they don’t have to be afraid of it,” said Sister Marie. “God has the power to bring good out of the greatest evil.”

The core team members said the retreat participants helped them understand that the imprisoned are part of the larger church community. 

“I’ve done a lot of retreats for church parishes, but I thank God for calling me beyond the church walls,” said Mandy Tuminello, a core team member from St. George Church in Baton Rouge.

“It’s been a great opportunity for healing,” Tuminello said. “With a smile, they trusted me.”

In return, Tuminello grew in faith.

“I would absolutely do it again,” she said.

Core team member Lynette Arlati said eventually an “inside retreat team” of incarcerated women will be trained to organize future retreats with the support of the core team. This was the first retreat in which some of the incarcerated women spoke before the attendees.

“The response was better than imagined,” said Arlati.