Jesuit Outpost Outside Of Atlanta

Ignatius House a sanctuary

By GAYLE WHITE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
08/06/08

Outside, acres of hardwoods formed a majestic green cathedral. Sunlight dappled its leafy brown floor and summer blooms offered bursts of color in lieu of stained glass. Inside, the Rev. Hernando Ramirez delivered Tuesday morning's homily from a wooden chair in a small room with cream-colored walls. Before him stood a simple altar: a white table with a plate and chalice for the elements of the Eucharist — the body and blood of Christ.

"If we keep being faithful to his call, there is nothing to fear," Ramirez said, speaking softly in an accent that revealed his Colombian roots. His congregants nodded — two from their navy platform rockers, the other two from chairs that matched Ramirez's. Ramirez was celebrating daily Mass with his three fellow priests in the Society of Jesus, the religious order commonly called the Jesuits.

Bob Fitzgerald, the layman who directs Ignatius House Jesuit retreat center, their ministry up the hill, joined them, as he frequently does. This intimate circle of men has long been faithful to the call. Altogether, the four priests have been part of the Jesuit order for 216 years. The room they have set aside for Mass seems suspended between the spiritual and the material. To the west, a verdant forest stretches to the Chattahoochee River. Birds chirp. Insects buzz. Eastward, workers tend the expansive — and expensive — landscaping of modern-day mansions along Riverside Drive.

Occasionally a horn honks as commuting traffic backs up. On this morning, a visitor at the Sandy Springs center added his own soundtrack — a horn's jazzy rendering of a gospel song proclaiming, "My God is real, for I can feel him deep in my soul. ..."Eight acres of this pastoral property came to the Jesuits 51 years ago when Suzanne Spalding Schroder, the mother of a Jesuit priest, gave her summer home to the religious order. The Rev. M.V. Jarreau lived in the house — now the priests' residence — and oversaw construction of a retreat center, which was dedicated in December 1960. It's been enlarged and improved several times since.

The center is "kind of an oasis of prayer for people who either find us or come back," said the Rev. Edd Salazar, one of the Jesuits. Participants in all Jesuit-led retreats here must be silent between brief presentations by leaders,

although other religious groups may rent the facility for their own gatherings. Quiet people are more likely to hear God, the priests said. When the priests aren't conducting retreats, they are often preparing sermons to deliver in local parishes and counseling spiritual seekers, said the Rev. Albert Louapre, known as "Father Al." They also must handle the more mundane facets of life such as laundry and cooking —which often involves a can opener.

After Mass on this morning, the priests gathered in the kitchen to make their breakfasts — four men darting from refrigerator to sink to stove to toaster. Around the breakfast table the conversation turned toward the seminary attended by Louapre, 78, and the Rev. Niel Jarreau, 81. "The older generation," cracked Salazar, 64. In response, he got a perfect lip-vibrating, tongue-extended raspberry from Jarreau. The Rev. Niel Jarreau is the younger brother of the Jarreau who oversaw construction of the retreat center.

He's spent 16 years at Ignatius House, eight from 1982 to 1990 and eight more since returning in 2000. The work he does in this sylvan sanctuary is the most rewarding of his life, he said. "You're dealing with people and their destiny," he said, "with the whole purpose of creation. There's a great deal of satisfaction in that."
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