Cursillo Weekends
Cursillo is short for “Cursillo de Cristiandad,” which means “short course on Christianity.” It was founded in 1944 as an apostolic Roman Catholic movement, in which a group of Spanish laymen sought to draw the other young men of Mallorca to know Christ better by praying, working, reflecting on the world, and evaluating their efforts to bring about the kingdom of God together.
Since then, the movement has expanded into other Christian faith traditions, including our own. The Episcopal Cursillo weekend is a three-day retreat, in which participants experience “shared prayer, individual meditation, worship, study, fellowship, laughter, tears, and unconditional love.” The Oregon Diocese put it like this:
“The Cursillo is a blend of seriousness and light-heartedness, of spiritual exercises and talks by lay people and clergy … But these words fail to convey the experience of Cursillo, much [as] trying to use words to describe music can never replace the experience of actually hearing the music.”
In fact, the Cursillo ministry is much larger than a weekend. These three days commence an ongoing process of personal development, used by committed laypeople to enrich and deepen their faith, both philosophically and practically.
After the retreat, folks continue to get together for Ultreya (which means “onward”), a time to pray and talk about what has nourished your life in Christ and what you’re doing to nourish your life in Christ further. Being in a supportive group is very helpful in our journey.