TRES DIAS HISTORY

That first weekend in August 70 years ago was the result of years of planning and preparation by Eduardo Bonnin and the men who comprised a Reunion Group.  So in reality, the Reunion Group preceded the Weekend.

 

The three-day course was a shortened adaptation of a previous week-long course to prepare men for a special pilgrimage to a Catholic shrine.  The week-long course was not practical for most men since it interfered with their jobs and other duties; very few men were able to attend, so it was thought that a shorter course would allow many more men to take the course, which proved to be correct.

 

There was no comparable course for women in 1944, and it was not intended that there ever would be one for women.

 

It was not until a few years had passed and a certain “man about town,” who was known to be rather charming with the women and, frankly, an adulterer, went on the Weekend – then totally changed to become a virtuous saint – that a course for women was started.

 

When the wife of this man could no longer stand the transformation that had taken place in her husband (from sinner to saint), she went to the local bishop and demanded he either allow a course for women that she might attend, or that he prepare himself to preside at her divorce. 

 

The bishop relented and facilitated in the offering of a course for women.

Eduardo insisted that it is very important there be separate Weekends for men and women; he said that to have co-ed Weekends would merely be a distraction.