Southwest Virginia Emmaus Community

The Origin of the Emmaus Movement

The Emmaus Movement had its roots in the Roman Catholic Cursillo Movement.  The first stirrings of what later was to become the Cursillo Movement began on the Island of Mallorca during World War II.  The Spanish Civil War had ended in 1939, and the years after the Civil War were a time of ferment in the Spanish church.  Before the war, a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James at Compostella had been planned.  This spiritual journey to the great Spanish pilgrimage center of the Middle Ages would provide a time for the young men and women of Spain to dedicate themselves in a renewed way to the work of the apostolate.  After being postponed several times by the disruption of war, it was finally rescheduled for 1948.  The pilgrimage set a tone.  The spirit of pilgrimage is a spirit of restlessness, of dissatisfaction with spiritual lukewarmness, of moving onward, of "ultreya."  It is also a spirit of brotherhood among fellow pilgrims who are striving together to reach the goal of a life fully given to the love of God and man.  The pilgrim style has marked much of the spirituality of the Cursillo Movement.

At first, the Cursillos were just "little courses" (little course is the literal meaning of the Spanish word, Cursillo) which were given by the diocesan council of the young men's branch of Catholic Action.  They were given to members of Catholic Action groups as a way of forming them so they could become effective apostles.  These first Cursillos were so named in part because the term is not essentially a religious one, and in Spain and Majorca there was a strong laity of militant independence, almost to the point of being anti-clerical.  Therefore, these courses were designed not to be overly "pious."  The early Cursillos gradually evolved from a 6-7 day pilgrimage to the Cursillos de Christianidad (short courses in Christianity), somewhat as they are today.

The first Cursillo in the United States was held in Waco, Texas, in 1957.  The key figures in the beginning were Father Gabriel Fernandez and two airmen from Spain, Bernardo Vadell and Agustin Palomino, who were training with the United States Air Force.  Father Gabriel had arrived in Waco in 1955 from Spain, where he had made his three days under two of the founders of the movement, Father Juan Capo and Eduardo Bonnin.  The priest and the airmen were responsible for putting on the first two weekends in Waco.  The Cursillo Movement grew and was offered to various denominations -- Episcopal, Lutheran, and United Methodist.  the United Methodist Church began its expression of Cursillo in 1977 and called itself "The Upper Room Cursillo."

By 1981, the Upper Room Cursillo had gained a strong ecumenical support.  By mutual agreement between the National Secretariat of the Roman Catholic Cursillo Movement, which encouraged maintaining the Cursillo along denominational lines, and The Upper Room, which encouraged the ecumenical aspects of the movement, the Emmaus Movement was given its name, The Upper Room Walk to Emmaus.

There are a number of other three-day spiritual renewal weekends that also have their origins in Cursillo:  Tres Dias, Via de Christo, Great Banquet, and a number of similar experiences these combined communities support.  They are: Kairos, a spiritual renewal weekend for those who are incarcerated; Kairos Outside, for those who have a family member incarcerated; Youth Encounter, Chrysalis, and Happening, for our youth and young adults; Epiphany, for youth who are incarcerated; and Journey with Jesus for those living in retirement communities.  We all rejoice in each community's growth and development, since that means that God's grace as given through Jesus Christ becomes known to more people by the love we show them.