The Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW) will hold its annual Lenten retreat for Catholic women on Wednesday, April 13 and Thursday, April 14, at the Villa Maria Catholic Life Center on Lake Springfield. All women of the diocese are invited.

General topic for the retreat will be "The Real Presence," and the main presenter will be Father Tom McCarthy, OSA.

"O sacrament of love, sign of our unity, bond of our fraternity! Whoever longs for life has here its very source," Father McCarthy says. "The Eucharist is what binds us together as Catholics. How do we love the Eucharist? How do we appreciate the Eucharist? How do we live the Eucharist? Let's ponder these questions and more over the retreat."

Father McCarthy made his solemn vows as an Augustinian friar in 1993 and in 1994 was ordained to the priesthood. He is an experienced teacher, administrator, retreat director and parish mission preacher. He is currently president of St. Rita of Cascia High School and the vocation director for the Midwest Augustinian Province.

Retreat registration and morning refreshments will be from 8:30-9:45 a.m. Wednesday. The conference will begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday and conclude after Mass on Thursday morning.

Registration fee is $75 for overnight and $65 for commuters. Deadline for registration is Tuesday, April 1. Registration forms are available from parish and deanery presidents, or they may be clipped out of the March DCCW Catholic Women in Focus newsletter or this issue of Catholic Times. Access the form on line from the DCCW website www.dccwspringfield.catholicweb.com.

Make check payable to DCCW and mail completed registration form and check to: Betsy Hemann, DCCW Office Secretary, 9042 Niehaus Road, New Douglas, IL 62074 before April 1.

For more information, contact DCCW president Rebecca Woodhull at (217) 585-0664 or e-mail .