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.
Eduardo Bonnin is the father of the fourth-day movement, and the prime person responsible for the original Cursillo. He was described by someone who had met him as: physically slight of stature, who neither spoke nor understood English very well, and one of the most humble men you would ever meet. Being in his presence is probably much like it might be to be in the presence of one of Christ’s disciples.
He must have had a wonderful sense of humor – do you know what the Spanish equivalent word is for Rollo and Rollista? A rollo is a long, boring story, and a rollista is the kind of person known for telling such stories, a bore. No wonder many communities call rollistas “professors.”
Eduardo passed away in 2008 at the age of 90, and we are grateful for his vision and personal commitment in fostering this Cursillio movement that has given birth to many other Fourth Day Communities – such as Walk to Emmaus, Via De Christo, Great Banquet, Way of Christ, Tres Dias, Diaspora, Kairos Prison Ministry, and more recently Credo, which is geared for people involved in life recovery programs. There are still Cursillo weekends held specifically for Catholics, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians.
Eduardo lived the basic Christian fundamentals: Love of God, the importance of “walking the road” in the company of others, friendship and the person, especially those who are “faraway.” This became the principal cornerstone of his life.
Today’s Tres Dias Essentials are virtually identical to the first Cursillo weekend held in 1944.
Eduardo said the men who developed the course believed they had received a revelation from God about what the course was to contain and that there was no purpose in changing it.
He went on to use a “word-picture” that when you have a nicely-decorated Christmas tree, and then many people come along and want to add their own ornaments to it – soon you cannot see the tree as a result of having added all of the other ornaments.
A weekend participant mentioned that he had heard it said that “the more you know about the Cursillo method, the less you want to change it. And the less you know about the method, the more you want to change it.”
Eduardo stated that while it is important to keep the method pure and true to its origin, there must also be some flexibility afforded to the Weekend.
He told the story about two men who were on their way to a Cursillo when they came upon an accident – they helped to get the persons involved in the accident to a hospital. Upon arriving at the Cursillo two hours late, they found the Rector had locked the doors and did not want to let them in. They said: “Wait a minute now, you are not in charge here; Christ is in charge and you do not want to penalize persons for performing acts of charity.” The Rector got the message and allowed the men to enter.
Cursillo was first introduced to the United States through military bases in Texas in 1957. The team consisted of three men – two laymen, and one Priest. The first English-speaking Cursillo took place in 1961. From there it spread to various parts of the country, including New York.
Tres Dias came about after several Protestants had attended Roman Catholic Cursillos weekends in New York, and they wanted to provide a similar experience for Protestants.
The origins of Tres Dias was presented by the founder, David F. McManigal, at a Tres Dias International Assembly in 2010. Dave is a Presbyterian who attended a Roman Catholic Cursillo weekend in 1970. Dave shared that on his weekend, the Holy Spirit totally zapped him on Saturday, and he was filled with a love he never expected to experience. He wore the crucifix he received on his weekend every day for a year, and as an IBM executive, was told to put it inside his shirt while he was at work.
Dave was on fire and totally committed to bringing the Cursillo to Protestants, but he felt he needed to make the materials non-denominational so that it related to everyone who attended.
Dave repeatedly asked for team manuals, pilgrim guides, and rector scripts from the governing board of the Cursillo he attended, and he met with continued strong resistance.
After a year of trying and praying about it, one night, he simply gave up, put the crucifix in his drawer, and gave it all to God.
The very next morning, the phone rang, and the leader of the Cursillo governing board called Dave, and said, “I will help you do this.”
And he gave Dave whatever he needed, and for the next few months he edited and revised the material to be non-denominational for this three-day weekend.
He and the original team of men were trying to come with a name for the weekend, and someone suggested “Three Days.” Dave thought that was okay, but felt the name should reflect the original Spanish influence, so he named it “Tres Dias.”
He said at the presentation that he had no idea what he got started from his basement, making pilgrim’s guides and music books on a broken down Xerox copier for that first Tres Dias weekend, which was held in Newburgh, New York, in November 1972. That first weekend, then as now, was open to all Christian traditions. This first Tres Dias community in Mid Hudson has now held 170 pairs of men’s and women’s weekends.
Dave continued to be very involved with the Presbyterian Cursillo. I asked him after his presentation why he was not directly involved in Tres Dias any longer – he told me it was an issue of pride, and he knew he had to step away from leadership and involvement in the movement he began in the early 1970s. He said it was like severing a limb or giving up a child, but he knew he had to step away and let others take up the leadership and grow the movement. I am so thankful I got to meet Dave and hear about the Genesis of the Tres Dias movement, because David went to be with the Lord in September 2011 at the age of 73.
And Tres Dias indeed continued to grow ever since that first weekend was held over 40 years ago, spreading from New York into all the neighboring east coast states, then spreading to southern states in Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas as east coast retirees who made a weekend assembled communities in warmer climates. Tres Dias is big in the big state of Texas, Tennessee, and Northern California. South Central Kentucky and Kansas City, Missouri are the newest chartered Tres Dias communities along with Northeast Georgia.
Tres Dias eventually became as a national organization. In the spring of 1979, when Tres Dias had grown to 9 communities, an ad hoc “National” Secretariat was formed that produced initial drafts of a “National” constitution and “Essentials of Tres Dias.” All the existing communities were invited to participate and refine the drafts this group of leaders had developed.
On July 11, 1980, the constitution and essentials were ratified and adopted by all of the communities. The Tres Dias organization was formed as a national organization and incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation in New York State.
Fourteen men have served as president of the Tres Dias International organization over the 34 year history, with only five having served the time from 1998. Those five and the very first were present at the recent assembly in Atlanta, so we were able to get a group picture.
In 1985, Tres Dias became an International organization when communities were chartered in South Korea and Germany. There are now 66 Tres Dias chartered communities in the US and Canada, and 27 world-wide, including 9 in South Korea.
There are presently 3 Tres Dias communities in the Ukraine, 3 in Russia, Ireland, Peru, Havana Cuba, Montego Bay Jamaica, Germany, and Denmark.
Tres Dias has been growing about 8% a year in its almost 35 year history, though there was zero growth last year because a few communities were struggling and closed. The vision is to have 500 communities in the next 30 years.
Today there are 102 communities, with 11 emerging or budding Tres Dias communities throughout the world, with tens of thousands who have made a Tres Dias weekend and had their lives radically changed by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
May all the people who have made a Tres Dias weekend be among the Christian leaders God uses to revitalize his church and energize his people.
DeColores!
God loves you, and so do I!
Sources:
Eduardo Bonnin Aguiló, Father of the Three-Day Movement, 1996, Tresbonn, Indiana
History of Tres Dias
History of Cursillo, Tres Dias and Other Three Day Movements, researched, compiled and written by Jim Doyle, August 2003
Eduardo Bonnin Aguiló obituary February 2008
Presentation by Dave McManigal at TDI July 2010 in Spring, Texas