An Interview with Iva Beranek

by Gordon Nary

Gordon: Tell us about your family when you were growing up.

Iva: I grew up in Zagreb, Croatia, in a quiet part of town. Initially we lived on the 5th floor of a building overlooking a park. It was a very small flat, with my parents, my older brother and myself in one room, and my granny in the other. But I only noticed how small it was after we moved to a house on the outskirts of Zagreb, and now looking back as a grown up. My dad told us good-night stories he made up when we were kids, and my mum was a lot of fun to be around, as well as a great cook. My favourite person in those early years was my great a  unt, we simply called her aunt Ana (teta Ana). She never married, lived in a flat surrounded by trees and a beautiful garden in front of the house. She fed birds - sparrows and white-collared doves ate from her hands. I was fascinated by that. I remember a little sparrow peeking through the window looking for my aunt, but when he saw me instead, he flew away. I often think I probably wouldn't have become who I am, wouldn't have been a Christian without my aunt's influence. Croatia was under communism at the time, and my parents chose not to raise us as Catholics. For some reason, they did choose to baptise us, however that was done secretly. Apart from my aunt Ana, who has my Godmother, no one in the family knew about it. She was forbidden to talk to me about God; a very odd thing to ask of a Godmother. Thank God she did not obey this instruction that I guess my parents gave her out of fear. She planted seeds into my young heart that would blossom later, at the right time. She died when I was 11 or 12, and at that time, to paraphrase St. Patrick, I still "did not know the true God".

Gordon: When did you attend Milltown Institute in Dublin and what degrees did you earn? Tell us also about your Doctoral dissertation.

Iva: I moved to Ireland at the end of summer 2005 and started an MA in Classical Spirituality at Milltown Institute, Dublin. Coming to live and study in Ireland was a dream come true. My faith journey, which started to shape during my teenage years, coincided with discovering a deep passion and intercession for Ireland. During my Masters degree I took classes that covered a wide range of subjects in the history of Christian spirituality. I love learning and I loved studying about deeply important life questions from a point of view of Christian spirituality. My MA thesis was about an area in North Belfast where Catholic school children were bullied and attacked on their way to school, as they passed through a loyalist part of town. I interviewed a number of church leaders - Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian - to learn how their spirituality helped them to deal with this very challenging situation. My thesis was published as a small book, and you can find it on Amazon under the title, "Belfast: A City with a Wounded Heart. Hope of Redemption".

My Doctoral dissertation continues the research in spirituality of reconciliation. I researched the work and impact of Restoration Ministries, a small interdenominational group that has worked on healing and restoration in Northern Ireland since 1988. The vision bearer behind Restoration Ministries is Rev. Ruth Patterson, a Presbyterian minister, with a very deep understanding of a human heart, of our woundedness, deep understanding of Biblical spirituality and of Ireland. I also looked at the teaching of St. John of the Cross, a Carmelite Doctor of the Church, especially the purification of memory, which is an integral part of the dark night of the soul. The core of my dissertation is about healing of traumatic memories, rooted in the Irish context and the context of conflict. 

Gordon: Tell us about your time at Manresa Jesuit Retreat House, what diploma did you earn? And what is one of your favorite memories when you were there?

Iva: Manresa in Dublin is a fantastic place for a retreat. At least twice I did an 8-day silent retreat there, and a few shorter ones. I also did a diploma in spiritual direction in Manresa, a two-year programme that gave me not only spiritual direction skills, but it truly enriched my prayer life. Manresa takes its name from a city in Spain where St. Ignatius of Loyola had a deep mystical experience. There is something in a name. And while you are not guaranteed to have a mystical experience in Dublin, something profound happened for me during my time in Manresa. Over the years I became aware that I had experienced a trauma in childhood, I went for counselling, received prayer ministry for the effects of it; I was healing somewhat but I also knew I was afraid to remember what actual happened. During my training in spiritual direction, with regular daily prayers with Scriptures, and regular times sep aside for silence - I remembered. I won't say this is my 'favourite memory', it was excruciatingly painful. But since then, I have experienced joy without the weight of the past, and that is something I will never take for granted. In that hard season one prayer with Scripture stands out. I was praying with Jesus being led in the desert. Interiorly I felt like I was in a desert, too, so I am not sure that I entered into this prayer with enthusiasm. In Ignition tradition, we are invited to imagine ourselves with Jesus in the Gospel scene. I was walking with Jesus through a desert and "saw" that my own desert was starting to blossom, because Jesus was with me. I also saw that God was doing something very deep underneath the surface. And then Jesus took me to a crook, a small part in the desert where there was water. He told me to rest and He sang to me. He sang to me! I need to remember this more often. Thank you for asking, because a recollection of God's blessings brings them into the present, and there is still something 'alive' in that beautiful memory.    

Gordon: What are some of the additional studies that you took?

Iva: I value formal study, and I am very grateful for it. But through my reflective nature I have been learning a lot from life itself. Simply by observing nature we can learn a lot; how trees in Autumn already have buds in Ireland as through Winter, they wait on Spring. I love learning from the lives of the saints. Sometimes I wonder why in difficult circumstances, a few will reach a life of extraordinary holiness, whereas others don't grow much, or even choose a very bad path. In nature, only 1 in 10 000 molluscs develop a natural pearl. Pearls are created out of enemy particles that attack the shell. Formal studies are a great gift. But only in as much as they help and prepare me to allow the creation of a pearl, when life takes a turn I didn't expect. And when I can assist others to discover in themselves capacity to create such pearls, too, they are even more valuable.

Gordon: Your work in the Church's Ministry of Healing: Ireland was an ecumenical work for you? What were your primary responsibilities?

Iva: Yes. The Church's Ministry of Healing: Ireland is a ministry within the Church of Ireland (Anglican). Since I am a Roman Catholic, this was ecumenical work for me and I am really grateful for the experience. My main responsibility was to support parishes around the country in their ministry of healing, usually through speaking at their healing services, by leading a day retreat, as well as taking part in prayer ministry. We also trained prayer ministers, mainly in Dublin and Glendalough Diocese and in a few other places around the country. It is a beautiful, gentle ministry, and I learned a lot during my time there. Looking back, we were merely pointing towards the One who is the healer - Jesus - and we created spaces to help people encounter His healing presence, through talks, retreats, courses. It was as simple as helping people understand that in the weekly liturgy that they attend: Christ's healing presence is already present. 

Gordon: Tell us about Teaching a Module: "Applied Reconciliation: Spirituality & Practices".

Iva: I teach this module for Teresianum, a Carmelite Pontifical Institute of Spirituality in Rome. My module on Applied Reconciliation is a part of 2-year study of Spiritual Theology. It is a 6-week online module, rooted in Catholic spirituality. The starting point I emphasise is that we were all created in the image of God - even those we consider enemies. We start at the beginning, in the garden of Eden where there was initially no need for reconciliation. We address some conflicts that have taken place in the world, but also a key part of the course is pointing towards the fact that conflict is a part of everyday life. We cannot avoid it. But we can find healthier ways to go about it. I am aware I am not en expert on conflicts that are taking place currently, so I usually have a guest or two, people who are working in the area of reconciliation, or living in a war zone. I lived through a war growing up in Croatia, I dedicated a lot of my research to spirituality of reconciliation, and therefore I am passionate about peace.    

Gordon: When did you serve as Parish Manager at St. Francis Xavier Church in Dublin and what were your primary responsibilities? Iva: St. Francis Xavier Church, most commonly known in Dublin as Gardiner Street Church, is a Jesuit run church in the heart of Dublin. I was the Parish Manager there for about two years, starting in 2022. My responsibility was to help the parish priest run the church. In practice, it meant doing a whole plethora of things. It was a very vibrant place. We had Life in the Spirit seminars every year. I organised them and gave a talk during it each year. On Fridays we had an evening Mass and a Holy hour, which we called Friday Night Candlelight. It was my favourite part of the week, even though I was working. We would invite people off the street to come in and light a candle, many haven't been to a church in a long time. Some weeks I led reflections and helped people enter into prayer during the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, or what is known as the Holy hour. It was very powerful to intercede in Adoration in the part of the city that is quite broken with drug and alcohol problems, prostitution and various levels of poverty. I think we will never know the good that God did through those simple prayers on a Friday evening.

Gordon: What do you do currently?

Iva: At the moment I work for the Irish Dominicans as a pastoral manager, which is a part-time role. Some of the work is dedicated to training (young) leaders through a Canadian programme called Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO). These are faith studies that equip us to live our baptismal calling in more fullness. I also coach some of the leaders in the process. Outside of that, I am open for speaking engagements and I have been writing a lot. This year I published my second book for children, "The Year of Celebrations". I cooperate with Carmelites in Oxford, a beautiful relationship which started in 2020. I teach during their course in spiritual direction by offering my signature talk on "Restoring our inner goodness: healing of memories and St. John of the Cross". A friend gave me a feedback recently as an answer to something I asked about my time in Ireland over the last 20 years. He said, "mainly it is how you have been with the Lord...being is more important than doing". Any time I am around Carmelites, especially in Oxford, even if I am giving a talk, I feel I can relax into "being" more than doing. When we can let go of striving, of proving ourselves worthy, and 'be' with God and others - even if we are in fact doing something - I believe that is the kingdom of Heaven in our midst.

Gordon: What has inspired you over the last number of years?

Iva: I fell in love with Oxford, something I have been able to nurture a bit over the last few years. Some cities have almost allured me and invited me into a friendship that didn't only reveal hidden things about each city, it has helped me to express more of who I am. Rome and Oxford are on the top of that list. Oxford inspires me almost on every corner, with history engraved in its stones, beauty in ancient buildings, meadows bursting forth with wildlife as you visit some of the Colleges. The Bodleian Library stands proud, knowing the most important knowledge isn't in its books, but in those who study and teach from them. For me going to Oxford is like going into Narnia, a land of wonder that reminds me there is still deep wisdom and beauty hidden in our broken world. I visited most places associated with C. S. Lewis in Oxford, and I make it a priority to visit his grave any time I visit. His story still lingers, at least for me, on the streets of Oxford, and sometimes I wish I could go back into the past, have a chat with him. But I allow God to speak to me through the beauty of Oxford instead.

Gordon: You have authored a number of articles. What are some of the publications that have published them?

Iva: I started writing and publishing articles as a young adult, first in local parish magazines in Croatia on a variety of topics. In English, I wrote articles on St. John of the Cross and 'the gift of darkness' that the dark night is. A few of those were published in Spirituality (Dominican publications), in Teresianum journal and in L'Osservatore Romano. In Conversations (Dominican publications) I published "When Oxford turns into Narnia" and "St. Patrick: A Mirror of God's Love". I have articles in the Messenger (Irish Jesuit publication), and when I worked in the Church of Ireland I published regularly in the Church of Ireland Gazette and once in the Search journal.

Gordon: Tell us about your books "Veronica's Bookstore" and "The Year of Celebrations".

Iva: "Veronica's Bookstore", my first children's book (2021) tells a story of 8-year-old Matthew, whose grandmother Veronica started the first bookstore in their town. Matthew is from a Catholic family and they live on the North of England. Veronica is no longer alive, but she left a mysterious gift for her future grandchild. Matthew receives this gift one Christmas, and it opens a whole new world of adventure, learning and friendship for him. The core of the book is to help children keep their childhood innocence even when they grow up. Even thought its a children's novel, adults who read it got a lot out of it too."The Year of Celebrations" is the sequel and I published it in May this year. It was not intentional on my part, but a lot of it coincided with the Jubilee of Hope that we celebrate in 2025 in the Catholic Church. Even the front cover has a door pictured that had not been opened in decades. My illustrator, Tanie Andreieva lives in Kiev, Ukraine. She did a fantastic job, she is very talented. This time, she was working in the midst of war, so I like to think that my second book is a small plea for goodness, peace and beauty to win.

Gordon: Ireland has many challenges including the housing crisis driven by high costs and a lack of affordable homes, rising prices and inflation impacting the cost of living, a strained healthcare system, the challenges of increasing immigration, and the societal impacts of drugs and crime. What impact do these challenges have on the people that you know?

Iva: Yes, unfortunately Ireland has many very serious problems as you mentioned. Oh I think it is impacting all of us, especially if you are in the age group where you don't have your own home yet. It is increasingly hard for people to buy their own property, and rent market is stretched, you cannot easily choose the area where you wish to live. When your living conditions are not good, this impacts your mental health. The Irish are the nation of immigrants, you can travel around the world and find people of the Irish descent almost everywhere. Our Patron saint, St. Patrick, you might say was an immigrant. Well, first a slave and then a missionary to Ireland, but still, he wasn't born in Ireland. Immigrants who come here from abroad need to integrate, and I have many friends who have done exactly that. What I am saying is that the immigration in itself doesn't have to be a problem, depends how you deal with it. But yes, anti-immigration sentiment is on the rise and that is scary. I sometimes wonder whether the famine that the Irish lived through in the middle of 1800s is still affecting us - as a scarcity mindset. I don't know enough about its (spiritual) effects, but I am just about to go to the library to do some research on it. Also, over all the years of interceding for Ireland I learned that God's love for Ireland and the Irish is very deep, tender, real. But unfortunately sometimes there are barriers in us to receive His love in its fullness. And when the Church has contributed to this wounding, like in Ireland it happened through a very severe abuse crisis, it will be harder to believe us when we communicate to people that they are loved. And everything is so much easier to deal with when you know you are loved.

Gordon: Thank you for an exceptional Interview.