Retreats and Quiet Days

The Gift of a Silent Retreat

Away from the clamour of everyday life;

from the physical noise of chatter and traffic, of TV and telephone and computer,

from the emotional noise of the demands of everyday living,

the demands of others, the demands I place on myself,

all of which can build up to drain my inner self of life.

In a place of quiet beauty,

where all our needs are catered for,

where the only expectation is to turn up promptly for meals,

I am left only with the demands I place upon myself.

I place those in God’s hands and the way is clear to hear only God’s demands

and these are only ever life-giving.

Consciously under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,

I know when to read and when to pray,

when to walk and when to sleep,

which talks to attend and which to miss.

God will have business to do with me,

even if it’s nothing other than to invite me to spend time in his presence.

Time to be quiet with God can be found in a Quiet Day of a few hours or in a residential retreat of several days or longer.  It may have a leader who gives food for thought in a programme of talks, or be individually guided when someone meets with you for a period each day or just be a time away from the pressures of everyday life.  It may be spent in complete silence or have times of quiet and times of conversation.

For more information, or to advertise your own Quiet Day, please go to the UK Quiet Days website.

For more information on retreats in general and national retreat centres, go to The Retreat Association www.retreats.org.uk