Retreats 2019-2020

All are welcome to join us for a peaceful and spiritual retreat at our beautiful abbey. Offering includes accommodation and meals. Advance registration is required. Please contact our retreat office 781-749-2155 ext. 300 or email retreats@glastonburyabbey.org

November 1 – 3, 2019:
The Practice of Presence to Self

Facilitators: Martin Mullins, MSc, and Bro. Daniel Walters, OSB
Suggested Offering: $200

Presence points to a feeling of awareness, corresponding to the Buddhist term of mindfulness. It is a heart knowing of the self in the now. Engagement with this practice in our daily lives will be presented as one path to lead us on the way toward fullness of being.

Martin Mullins has studied and practiced Psychosynthesis and transpersonal theory for the past twenty eight-years. His seminal training was at Eckhart House, Institute of Psychosynthesis and Transpersonal Theory in Dublin, Ireland. Martin has also studied at the Institute of Psychosynthesis, London and participated in programs at the Durckheim Center, Germany.

December 6 – 8, 2019:
Advent Retreat – Come to the Stable

Facilitator: Abbot Thomas O’Connor, OSB
Suggested Offering: $200

Will Christmas be different this year? During Advent we continue our search for God and God’s desire for us. This invitation to “Come to the Stable” calls us to journey towards Christmas – waiting in anticipation for the incarnation of God in our lives. If we accept the invitation, what awaits us?

December 28, 2019 - January 1, 2020:
New Year Retreat – Listening to Silence

Facilitator: Br. Matthias Bodnar, OSB
Suggested Offering: $200

Your year will end and your new year will begin in a monastic setting, guided by Br. Matthias along with his fellow monks. We will attempt to help you tap into the silence that guides our monastic existence in hopes that you will carry this very silence not only into your new year but into your entire year. Guidance in Centered Daily Rhythms, Healthy Food Nourishment & Grounded Meditation Practices will be the focus of your experience during this retreat. If you are searching for new ways to tap into the Spirit to help guide you in the year of 2020, this retreat is just what you need.

January 16 - 19, 2020:
A Brush with God: An Icon Retreat & Workshop

Facilitator: Peter Pearson, MDiv, ThD
Suggested Offering: $520 (All-inclusive Retreat: lodging, use of monastery grounds, prayer with the monks, all meals, workshop with all related materials/supplies).
Commuters Offering: $380(Includes retreat workshop with all related materials/supplies, and lunch & supper meals).

Byzantine Iconography is a highly structured and disciplined art form which combines prayer and painting techniques to create serene images of Christ, Mary, the angels, and the saints following centuries old guidelines. Peter Pearson has been studying and painting icons for nearly fifty years and teaching others to do so for half that time. He has authored three books on the subject and has painted hundreds of icons for churches, monasteries, seminaries, convents, and individuals all over the world. Peter's students number in the thousands and each has walked away with an icon of their very own. No previous experience or natural talent is required. We paint, pray, and follow the simple step-by-step instructions. Peter invites you to journey with him as you paint the image of Our Lady of Glastonbury.

February 28 – March 1, 2020:
Lenten Retreat

Facilitator: Fr. Nicholas Morcone, OSB
Suggested Offering: $190

What about Lent? Does Lent have any meaning for you? Did it ever? This silent Lenten Retreat will offer time and space for personal prayer, reflection, reading and rest. Guests are welcome to share the Liturgy of the Hours and daily Eucharist with the monks. The Sacrament of Reconciliation will also be available. One presentation will help to focus our thoughts and feelings concerning the observance of Lent.

April 9 – 12, 2020:
The Sacred Triduum Retreat

Facilitators: Monastic Community
Suggested Offering: $220

Join the monks of Glastonbury Abbey in celebrating the Liturgy of the Hours and the Sacred Liturgy of the Easter Triduum. Two presentations on the spirituality of the Triduum, as well as an opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, will provide insight for reflection and a deeper immersion into the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection.

May 1-3, 2020:
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry

Facilitator: Louise DeSantis Deutsch, MS, Obl. OSB
Suggested Offering: $200

The title of one of Jack Kornfield’s books reminds us of both our longings for intimacy with the Divine and fulfilling our daily commitments. For many, these two goals may seem separate, compartmentalized, or even in conflict with each other. They aren’t. In fact, because we are already grace-filled, we can discern how to bring together living in the Mystery while infusing our lives with love no matter how big or small the activity. Through reflection, discussion, and practice, let’s share a weekend deepening ways to connect all we are and do as we follow our path toward wholeness.

Louise DeSantis Deutsch holds her Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University along with courses in graduate study at Columbia, Boston and Harvard Universities.

June 5 – 7, 2020:
Discerning God’s Will: The Practice of Prayerful Decision-making

Facilitator: Rev. Deborah Roy, MDiv, STM, Obl. OSB
Suggested Offering $200

We tend to make countless decisions each day without much thought, but when it comes to making life-altering decisions such as whether or not to begin or end a relationship, change careers or retire, return to school, start a family, buy a home, move to another part of the country, or even attend a new church, we yearn for God’s input. This retreat will draw upon the sixteenth-century wisdom of St. Ignatius of Loyola who developed a number of effective tools for “the discernment of spirits.” Using his model, we will engage in a series of discussions and exercises designed to help us sort through the challenges of modern-day decision-making and discern God’s will for our lives.

Rev. Deborah Roy is an ordained minister with standing in the United Church of Christ and Certified Spiritual Director, specializing in pastoral care, contemplative spirituality and small group ministry.

2019 DIRECTED RETREATS
by The Sisters of St. Joseph

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston have planned Directed Retreats to be offered with other trained directors and held at Glastonbury Abbey, 16 Hull Street, Hingham, MA.

We are very grateful to the monks at Glastonbury Abbey for their warm welcome and eagerness to collaborate in these directed retreats.

A Directed Retreat includes an individual, daily meeting with a director focusing on the retreatant’s experience of God and help in discerning the interior movements of the Holy Spirit during the previous day's prayer and entirety. Within an atmosphere of total silence, there is time for personal prayer, exercise, rest, and liturgy.

August 6 - 14, 2019 (8 days)
August 6 - 10, 2019 (4 days)
Chris Connolly, OP, Carol Fitzsimmons, CSJ,
Marybeth Harmon, Bea Ste. Marie, SSND

August 16 - 23, 2019 (7 days)
August 16-20, 2019 (4 days)
Joan Duffy, CSJ, Kathleen Hagerty, CSJ,
Patricia McDermott, IHM,
Nancy Sheridan, SASV

For more details & to receive an application, please e-mail spiritual.ministries@csjboston.org or call 781-227-4730