We have all been away on a fabulous family retreat this weekend. It was organised by
St. Catherine's Trust for traditional Catholic education, and took place in Ardingly College, West Sussex. It was a superb venue, and we had exclusive use of the attractive chapel there. The actual school reminded me a lot of my own,
Ratcliffe College, although this one was of "Anglo-catholic" tradition. It was refreshing, therefore, that the original chapel remained intact; although sad to not have confessionals, holy water stoops or the like in use.
The retreat giver was Fr. Andrew Southwell, who clearly demonstrated an inspiring knowledge of the Faith, and encouraged us all to practice it with new vigour, especially in the areas of prayer and spiritual reading. His talks centred around the joyful mysteries of the Rosary, drawing out all manner of intricacies and meditations. I was particularly impressed with his apparent unwillingness to be drawn into common 'traditionalist' debates when the Q&A sessions came around. It was very clear to me that he wanted to encourage a traditional practice of Catholic virtues, rather than stew on cynical polemics. I feel quite strongly compelled to follow this example.
Each day we had a sung Mass with full ceremonies, including a dedicated team of altar servers (young and old alike) and a small liturgical schola led by Dr. John Tennant. We also had sung Compline each night, and had sung Vespers and Benediction on Saturday evening. It was a wonderful opportunity to see lots of Catholic families come together (many of considerable size!) and glean important insights into raising children in the Faith. Many of the families were from
St. Bede's church in Clapham Park, where the parents seem to have formed a homeschooling network. Very exciting stuff. And judging by the politeness and integrity of the children we met at the Retreat, it seems to be working very well!
I would love to go on all day, but hope these pictures will leave you with a good impression of our time there. Deo Gratias!
We have all been away on a fabulous family retreat this weekend. It was organised by St. Catherine's Trust for traditional Catholic education, and took place in Ardingly College, West Sussex. It was a superb venue, and we had exclusive use of the attractive chapel there. The actual school reminded me a lot of my own, Ratcliffe College, although this one was of "Anglo-catholic" tradition. It was refreshing, therefore, that the original chapel remained intact; although sad to not have confessionals, holy water stoops or the like in use.
The retreat giver was Fr. Andrew Southwell, who clearly demonstrated an inspiring knowledge of the Faith, and encouraged us all to practice it with new vigour, especially in the areas of prayer and spiritual reading. His talks centred around the joyful mysteries of the Rosary, drawing out all manner of intricacies and meditations. I was particularly impressed with his apparent unwillingness to be drawn into common 'traditionalist' debates when the Q&A sessions came around. It was very clear to me that he wanted to encourage a traditional practice of Catholic virtues, rather than stew on cynical polemics. I feel quite strongly compelled to follow this example.
Each day we had a sung Mass with full ceremonies, including a dedicated team of altar servers (young and old alike) and a small liturgical schola led by Dr. John Tennant. We also had sung Compline each night, and had sung Vespers and Benediction on Saturday evening. It was a wonderful opportunity to see lots of Catholic families come together (many of considerable size!) and glean important insights into raising children in the Faith. Many of the families were from St. Bede's church in Clapham Park, where the parents seem to have formed a homeschooling network. Very exciting stuff. And judging by the politeness and integrity of the children we met at the Retreat, it seems to be working very well!
Looks cracking!!!
ReplyDeleteFr Andrew celebrated the funeral of a close relative of mine at St Bede's (astonishingly the only time I've ever heard the Dies Irae at a funeral) so I can well imagine what a good weekend this will have been.
ReplyDeleteYes it was a wonderful weekend, and it was my pleasure to meet you, and your wife and baby. I won't forget your wife's birthday in a hurray, given that it coincides with my girls!! Beautiful photos, especially the ones of the Mass, the elevation particularly.
ReplyDeleteLooking good!
ReplyDelete(*trying not to be jealous!*)
Thanks for the great post and the lovely pictures. It was good to make your acquaintance in the flesh!
ReplyDeleteThanks Joseph. I am sending you a disc with all my photos on, when I can negotiate the post office! Hopefully they will be of use in future promotions.
ReplyDeleteMatt, Spot on with your description of the weekend which followed on in a similar vein to last year's inaurgural event. These are difficult times we live in, no doubt about it and the Ardingly weekend is a necessary and inspiring antidote. Long may it continue!
ReplyDeleteMatt, talking about Catholic families of considerable size... any plans to ...ahem... make your family any more considerable-er? If you get my drift... Wink.. wink.. =)
ReplyDeleteAndrew, with regards to my family size, you will have to ask God how many He will bless us with! I am no authority!
ReplyDelete