Quiet Weeks at Othona are not silent retreats, but opportunities to recharge your spiritual battery in a tranquil atmosphere and in community with others. There may be some agreed times spent without any conversation.
We live in unsettling, critical times – a pandemic continues to affect many aspects of our lives; climate change is a huge challenge to us all; and parts of the fabric of life which we have taken for granted are fraying at the edges. This Quiet Week is an invitation to explore approaches to spirituality that can offer wisdom and hope in such times.
We will explore the life and teaching of thirteenth century St Francis of Assisi, who renounced wealth and status to live a life of poverty and compassion. By his love for all God's creation, his radical simplicity, and his solidarity with the pain of the world, he has much wisdom to share with us. Through her writing we will also encounter Mother Julian of Norwich, who lived in the fourteenth century, at the time of the Black Death. She faced the pain and suffering of those days yet offered much hope to those around her.
This Quiet Week offers plenty of space for your own reflection, prayer and creativity. It isn’t a silent retreat but there will be periods and places of silence throughout the week. One day we will have a trip together to Hilfield Friary, which is about 45 minutes’ drive away. The Friary is home to Franciscan brothers and other men and women who together form the Hilfield community. This is an opportunity to join them for a day, and to experience how they continue to be inspired by St Francis’ way of life.
Did you hear about or see the ‘Coat of Hopes’? It is a patchwork coat made up of squares prayerfully designed and stitched by people all over the UK, to reflect their hopes for the planet, which went on a pilgrimage across the country to reach Glasgow for the COP26 Climate Summit in November 2021. It is a symbol of hope, which when worn, gives a sense of the weight of responsibility that we all have in our environmental decision-making. Click on this link to find out more. This project has inspired us and we would like to offer the opportunity for a group to create a patchwork of hopes and dreams during this quiet week. It is optional and no sewing skills are required, just a willingness to join with others in exploring our hopes and dreams in a visual way.
The facilitators will be Liz Howlett and Jenny Warbrick. Liz has been a regular visitor to Othona with her sons over many years and now lives and works as part of the resident core team. She is also an ordained minister in the Church of England and recently joined the local Bride Valley churches ministry team part-time. Jenny lives in Birmingham, was brought up in the URC and now attends her local Anglican church. She is an experienced teacher, lecturer, writer and editor and has recently discovered Othona as a place of spiritual refreshment. She has just completed her training as a prayer guide and is available for individual sessions.
Liz and Jenny invite you to join them for a gentle, restful and spacious week, to be inspired and nourished by the medieval wisdom of St Francis and Mother Julian, and to have your hope renewed.