This was the first retreat for three years because of the pandemic. It took place from Monday November 8 to the morning of Friday November 12 at the Benedictine Monastery of Douai, a few miles from Reading. Each day we celebrated the Office and Mass together.
The speaker was Canon John Udris, a priest from the Northampton Diocese who, until recently, was the Spiritual Director of Oscott Seminary, but who is now the parish priest of Marlow.
Fr John gave two talks each day and the topic for the whole retreat was ‘Be Expanded’. His talks were supported by audio-visual technology, making for a complete experience with lovely slides and music to augment his message.
All in all, it was a very good retreat, guided by an excellent speaker, and it was very refreshing to see brother priests and share their company for the first time in many months.
Pictured above are the priests on the Douai Abbey retreat.