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Rebecca was one of our new, visiting retreatants who attended the Christchurch Peace of Christ silent retreat in November 2024. As someone who works for the Catholic Enquiry Centre in Wellington, she was attracted to explore this time of silence despite living a busy life. Here are some of her experiences, as shared on the Catholic Discovery website.
As a busy working mother of teenage daughters, I need more silence in my life. I also constantly desire to be closer to God, so for many weeks I felt a leap of excitement in my chest whenever I thought about the silent retreat I’d signed up for with the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites. The Christchurch ‘Peace of Christ’ community gather each year, with guests such as myself, for a silent retreat. They invite a speaker and provide a clear structure based on learning, space for prayer both individually and as a community, and a personal journey of peace and growth.
I was eager to not only learn more about silent, contemplative prayer, but to truly immerse myself in it. During the retreat, we were given an opportunity to draw a theme for our personal reflection.
In our first lecture, we delved into the multifaceted nature of silence and its profound impact on our emotions and spiritual life. Silence can be a double-edged sword, evoking feelings of anxiety, panic, loneliness, or sadness. This is because, in silence, our minds can wander to places we might prefer to avoid. Fr Adalbert quoted, “Silence is the way to foster holiness,” and this set the tone for our discussion.
Read the article in full at the Catholic Discovery website.
Interested in joining us on silent retreat next year? Keep an eye out as we start to advertise from late September next year for our next November retreat. We’d love to see you there.
Maybe you are feeling a deeper call to the Secular Carmelite (OCDS) life? Send us an enquiry and we can redirect you to one of our Communities in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch.
Blessings in Carmel.