Beginners’ Retreat - Community of St Mary the Virgin
Schedule
Sat, 15 Nov, 2025 at 10:30 am to Sun, 16 Nov, 2025 at 02:30 pm
UTC+00:00Location
St Mary's Convent | Wantage, EN
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Saturday 15th – Sunday 16th November 2025Beginners’ Retreat
For those who would benefit from some guidance on how to use the space and time in retreat
With Sister Lizzie Ruth CSMV
This short retreat is for anyone who is new to being in retreat. It is also for anyone new to staying at St Mary’s Convent or anyone who would value guidance on how to use their time in retreat.
Participants will first be given some helpful general advice about being in retreat and helped to enter into the quietness and slower pace of the weekend. Then every few hours they will be offered a couple of suggestions, along with guidance, of different activities they might like to try out in the space and silence. These will include journalling, going for a walk, using our new labyrinth, praying with a Bible passage, and praying with an icon or picture. These optional activities will be aimed at helping each participant enjoy some quality time with God in a relaxed setting.
Programmed into the retreat timetable will be a few opportunities for participants to join the Sisters in chapel. Sr Lizzie Ruth will let participants know what to expect ahead of time so that if they are unfamiliar with praying a Daily Office or with the CSMV Sisters’ services, they can go into chapel feeling a bit more at ease.
The hope is that as well as being an enriching retreat in itself, this weekend will help each participant feel more confident about being on retreat in the future.
You are encouraged to bring the following:
a journal or notebook and pen
a watch and alarm clock that are separate from your phone
Key Information
Retreatants are invited to arrive between 10.30am and 11.00am on Saturday 15th November and to depart between 2.00pm and 2.30pm on Sunday 16th November.
All meals are provided, including a cooked lunch on Sunday. Cost for the overnight stay is dependent on the type of room chosen.
To book complete this booking form and send to Reception on [email protected]
About Sr Lizzie Ruth
Sr Lizzie Ruth’s first retreat experience was while at Durham University. This was thanks to one of the College Chaplains arranging a retreat for students and explaining unfamiliar things. He also introduced her to praying set words at set times of day. From then on regular retreats and the Daily Office became intrinsic to her life. After her undergraduate degree in Theology at Durham University Sr Lizzie Ruth went on to do a Masters in Applied Theology at Oxford University.
Then over 7 years living on her own in Leicester City Centre she juggled simultaneous part-time jobs: proof reading, cleaning, supporting adults with learning disabilities and overseeing the Leicester Street Pastors. This meant she could just about pay her rent & bills and at the same time attend a daily Eucharist, reserve chunks of her work days and weekends for silence and prayer, and increasingly model her life on what she’d read about monks and nuns.
Only after watching Youtube videos of people nearer her own age in Religious Life did she twig that perhaps God was in fact calling her to Religious Life…
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Where is it happening?
St Mary's Convent, Wantage, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
