There is a close relationship between poetry, prayer, and place. This is especially true at St. Beuno’s, nestled in the Clwyd Valley of northern Wales, where Gerard Manley Hopkins studied theology and wrote many of his most spiritually animated poems.
Inspired by the poetry of Hopkins, this retreat will explore links between prayer, poetry, and place. Each day we will read and pray with one or more poems by Hopkins, taking time to explore the places — both on site and in the vicinity — that are associated with the poems. Participants will be provided with prompts for using both the poems and the places as springboards into prayerful contemplation.
The six-day, largely silent retreat will consist of two group sessions a day in which we will discuss and reflect on the poems and on our experiences. There will also be time to rest, walk, and pray independently. Individual spiritual direction sessions will be available.
‘I do not think I have ever seen anything more beautiful than the blue bell I have been looking at. I know the beauty of Our Lord by it’Gerard Manley Hopkins
