Guided Retreats

Themes for 2008:
Autumn Transitions (February)
Australian Easter (March)
The Soul's Journey (March)
Julian of Norwich (April)
Prayer of Mindfulness (April)
The Eucharistic Mystery (July)
Cloud of Unknowing (September)
Women Mystics (November)
Advent (December)
Christmas Mystery (December)

 

 

What is a Guided Retreat?

A six day (one 5 day, this year) silent retreat, with a morning presentation to help provide guidance for the retreatant. A time of coming aside to be with God, to listen to what God is saying in the depth of my being. Presentations on retreats follow the advertised themes and usual cover topics such as; prayer; relationship with God, with self, and with others; spirituality; Liturgical Seasons of the Year; the mystics; for example. Themes are provided to support the retreat not dictate the retreat; retreatants are always encouraged to follow God's lead.

Guided Retreats begin with the 6.00pm meal on the evening of the first date, followed by a brief introductory talk and Eucharist. They usually conclude after 2.00pm Eucharist on the last date shown.

The usual daily program follows this format: meditation; morning input session; opportunity for spiritual accompaniment (encouraged); celebration of Eucharist; sacrament of Reconciliation is also available.

Tariff for 2008

6 day $480.00
5 day $400.00

$25.00 deposit confirms booking - all tariffs are negotiable with Director of Retreat Centre, especially for unemployed.

Prayer Weekends

Themes for 2008
Australian Easter (March)
The Soul's Journey (March)
Julian of Norwich (April)
Prayer of Mindfulness (April)
Cloud of Unknowing (September)
Women Mystics (November)
Advent (December)

 

What is a Prayer Weekend?

Jesus' invites you to come aside and rest with Him for the weekend. To take quiet time with God in the midst of your busy life. It is a time of guided prayer, which may be focused on any of the themes mentioned at left.

Guided Retreats begin with the 6.00pm meal on the evening of the first date, followed by a brief introductory talk and Eucharist. They usually conclude after 2.00pm Eucharist on the last date shown.

The usual daily program follows this format: meditation; morning input session; opportunity for spiritual accompaniment (encouraged); celebration of Eucharist; sacrament of Reconciliation is also available.

Men's Weekend  

June

One of the greatest needs of our contemporary
society and church is the Spiritual and
Psychological Needs of men.
and Jesus said to his disciples,
who were getting close to burnout;
"Come aside to a quiet place
where we can be alone and you can rest."

He says the same to his contemporary disciples who seek to get to know their true selves and to form a deeper, more authentic relationship with Him. The Men's Retreat is a wonderful context in which we can allow Jesus to do just that for us.

Men Journeying Together

Be exposed to ideas on Male Spirituality. A Weekend for quiet reflection and prayer; optional time for sharing the fruits of one's reflection with an individual spiritual director or with the group; time for exploring your own lived experience.

There is also the opportunity to be totally immersed in nature; for bush tracking; sitting by the open fire; relaxing.

 

 

 

 

The Retreat begins with the 6.00pm meal on the evening of the Friday, followed by a brief introductory talk and Eucharist. It will conclude after 2pm Eucharist on the Sunday. We also have an opportunity for Reconciliation and daily Eucharist.

Women's Retreat  

October

"I believe there is no alternative for women except contemplation, if they are to avoid the trivialization of their own religious experience... The contemplative love experience, which is beyond conscious control and is not given on demand, is concerned not for the image of God...but with God...What is critical to see is that one has to allow the experience to take place through a love that is gradually welling up from the ground of one's being."

Constance Fitzgerald in Women's Spirituality edited by Joann Wolski Conn

Nourishing Women's Prayer

The Retreat is for women, by women, with women. Retreatants will participate in contemplative silence, communal prayer and reflection on women's ways of prayer which enrich the weekend.

The Retreat begins with the 6.00pm meal on the evening of the Friday, followed by a brief introductory talk and Liturgy.

It will conclude after 2pm Liturgy on the Sunday.

Tariff for 2008

Weekend $160.00

$25.00 deposit confirms booking - all tariffs are negotiable with Director of Retreat Centre, especially for unemployed.

Couple's Weekend  

July

Partnership in love...love calls us deeper...taking time to go deeper in each others company.

Time together

I heard someone once say, " I woke up this morning and I feel as if I don't really know the person I have been living with all these years". Sometimes it is as if we find ourselves just occupying the same house rather than being in love with our partner or spouse. When we skim across the surface of our relationships, because of family or work demands, we may be missing out on the most sacred and enriching person in our lives. Sharing time in slience nourishes relationship and increases intimacy.

This weekend for couples will help create an environment where companioning another in life-long commitment is celebrated. Prayer and brief input on the importance of sensitivity to the heart of another, balance, and sacred sensuality will enrich each day.

The Retreat begins with the 6.00pm meal on the evening of the Friday, followed by a brief introductory talk and Eucharist. It usually concludes after 2.00pm Eucharist on the Sunday. We also have an opportunity for Reconciliation and daily Eucharist.

Tariff for 2008

Weekend $160.00

$25.00 deposit confirms booking - all tariffs are negotiable with Director of Retreat Centre, especially for unemployed.

Taizé Weekend  

Oct-Nov

Prayer is a serene force at work within human beings, stirring them up, transforming them, never allowing them to close their eyes in the face of evil, or wars, of all that threatens the weak of this world.  From prayer we draw the energy to wage other struggles ... to tranform the human condition, to make the earth a place fit to live in.  All who walk in the footsteps of Christ, while being in the presence of God, remain alongside other people as well.  They do not separate prayer and commitment.

Br. Roger Schultz
Founder of the Taizé Comunity, France    

Praying in the Style of Taizé

The Taizé Community is an ecumenical Christian monastic order in Taizé, Burgundy, France, founded in 1940 by Brother Roger. The community of more than a hundred come from many nations representing Protestant and Roman Catholic Christianity, and is dedicated to reconciliation and the alleviation of world suffering. Life in the community focuses on prayer and Christian meditation. Young people from all over the world visit Taizé to join in community life. Taizé has spawned a unique music that reflects the meditative nature of the community, emphasizing repeated phrases from the Psalms or other Scripture intended to aid meditation and prayer.

The Weekend includes readings; prayer through symbolic action; chant; quiet prayer; intercession; opportunity to speak with a spiritual director.

It begins at 6.00pm Friday, followed by an introductory talk and Eucharist. It usually concludes after 2.00pm Eucharist on the last date shown.

Tariff for 2008

Weekend $160.00
or $80 / day if staying overnight.
$50 for one day only - includes lunch, morning/ afternoon tea, prayer sheets, accompaniment, etc.

$25.00 deposit confirms booking. All tariffs are negotiable with Director of Retreat Centre, especially for unemployed.

Directed Retreats

January
March
April
May
June
August
October
November
December
Dec '08 - Jan '09

"You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your presence,
at your right hand happiness
for ever."

Psalm 16:11

What is a Directed Retreat?

A Directed retreat is a time spent in silence with your God. The title can be misleading because it may give the impression that a retreatant will be told what to do during the retreat by someone accompanying them. In fact it is a time when God takes me where I am in my personal relationship with Him and leads me deeper into intimacy with Him. A Spiritual Director (sometimes called a Prayer Companion) will support you to be sensitive to what God is doing and encourage you to follow God's promptings.A Directed Retreat is usually eight days (this year there will be one 5 day retreat). It is a time of profound silence and stillness.

The program usually follows this format: participants meet daily with their spiritual companion; celebration of Eucharist daily; and the opportunity for the celebration of Reconciliation.

Your retreat begins with the 6.00pm meal on the evening of the first date, followed by an introductory talk and Eucharist. It usually concludes after 2pm Eucharist on the last date shown.

Tariff for 2008

8 day - $640.00
5 day - $400.00

$25.00 deposit confirms booking - all tariffs are negotiable with Director of Retreat Centre, especially for unemployed.

Ignatian Exercises

August - September

Ignatius and his followers knew that anyone seeking God was not meant to wait for visions, but had only to seek God in an intelligent and humble way and then with God's grace could "find God in all things".

His method involved Spiritual Exercises of the mind, memory, will and imagination. Analogous to physical exercises to improve the body, these exercises would enable one to find the divine will and to conform one's will to the will of God.

The 30 Day Spiritual Exercises

of St. Ignatius of Loyola, begin with one day (disposition) of preparation for the experience. The Exercises are personally directed by your spiritual director over the duration of the entire 30 days. The Exercises are made in an atmosphere of complete silence. Two days of appropriation colnclude this powerful experience.

St. Mary's Towers is an ideal place for those wishing to make the full Spiritual Exercises. The silence of this sacred space is at the service of a serious commitment to a spirit of prayer. In this context the Retreatant is led to meditate upon God's love for them and their relationship with God.

The retreat commences on the evening of Friday 1 August with the evening meal at 6pm, and ends on Wednesday 3 September after the appropriation days.

Tariff for 2008

$2640.00

$100.00 deposit confirms booking all tariffs are negotiable with Director of Retreat Centre, especially for unemployed.

APPLICATIONS CLOSE TWO MONTHS BEFORE STARTING DATE

Spirituality of Aging

September

 

A retreat for older people, based on the belief that the evening of life is a season to love the things of God, the people of God and God Himself.

Integrating One's Life in God

It is said that the focus of the first half of life is to learn how to make the outer journey and the second is embracing the inner journey. Whether one is just stepping into this stage of life, or is well along its path, the approach taken is gentle hospitality towards oneself, others and God. We attend to deepening our intimacy with God, in company with Jesus, as we continue, or embark upon this last and greatest stage of our life's journey. This retreat enables us to bring the workshops and seminars on aging and retirement to the deeper level of prayer and relationship.

The format: Meditation; Daily Input Session; daily meeting with spiritual companion; daily Celebration of Eucharist; Celebration of Reconciliation and Anointing. The retreat begins with the 6.00pm meal on the evening of the first date, followed by an introductory talk and Eucharist. It usually concludes after 2pm Eucharist on the last date shown.

Life's Journey Experience

Month-long Sabbatical
  May
  Dec '08 - Jan '09

 

 

 

 

 

or One of the Three Parts

  Spirituality for Intimacy (2008)
  Life's Healing Journey
  Directed  Retreat
                                  May
                             December

A Sabbatical Program of Renewal

The Life's Journey Experience can be made as a month-long sabbatical with three eight-day stages or as one of the stages separately.

1. Spirituality for Intimacy - Explores relationships with self, others, God. It embraces the ability to grieve and let go.   
or  Spirituality of Journey (offered 2009) - Explores our relationship with God within the context of our life's journey.

2. Life's Healing Journey - drawing on the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus.  Any hurtful life experience, or loss, is within the scope of this retreat.

3. Contemplative Directed Retreat - deepening my covenant relationship with God.

As a sabbatical the format of the first two stages is; daily input session; group prayer; daily meeting with Prayer Companion; daily Celebration of Eucharist; Celebration of Reconciliation; Celebration of Anointing (Healing Retreat). The format for the third stage is; daily meeting with Prayer Companion; and Celebration of Sacraments.

The separate stages are listed below:-

Life's Healing Journey Retreat

May  
October   
December

 

Open the doors
of hurt
and let
the goodness
of God's light
shed new warmth
upon your pain.

 

The Healing Heart

Life's Healing Journey is a silent retreat, which draws on the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus.  Any hurtful life experience, loss, or painful memory can be healed and transformed through the grace and power of God.  There is no hurtful or limiting experience of ours which Jesus has not shared.

The Life's Healing Journey Retreat is a blend of: daily input session; daily meeting with Prayer Companion; daily Celebration of Eucharist; Celebration of Reconciliation; Celebration of Anointing.

The Life's Healing Journey retreat begins with the 6.00pm meal on the evening of the first date, followed by an introductory talk and Eucharist. It usually concludes after 2.00pm Eucharist on the last date shown.

The retreat may be made over eight days or by arrangement with the Director.

Spirituality of Journey Retreat
 
(offered in May & December 2009)

Live your life each day
as you would climb a mountain.
An occasional glance toward the summit
keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.
Climb slowly, steadily,
enjoying each passing moment;
and the view from the summit will serve
as a fitting climax for the journey.

– Harold V. Melchert

Deepening the Journey with God?

Spirituality of Journey explores our relationship with God within the context of the moments of our life's journey.

The Spirituality of Journey Retreat is composed of: daily input session; the opportunity of a daily meeting with a Prayer Companion; daily Celebration of Eucharist; Celebration of Reconciliation.

The Spirituality of Journey retreat begins with the 6.00pm meal on the evening of the first date, followed by an introductory talk and Eucharist. It usually concludes after Eucharist and Lunch on the last date shown.

Spirituality for Intimacy

May
December

"...at night I sought him whom my soul loves;
but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer."
" Have you seen him whom my soul loves?"
"Then I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go..."
Song of Songs 3:1-4

Exploring Sacred Intimacy

The Spirituality for Intimacy Retreat explores our capacity and resistances for intimacy towards God, others and ours very selves. 

We only risk intimacy, when we grow in the trust and confidence, that is borne out of the experience that we are loved by a Divine Lover, who has loved me with an everlasting love.

The Intimacy Retreat is composed of: daily input session; the opportunity of a daily meeting with a Prayer Companion; daily Celebration of Eucharist; and Celebration of Reconciliation.

This retreat begins with the 6.00pm meal on the evening of the first date, followed by an introductory talk and Eucharist. It usually concludes after 2.oopm Eucharist on the last date shown.

Business Program

2009 dates to be announced

Conscious business.. business that is conscious of inner and outer worlds.. would therefore be business that takes into account body, mind, and spirit in self, culture, and nature. Put differently, conscious business would be mindful of the way that the spectrum of consciousness operates in the Big Three worlds of self and culture and nature.
Ken Wilber

Love and Work:
A Program for People with a Hunger for Both.

The real source of wealth and capital in this new era is not material things... it is the human mind, the human spirit, the human imagination, and our faith in the future.
Steve Forbes (Editor-in-chief business magazine Forbes)

Tensions felt by men and women engaged in business can have profound implications. One aspect of life that may suffer is one's relationship to oneself. The strain involved in performing well and being a leader in the corporate world or government sector has its toll on love, life, body and spirit.

This is a long-weekend program for people in the corporate/ government sectors. In this program participants will have an opportunity to reflect on a greater integration of what will bring meaning to both work and love.

This weekend begins with the 6.00pm meal on the evening of the Friday, followed by an introductory talk. It concludes at 3.00pm in the afternoon of Monday.

Massage

 

What has Massage to do with Spirituality ?

Your body is the temple of your spirit; the embodiment of your soul. Mystics from all traditions teach us to come to a quiet, stillness in order to be open and receptive to the movement of God in our prayer. At Douglas Park the sacred environment of the retreat house, the farm, and the bush begins the process of relaxing and quietening our minds and bodies. But sometimes we need more. In the hussle and bussle of contemporary western culture there is such little respect for the ways of the body and how it holds our experience - pain and pleasure - on the energetic level. A wise teacher of meditation at St. Mary's Towers, Fr. Vyn Bailey msc, now deceased, showed how the spirit opens up more fully when the mind is anchored, and for the mind to be anchored the body must first be stilled.

Times for massage, as part of your retreat, are offered only when our certificated masseuse is available. When this is the case, a booking sheet may be found on the Retreat Centre notice board. All you need to do is book in by writing your name beside the date and time that suits you.

Tariff for 2008

Cost of massage is $30 per session
but please do not be deterred from having a massage because of inability to pay.

Book in anyway.

Massage is only for retreatants during their retreat.

Counselling

 

Counselling and the Spiritual Journey

There is a simplisitic tendency to divide the human person into compartments and present these as opposing each other. One such dissection is the separation of spirituality and psychology. The human psyche and spirit and the journey of the human soul towards union with God, are so completely intertwined as to be inseparable. Sometimes through injury or hurt the inner person is left with limited capacity to be open and trusting of the ways of God. A skilled helper can facilitate a person in such process.

The retreat centre does not offer general counselling services. However, in the context of retreat, counselling and follow-up may be offered when qualified counsellors are available. Counselling at St. Mary's Towers is provided in order to support a person's way to God.

Tariff for 2008

Tariff paid for your retreat will cover any counselling taking place during that time.

Tariff for counselling outside scheduled retreat bookings will be negotiated with the Retreat Centre Director.

Spiritual Direction

Retreat Team Contact: 02 4630 9232
Dr. Kerrie Hide - ext:105
Fr. terry Naughton msc - ext: 109
Fr. Chris Chaplin msc - ext: 110

Need Regular Spiritual Accompaniment?

Spiritual Direction (Prayer Companion) is the art of supporting people in their growing awareness of the presence and action of God in their lives. It is not counselling for fixing personal problems or supervision of ministry, but focussed on a person's prayer - the relationship between them and their God.

Our task is to work with passion and patience to shape , to hold, and to be the particular space in which God does in people's hearts that which God needs and desires to do.

The Retreat Team and visiting directors are available for spiritual direction by arrangement.

Tariff for 2008

ACLRI Recommended Stipend $50 / hour - payments should be made out to St. Mary's Towers Retreat Centre.

Arrangements for Spiritual Direction are to be made directly with the Director of your choice.

Daily Bookings

Only got one day off work ?

Wanting a day of quiet rest and prayer? We all need space and quiet in our lives, but often we can't afford a whole week, because of commitments. Give yourself the time now, before things get more serious - God will help bring rest to your heart.

Meals are available for day bookings, just have a chat with our administrator. Arrangements can also be made for you to speak with one of our Spiritual Directors if you need.

Give your soul the space it needs to heal you from within.

Tariff for 2008

$80.00 / day

$25.00 deposit confirms booking - all tariffs are negotiable with Director of Retreat Centre, especially for unemployed.

External Retreats

Want Directors to give Retreats in your Retreat Centre ?

We welcome requests for members of our Retreat Team to give retreats in places other than St. Mary's Towers Retreat Centre. However, commitments to our own annual program always take precedence. Please ensure all arrangements are cleared with the Retreat House Director.

Tariff for 2008

To be negotiated with
Retreat House Director

Tariff Arrangements

 

Today more than ever our whole planet needs people to honour the inner journey of their soul; to reconnect with what truly gives us life and peace. Entering into times of retreat brings a deepening sense of the sacred in all creation.

Spirituality is not an adjunct to society, or an aspect of the lives of religious people. It is at the very heart and of quintessential importance to the healthy functioning of people, communities, and the earth that supports us.

Special Arrangements re Retreat Tariffs

We believe that making a retreat is not the privilege of those more financial, but basic to healthy life of all people. Therefore we consider it important to offer reduced rates to those who cannot meet our tariff s.

All tariffs are negotiable with the Director of the Retreat Centre, who will consider each case on its own merit. Unemployed persons will be given special consideration.

Rooms in our 'Brown Corridor' are available at the lower tariff of $65.00 a day. These rooms are smaller and non- ensuite.

A non-refundable deposit of $25.00 for all retreats of 8 days or less, and of $100 for all longer retreats, confirms your booking.

The tariffs at St. Mary's Towers Retreat Centre are lower than most comparable services anywhere in Australia. Your tariff is all inclusive and covers your accommodation, meals, retreat program, and spiritual director.

The Retreat Centre operates on a non-profit basis and can only continue with your financial support - all donations are sincerely appreciated and go to support this most essential of works.

 

Tariffs for 2008

$80 per day
$160 Weekend
$240 Long Wkend
$400 5-day retreat
$480 6-day retreat
$640 8-day retreat
$2400 Life's Journey Experience Sabbatical
$2640 30-day Ignatian Exercises

accepted

EFT payments
also accepted...
Account: St. Mary's Towers
ACN: 29783100
BSB: 062 - 784
Commonwealth Bank

Contact Director