Time in the tomb
Gill Pennington recently experienced an eight-day silent retreat
It was with curiosity, anticipation and some trepidation that I mounted the steps to the main entrance of St Beuno’s in North Wales. I am a Quaker and I was going on an eight-day silent retreat, in a Catholic (Jesuit) retreat house, to follow some of the spiritual practices of Ignatius of Loyola. Hmm…
This was a big stretch for me. I have no experience of Catholicism and, as an extrovert, eight days of silence would be a challenge. On the first evening I wrote in the journal I decided to keep for the week: ‘What do I want from this week? Space, time, depth of connection, rest, time to just be – connected to all that is God, and to find the silent depths of “the flowing vastness of presence”.’
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