The Retreat

This morning I arrived back in Cannes after leading a three day retreat on the Island of Lerin, also called St Honorat. The boat trip takes under half an hour, but you are transported to a tranquil oasis of calm!

In the fourth century Honoratus was on his way to join a desert monastery when he landed on Lerin, and because of other things he stayed and started his own monastery on the island. Having experienced desert conditions recently, I think he made a wise choice! Indeed he became so wise that he was later made a bishop, and lends his name to the island. It is said that St Patrick did some of his training in the first monastery there.

The Island is dominated by a Cistertian Monastery, built in the middle of the nineteenth century, which is home to about twenty monks. They keep the monastic offices in the Abbey and work on the farm land, mainly tending vines to make very expensive wine (over thirty pounds a bottle!). The remainder of the island is a wooded nature reserve with some unusual wildlife. I was most aware of the pheasants which were plentyfull, even coming into the grounds of the monastery where mother pheasant walk protectively with her growing offspring. (Males seemed less interested in their families but were good at strutting about looking important!)

On the island there are Scopes Owls - what ever they are! All I know is that they make sharp tooting noises which ware a little disturbing on the first night! Brian one of the organisers encouraged my to get my snorkel and mask out and come and see the fish - it was fantastic! The sea was clear and there was so much too see. As another person said 'the fish are very tame!' And that just about summed it up, you could swim to within arms length of some of the fish (but by the time you moved your hand out to them they had shot away). Quite a few were only inches long, but some were getting on for a foot, though everything appears magnified under water.

The monastic day begin at 4.00 am with the rising bell (the first morning I saw the sun rise at six, but otherwise I went back to sleep after this!). The first service, vigiles, is at 5.30 (can't comment on that one!) Laudes is around 8.00, which is a slightly longer service than some, a bit like our morning prayer. The monks work for a few hours before the focus of the day which was Mass around 11.30, which had much the same shape as our communion services, but a much longer communion prayer. This service was usually packed with visitors to the island who treat it as a sort of pilgrimage. They fit in another two shorter services before and after lunch (sexte and none) vespers at 6.00 and compline after the evening meal at 8.00. The focus of each service is the chanting of psalms - in French of course - they get through three or four per service which enables them to go through all 150 ever week! There are usually some other bible reading, though these are short, one or two hymns, chanted prayers and a hymn to Mary at the end. They follow the rule of Benedict, though most strictly than the Benedictines, and wear white robes.

Our accommodation was in a pleasant L shaped cloister all around a garden and very close the the abbey bell tower! Rooms were simple but perfectly adequate, though I can't complain as I had the Bishop's room, with en suite shower! Meals were served in the guest refectory and were much enjoyed, even though eating was in silence - we were supposed to keep silent in the cloister and certainly in the abbey. I led most of my sessions in the large walled meadow, a large area of rough grass with a few trees and bushes. Others who were staying seemed to see monks for spiritual direction out here too, finding, as we did, whatever patched of shade there might be!

It was very hot and on the first few days we were threated to clear blue skies. It clouded over a little on the last day, but the rumbles of thunder later on did not amount to anything, so we enjoyed a simple open air communion followed by candle lit worship in one of the small chaples which are dotted around the island.

My sessions seemed well received. 27 is a large group, so I did my half hour presentations, gave them prayer exercises to do and encouraged people to share their experiences in small groups. The group was a bit more high powered than I had expected! A few retired computer engineers, a retired GP and her husband who was an eye surgeon, a retired Colonel from the US Airborne Rangers and a ex Church of Ireland minister who is now chaplain to the band U2! Not to mention my old boss Peter Anderson, with whom I had quite a bit of friendly banter as I shared some of my struggles and learning about prayer (we know each other too well!) Having said that, they were all absolutely delightful, and great fun to be with, a tremendously warm fellowship of friends, many from Holy Trinity Cannes, who meet up each year for this retreat. I think that many had not come across much about finding God in silence and contemplative prayer before, but everyone seemed to have warmed to my themes by the end of our time together.