The Quiet day ...

Aerial view of Llantarnam Abbey, Newport

A Quiet Day is a deliberate intention to share with people a day that will include times to be quiet together and space for individuals to be quiet on their own. This worked quite well yesterday. The activities provided were painting, drawing, clay moulding, listening to stories, walks in the grounds and meditation, but the special emphasis of the day is the quiet. This was not difficult to achieve in a Catholic convent.

Holy Communion in the common room.

I found the quiet easy in the morning, but more difficult in the afternoon, not from a personal perspective but my 'fellow Retreaters' had either got tired of being quiet, or did not understand the concept of the day. The latter I suspect. The welcome in this very beautiful place was special with the nuns showing genuine hospitality.

We all met for midday communion, but sadly only the bread could be given as there are concerns regarding the cup due to the forecast swine flu pandemic. The Church in Wales issued guidelines yesterday to all the Churches in the Diocese of Monmouth that only consecrated bread is taken during Holy communion during the swine flu outbreak rather than both bread and wine. The use of the common cup will be suspended until the risk of contamination decreases.



The weather was perfect for such a day and we were able to enjoy their beautiful grounds and gardens in lovely temperatures. This was not the case on my first visit there, over a year ago now, when it poured with rain all day making it impossible to see the magnificent grounds, but yesterday I managed to spend some time there.



I would probably do it again, but for the peace of the day rather than any long term benefit I will feel from such an exercise.