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We have many amazing weekend retreats, quiet Saturdays and special opportunities coming up!  

Click on any of the poster images below to download the poster

to share with your church, family and friends!

Quiet Garden Day

Saturday June 22

Inspired by the Quiet Garden Trust in England, these are days to relax, renew, and rest in the beauty of God’s outdoors, as well as to enjoy the Sisters’ chapel and library.

In case of rain, there is plenty of space indoors to wander, sit, dream, and pray.

We begin with a brief time of prayer; then a Sister will offer suggestions on how to use the day. The rest of the morning is yours.

The Eucharist is celebrated at noon, followed by dinner, and the afternoon is again free, with a brief gathering at 3:30 pm when you will have the option of sharing the fruits of the day followed by a closing time of prayer.

Click here for more details.

SPECIAL EVENT

An Evening Talk:

The Making of an Icon

Sunday June 30 at 7pm

In advance of his popular Icon Writing Workshop here at St. John’s Convent from July 1-5, iconographer Symeon van Donkelaar, from the village of Conestogo, north of Waterloo, Ont., will tell us what goes into the making of an icon – how it weaves together theology, history, style and materials from the natural world.

Beginning with the making of a wooden panel, he will follow the progression of harvesting a tree to the naming of the finished icon of Christ the Pantocrator, explaining the significance of each step and the vision of the Kingdom of God that it reveals.

Taught by Symeon van Donkelaar , an iconographer, who after completing a traditional apprenticeship in a Greek Orthodox monastery, has been working for the last twenty years to create a contemporary iconographic vision for prayer in Canada.

Click here for more details.

Weekday Retreat

Icon Writing Retreat

Monday - Friday July 1 - 5

SORRY - RETREAT IS FULL. WAITLISTING ONLY.

Contact Guest House to be put on the waitlist.

Click here for more details.

Quiet Garden Days

Saturdays

Inspired by the Quiet Garden Trust in England, these are days to relax, renew, and rest in the beauty of God’s outdoors, as well as to enjoy the Sisters’ chapel and library.

In case of rain, there is plenty of space indoors to wander, sit, dream, and pray.

We begin with a brief time of prayer; then a Sister will offer suggestions on how to use the day. The rest of the morning is yours.

The Eucharist is celebrated at noon, followed by dinner, and the afternoon is again free, with a brief gathering at 3:30 pm when you will have the option of sharing the fruits of the day followed by a closing time of prayer.

Click here for more details.

Two Retreats with

Margaret Silf

Weekend Retreat

Born to Fly

September 20 - 22

The story of the caterpillar’s metamorphosis into the butterfly is a remarkable model of how an all-consuming garden pest transforms into a creature that brings life to the plants it pollinates and joy to all who encounter it.

If this can take place in the humble caterpillar, how much more so for the human family, engaged on a journey of spiritual evolution towards the best that we can become.

During this retreat we will explore something of this ‘great work’, especially in the context of our own troubled and turbulent times, and how we too are in process of transformation, birthing an inner butterfly, and invited to be co-creators of a different kind of future for humanity.

Led by Margaret Silf , author, speaker and retreat leader. She has written over 40 books for contemporary pilgrims searching for a spiritual way in a confusing and turbulent world. Margaret travels extensively, and describes herself as a ‘boundary dweller’, discovering deep spirituality in those both within and beyond the traditional “church”. She is passionate about making Christian spirituality accessible and attractive to modern pilgrims and relevant to everyday life in the 21st century.

Click here for more details.

Weekday Retreat

Sacred in the City

September 24 - 26

Tuesday to Thursday

It’s easy to think of our spiritual lives as belonging to special places and special times.

For many people it comes as a surprise to find that the “holy” is all around us.

Jesus lived out a great deal of his ministry among ordinary situations and with ordinary people, and taught them – and us – that that is where the Kingdom of God is to be found.

Where do we discover this treasure in our busy 21st century lives?

This retreat offers the opportunity to look with fresh eyes at our everyday, urban and suburban life, and to find God’s transforming presence precisely there: in our homes, at our places of work, on the move, in the marketplace, and in all the places where we gather.

Led by Margaret Silf , author, speaker and retreat leader. She has written over 40 books for contemporary pilgrims searching for a spiritual way in a confusing and turbulent world. Margaret travels extensively, and describes herself as a ‘boundary dweller’, discovering deep spirituality in those both within and beyond the traditional “church”. She is passionate about making Christian spirituality accessible and attractive to modern pilgrims and relevant to everyday life in the 21st century.

Click here for more details.