New 2020-21 Programme

We are pleased to announce the launch of our updated 2020 & 2021 Programme, now available on our website. From September 2020 to the end of 2021, we will be running six online retreats (Quiet Days at Home) and will be hosting two special residential retreat-pilgrimages in Spain:

Click on the images above to find out more about these residential retreat-pilgrimages. We are now taking bookings for both, in the hope that the situation with Covid-19 will have improved significantly by then. Should it prove challenging, for instance, due to restrictions on international air travel, you will be guaranteed a full refund of your booking deposit. These two retreats have limited spaces, so please book early to avoid disappointment. For the online retreats, you do not need to reserve a place, since there are no limitations on the number of participants. A week before each of the Quiet Days at Home you will receive an email invitation with log in details. For more information and/or to reserve a place for our residential retreats, please visit: www.losolivosretreats.co.uk

 

Via Lucis: the Path of Light

Last Saturday, 30^th of May, we run our second Quiet Day at Home, an online retreat, open to everyone, exploring signs of new life in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus crisis. We followed the notion of the Via Lucis, latin for the Way of Light, walking together in the footsteps of the disciples who encountered the risen Christ for the first time, in that path of light that changed their lives forever. 

We immersed ourselves in six moments, six stations of light, following John’s account of the resurrection; and we did so in conversation with beautiful artwork, with sacred music, and with insights from the Spanish mystics: John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. Without leaving our homes, we were able to contemplate some of the world’s finest sacred art treasures, to attend choral music concerts, and to be spiritually transported to the first Easter; we were also able to listen to the voice of mystics, early disciples, angels, and Jesus himself, as they walked on this path of light and new life.

Retreatants from all five continents joined us live on the day, and many others have since followed the Quiet Day at other times, at their own pace. From Los Olivos we are very grateful for all those who have become part of our dispersed pilgrim community around the world.  

If you haven’t had a chance to do our latest Quiet Days at Home yet, we would like to encourage you to look at the day resources: https://www.losolivosretreats.co.uk/quietdaymay2020  If you have already done the day with us, or at your own pace, it would be great if you could recommend it to a friend or group of friends. We would like to reach out as many people as possible around the world.

Alexander Ivanov, Noli me tangere

Join us on May the 30th, for this Quiet Day at Home

Learning to be a dispersed community

Last week we run our first ever Quiet Day at Home, a one day retreat designed to be followed at home and at one’s own pace. On Easter Monday we were joined live by over 150 people who followed the retreat day with us. 

We started with a live introductory presentation, setting the scene for the day, and continued with a simple liturgy of Morning Prayer, to help us all centre our hearts and minds on God. Participants were then able to watch the first address of the day on how the Spanish mystics navigated through times of crisis. The title was: “Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross: bringing light into a dark world”. Following the first address, there was time for personal reflection and prayer, and for engaging with some of the letters that Teresa and John wrote to others during their lives.

After lunch, the participants watched the second address, titled, “Navigating times of crisis today”. In that second talk we explored the current Covid-19 crisis, and ways in which we may respond to it from a place of freedom and faith. After this address, there was again time for personal reflection and prayer, and folk were encouraged to respond to this crisis in practical ways. We ended the day with Evening Prayer, followed by a final, live,“wrap up” session, in which we brought together some of the comments and reflections shared by the group in the Live Chat section of the website through the day.

We felt very touched and humbled by the response to our first ever Quiet Day at Home. It was very encouraging to see how even as a dispersed group dotted around the world, we could still be together, and feel connected as a pilgrim community seeking God’s voice and vision for our lives and our world today. It was also very obvious to us, from many of the responses we received, that there is a great need for spiritual resources to be offered in new ways. So, after some discussion, reflection and prayer, we have decided to run a series of Quiet Days at Home throughout this year, and see where God leads us. This will be in addition to our residential retreats. 

Our next Quiet Day at Home will be on Saturday 30^th May 2020. So, please, sign up on our website, if you’re not on our mailing list yet, so that we can keep you posted with further details and dates. And, if you know of others who may interested in doing a Quiet Day at Home, feel free to share the link to our first QDH: www.losolivosretreats.co.uk/quietday

A message to our friends

Dear friends,

Greetings from Spain. We hope this letter finds you well, despite the exceptional circumstances we’re living in at the moment.

As you’re probably aware, Spain has been on lockdown since last Saturday, when the PM addressed the nation to inform us of rather extreme isolation measures. Since then, we have been house bound, unable to leave unless to do food shopping or go to a pharmacy or doctor’s surgery. All other public spaces, including schools, universities, shops, restaurants, hotels, sports facilities, beaches, parks, churches,  cinemas, etc are closed. Folk are encouraged to work from home, but not everyone can do that. So, millions of people are losing their jobs at the moment, and those with small family business are wondering how long they will be able to sustain themselves and their families with no income. As a backdrop to this lockdown, the harsh reality that over 18,000 people have to date been infected in the country, and over 800 have died – this is just in Spain. As you know, other parts of Europe and the world are also suffering badly, with nearly 250,000 people infected and 10,000 deaths worldwide.

However, it’s not all bad news. The government has promised much needed financial help for the most vulnerable and banks are offering virtually interest free loans to small businesses. In the meantime, it’s been amazing to see how people are really reaching out to each other through social media, skype, whatsapp video, etc. And every evening at 8pm the entire country goes out onto their balconies, windows and terraces to clap for 5 minutes to thank and encourage our NHS workers. They are really doing an extraordinary job in these extraordinary times. This daily clapping ritual, surrounded by your neighbours, with the noise of clapping in the distance as far as you can hear, has become an amazing reminder that we are all connected and together and united in this crisis... We have to confess, they can be quite emotional moments.

Just when we thought that things couldn’t get any worse, with the spread of populisms and exclusive nationalisms around the world, we have been reminded how fragile we are as human beings, and how the spread of a virus like Covid19, does not distinguish between people’s ethnicity, ideology or national borders. It really feels like we are in the midst of a dark night of the world, a time of crisis that is shaking us all to the bone. Yet, as so many women and men of God have reminded us throughout history, each night is an opportunity to live by faith, to grow in love and acts of kindness, and to seek the Beloved, although by night, especially because it is the night.

At Los Olivos we have already had to cancel one of our group retreats for this year, and continue to monitor the situation to make decisions about the upcoming Spring and Summer retreats. If you are booked into any of our retreats, we will contact you directly with detailed information in due course.

Our prayer for all of you is that, in the middle of this dark night, you will be able to know the presence of the Beloved in your life and your community.

Blessings,

Guy and Daniel