Come Away with Me
He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. (Mk 6:31)
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It is in silence and the solitude of the desert places that we might know God and it is where we can get to know ourselves. It is where we are able to escape the noise of the world around us. It is where we might find emptiness and in doing so, find fullness in Christ. It is from the stillness that we might speak to a society that desperately needs to hear the voice of the solitary. It is the clamoring noise around us that divides our wills, our lives and take us away from seeking the things of God’s Kingdom.
Why a Silent Retreat?
There is no other valid reason for seeking solitude then to forget the world that seeks to divide or fracture us. The goal of solitude is purity of heart in which one can see the true state of their own affairs apart from the toxic influence of the culture of the day. It is in the solitude and silence where it becomes readily apparent whether or not one is anchored in, or lost to Christ. The silence is where we are able to listen to the depths of our own being.
All men need enough silence and solitude in their lives to enable the deep inner voice of their own true self to be heard at least occasionally. When that inner voice in not heard, when man cannot attain to the spiritual peace that comes from being perfectly at one with his true self, his life is always on the verge of misery and exhaustion. For he cannot go on happily for long unless he is in contact with the springs of spiritual life which are hidden in the depths of his own soul. If man is constantly exiled from his own home, locked out of his own spiritual solitude, he ceases to be a true person. He no longer lives as a man. This is what ‘retreat’ to the quiet offers you if only for a few hours, a day or a weekend retreat.
The Monastery of Our Lady of Ephesus is the perfect setting to this solitude and forgetfulness of the world. Paradoxically, it is not an exclusion of outside reality but instead a way in which to love it. It is in accepting oneself in poverty and despair that one might truly love because unless one really knows themselves in light of Christ, they have nothing to offer the world.
We invite you to register for a guided retreat or to schedule your own private day-of-prayer by clicking here.
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