I would like to express my gratitude of being in such a wonderful place, filled with tranquility and surrounded by God’s nature and peace for the soul.
I’m in the healing journey after a difficult year of great loss, isolation, work stress and other social ills of which most people have endured. The retreat afforded me space and environment to reconnect with God, through nature and to accept the phase of life one has now entered.
I have met great people in the retreat, of which each one had shared some light and touched my heart.
The sharing sessions, bird watching, game drive across the river getting close to God’s creation and the Holy Mass to culminate the retreat.
All this has revealed once again God’s wonders over mankind and brought me much needed healing and peace.
I will be forever grateful to be part of such a wonderful retreat, and hope to have more retreats with you.
Thembe
I saw the Birding and Prayer weekend advertised and it sounded good because I had last been to St. Lucia 25 years ago. However I had no means of getting there. Then my friends told me they wanted to go and invited me to go with them. They were going to take 2 days to drive down and would be staying at a B & B on the way, so it would be a nice, long weekend.
Travelling down to St Lucia was a pleasure with good friends to chat to. We arrived at St Lucia Retreat Centre after lunch so had time to look around, unpack and unwind. At supper that evening there was animated conversation, then we all met in the church to pray and share our backgrounds. Everyone was so open that it proved to be a wonderful start to the weekend.
We had to be up early and meet at the gate at 6.30am with our binoculars for a 2 hour guided tour in the forest next door by a young lady who was really very knowledgeable about the many different species of birds in the area and she spotted and pointed them out to us. I was a total beginner as regards birding but some of the others had spotted many birds on their lists already. After breakfast the birding guide gave an interesting Powerpoint presentation on different birds in the area, with pictures and their bird calls. Then we were left on our own to go exploring for the rest of the morning and afternoon, provided with a picnic lunch. The most popular bird that people wanted to spot seemed to me to be the Narina Trogon. In the evening after supper and a prayer, we shared on scriptures that referred to birds and creation.
Sunday morning was devoted to Mass at 8am, following by tea and eats with parishioners, some of whom were also birding enthusiasts. Again we were provided with a picnic lunch and could strike out on our own to go to the beach or do bird spotting.
What I found so endearing and special on this weekend was the contact and interaction with individual participants, sharing of our lives. Some had come for healing and by our sharing with others, they found healing. We were from different race groups but that didn’t matter, each person was treasured. One lady had her birthday on the Sunday and was treated to lunch by another lady who had been a total stranger to her 2 days before. God was truly at work in the lives of all participants and it was a truly enjoyable weekend.
Marieke
I loved learning and listening, and just being there, with all the precious people in our group.
Prior to leaving, I experienced something quite phenomenal in the St. Lucia Church, while I was kneeling before the blessed crucifix of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I had been reading that the Hebrew word 'barach' which means to kneel, also means to bless. And I thought of how our Lord Jesus Christ knelt before His disciples in order to wash their feet. And how He sometimes kneels before us today to wash our feet still. Not just washing the dust from us but the sin and the pain as well.
And there I was, in this beautiful St. Lucia Church, with the birds calling to each other in the trees outside, and the early morning light streaming through the windows, and sparkling off the stained-glass, attempting to kneel and surrender again, and adore Christ, the Crucified King... And He showed me, that He, by His great act of love, wants to kneel before me, and wash my feet and bless me, so that I may go and do likewise.
What an awesome experience!
Heather
The birding/prayer weekend was a reminder to me of God’s grandeur and His attention to detail. I loved the time we spent looking for birds and a highlight was seeing a Narina Trogon (even though it was flying when I saw it). It was good to have a birding guide to identify bird song in the forest and her lecture was also informative and very interesting. Sharing experiences at the end of the day was lovely. I have only one complaint: the weekend was too short!
Jenni
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