Catholic Association

Every two years the CA Hospitalite holds a retreat at Walsingham - now organised with Pat Richardson. The next retreat will be taking place in 2013.

On the weekend of 8th-10th April 2011 members of the Catholic Association Pilgrimage went on a retreat to Walsingham, England's National Marian Shrine, which is celebrating its 950th anniversary this year.

The retreat was led by Fr Antony Lester and organised by Mrs Pat Richardson. There were over forty attendees, including several past and present Heads of Service.

The following report comes from the British Province of the Carmelites:

"With Holy Week approaching, Fr. Antony invited his fellow Lourdes volunteers to consider what their impression of "The Passion" is, and how it has been influenced by art. He spoke of "The Passion" both as the suffering and death of Christ, and of his passion as an icon of God's passionate love for every human being.

The group stayed in Elmham House Catholic retreat centre, celebrated liturgies together in the Church of the Annunciation, and visited the various different places of worship run by different denominations in Walsingham. Many enjoyed social time in the beautiful Norfolk village, and made a trip to Wells-Next-The-Sea.

On the Sunday morning the group made the traditional Holy Mile procession along the Pilgrim's Way from the village of Little Walsingham to the Slipper Chapel in Houghton St. Giles."

Our group attended during the 950th Anniversary since the shrine was founded, and the whole CA Hospitalite received a certificate to commemorate our retreat in 2011. View here.

Thank you to Fr Antony Lester and Mrs Pat Richardson on providing everyone with such a wonderful weekend. Our slideshow of photos is below (thanks to Johan Bergstrom-Allen and Terri Betts for letting us use these).

2009 Retreat:
Every two years the CA Hospitalité holds a retreat at Walsingham - organised with Jim Walton. The latest retreat took place on 24 - 26 April 2009, led by Fr Simon Blakesley. It was a beautiful sunny weekend and full of great friends – all of which made it all the more special. On Friday and Saturday, Simon discussed many of the teachings of the Church, and taught us a number of new things. Our main theme of discussion was the life of Our Lady, and how she is written about in the New Testament; we followed her life from when she first discovered she was pregnant, right up to Jesus’s death.

Simon then helped us to understand the place Our Lady has in the Catholic Church. On Sunday, we processed down to the Slipper Chapel on a glorious sunny day, led by Simon. Thank you to Fr Simon and to Jim Walton for organising another wonderful retreat.

From Colette Sharrock:
In 1988 the first CA Hospitalité weekend retreat was held in Walsingham, instigated by David Lewis and others.

Jim Walton was working at Elham House at that time and became involved in the organisation. In 1991 Jim himself then took on the co-ordination of a further CA retreat and subsequently has been organising these bi-annually ever since, with, I may, say great expertise.

At the end of the 2008 retreat, Jim approached me to say he felt it was time to move on and hand over the reins to someone else. He will be a difficult act to follow, but Pat Richardson has said she will take on the role.

Meantime, Jim, on behalf of the Hospitalité, may I offer our heartfelt thanks for all the hard work over the past 20 years; those of us who have been lucky enough to attend these retreats, have enjoyed them immensely.

2007 Retreat:
Fr Tony Lester led the weekend - which at times was moving and at other times controversial, but always sincere and very thought provoking. It was good to feel safe in what we thought and ask the questions we often keep hidden. Fr Tony’s visit to Germany was obviously still fresh in his mind as he told us some interesting stories and left us with good quotations, which he developed in a lovely way. He has a wonderful ability to make people feel good about themselves and totally loved by God.

Fr Tony’s quotation from St Hildergard will stay with us for a long time: “Listen to your desire for life it is the word of the Holy Spirit”: this lead to some interesting discussions all weekend.

Walsingham Retreat