Jesus said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”
After 7 years of leading daily prayer online, in 2019 The Trinity Mission began offering quiet prayer retreats centered around the daily offices and daily Eucharist in the Anglican tradition.
Intro to Quiet Prayer
If you are fairly new to taking a quiet, prayer focused retreat, this is a great opportunity both to experience the practice and to have assistance debriefing your experience. It is truly a venture into a deep quietness – even meals are taken in silence. The day is scheduled around Morning Prayer, Holy Eucharist, Evening Prayer, and Compline. Additionally, there is one short session each day to discuss quiet prayer practices.
The Oblate La Parra Center is a retreat center run by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and is located on the Kenedy Ranch just south of Kingsville, TX. Currently, The Trinity Mission uses this beautiful, quiet, secluded facility to conduct all of our retreats. Each retreatant will have their own room and bathroom as well as access to hundreds of acres of trails and various chapels, prayer rooms, and other quiet places to pray.
2023 DATES
PLEASE NOTE: We can only offer 10 spots for each retreat.
Nov 8-11, 2023 – Intro to Quiet Prayer Retreat
Register Now (WAITING LIST)
La Parra Retreat Center, Sarita, TX
I can’t come on any of these dates but please keep me informed of future dates
EXAMPLE DAILY SCHEDULE
7:30 Morning Prayer
8:00 Breakfast
10:00 Discussion Session
11:30 Holy Eucharist
12:45 Lunch
5:30 Evening Prayer
6:45 Supper
8:00 Compline
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Location
Retreats are held at the La Parra Retreat Center in Sarita, TX about 30 minutes south of Kingsville, TX. The closest airport is Corpus Christi.
Times
Unless otherwise noted, retreats begin at 1:00pm on the first day and conclude by 11:00am on the final day.
Agenda
All parts of the retreat are optional (it’s your retreat). The day is sparsely scheduled (see sample schedule above) in order to provide plenty of time to be quiet, to pray alone, and to enjoy the area around La Parra. We will meet daily to give some guidance as to how to have a quiet prayer retreat with each session building upon previous sessions.
Cost
The $495 retreat payment is all inclusive. It covers lodging, teaching, spiritual direction and other optional pastoral services, meals from supper on the first day through breakfast on the final day as well as snacks, tea, & coffee. There is limited financial aid available. Please contact Michael if you need to discuss financial assistance.
Registration
GO HERE if you would like to register. Your place will be reserved with a $75 deposit. The deposit is non-refundable beginning the sooner of 1) when your retreat fills up (I will email you about this) or 2) 4 weeks before the arrival date of your retreat. Your deposit may be transferred to someone else if you find someone to take your place.
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations occurring more than 4 weeks before the arrival day will be refunded fully minus the deposit (see above) . In the last 4 weeks before the retreat, cancellations may be refunded partially for reasons of tragedy or emergency.
COMMENTS FROM PAST RETREATANTS
I’ve been a pastor in the Christian Church for the past 24 years & I’ve struggled with prayer for many of those years. Not that it’s been absent, but my approach to it and my practice of it has been a bit narrow. God had been preparing my heart leading up to this retreat for something new. I wanted to rebuild my prayer life from scratch and so I arrived prepared to watch, listen, and learn.
Yes, I was a bit nervous about this quiet retreat on a few levels and yet I walked away from it feeling like I learned how to pray.
Fr Michael was a graceful, kind, and fantastic guide for our worship & prayers. Not only will I do this again, but I will be telling others to do the same.
Dean • Tennessee • Pastor
Signing up for the retreat I did out of a sense of knowing that I needed to slow down to spend better quality time with God. I also expected a time to recharge my batteries. What I didn’t realize was that this retreat would be one of the most intense and special encounters with our personal God that I have ever experienced in my life. To schedule this as a part of my yearly plans goes without saying. Highly recommend!
Stephen • Texas • Physician
A silent retreat sounds like a perfect gift for an introvert raising little ones at home. So while I knew the silent part would be easy for me, the retreat happened to occur the week after my dad passed. Thus, it was the punctuation at the end of a hard, stressful and emotionally taxing season of my dad’s decline in the hospital. In the few days I was given to be silent, I was able to have the space to wrestle with God about the fact that we have mortal bodies. I was able to come to a place of acceptance of what had happened. I was able to be held by prayers and wisdom that have stood that test of many generations. Call it grief.
Michael provided palatable instruction for what an extended time in prayer/meditation with God could look like and then we were given ample time to put it into practice in our own flavor. These tools I carried home, and am reminded of the simple phrases and breaths to come back to when I desire to make myself available to God. I am now a believer that making time for silence each year is a needed and rewarding habit.
Martina • Texas • Mom
I headed off on my first quiet retreat with many questions. Could I survive almost four days away from my family, away from email, away from most of the things that define my days? Could I really be quiet for that long?
The days on retreat ended up being the most spiritually rich time of the year. Fr. Michael constructed a schedule which provided a balance between group prayer and individual time, talking and silence. He and our hosts at Lebh Shomea provided some teaching and guidance on how to be still before the Lord. As I started to slow down, I realized just how tense I was, and how frenetic my mind usually is. As I started to let go of the need to be busy, I discovered pain that I had not had time to feel. I started seeing the created beauty which surrounded me. And I discovered that God was there, eager to listen and to speak, patiently waiting for me. These days of communion with Christ refreshed my soul and provided a foundation for the busy months which followed.
I am grateful to Lebh Shomea and to Fr. Michael for providing the space for me to rest, heal, and rediscover God’s loving presence.
Daniel • Texas • Pastor
We all know our world is far too busy, loud, and anxious. In my life, it’s a constant battle to keep technology from crowding out all my space and time for contemplation. Fr. Jarrett’s thoughtful and prayerful leadership facilitated a retreat that came as a welcomed cool breeze for my stifled spirit. The extended period of liturgical worship, quiet, and rest renewed me and drew me closer to Christ. I highly recommend this retreat.
Kurt • Texas • Pastor
Its easy to convince oneself that a structured escape to the wilderness is unnecessary, deciding instead that there may be an easier, closer alternative to taking time for an hear from God. My experience with this retreat however, proved that (much like the biblical examples of retreat into wilderness) God speaks in unique and challenging ways when we flee from our daily lives in order to more effectively hear from him in an environment like the one Michael and Lebh Shomea have created. The spirit led me into some areas of myself that I would have otherwise not been able to hear. It’s an experience and discipline that is simply essential.
While I tried to come into the retreat with little expectation, I was hoping it would neither be overly programed/guided nor vaguely unstructured. Michael’s guidance throughout the retreat was the perfect balance of spiritual direction, guidance, and worship needed to create room for the spirit to move in a powerful way.
Parker • Missouri • Business Owner