Lent Retreat Our Lady of Hyning Monastery
“Do Not Be Afraid”
On the first weekend of Lent, ten of us gathered at Hyning for our Lent Retreat, meeting old and new friends over supper. After supper we gathered for a “brainstorming” exercise, with FR Anthony Keefe (chaplain at Hyning). The theme of the brainstorming was words for Lent and what these could mean e.g. desert, prayer, giving up, making new habits, preparation. Fr Anthony advised us not to be in a rush to get to Holy Week, but to focus on the weeks leading up to it.
Saturday morning started with Mass, after that our first talk of the day with Sister Mary Stella “ Do Not Be Afraid or Anxious” We looked at the woman taken in adultery (with one of us taking the role of the woman, and the rest of us as Pharisees with stones in our hands) Jesus changed the situation by the response to the woman. What did we learn from this? We all read passages about courage, and not being afraid. How can we change our way of thinking and acting? After a break we went to the chapel for Adoration and confession.
After lunch there was three time for a couple of hours, some of us had quiet time, some braved the rain and went out for a walk, some knitted, some had a cup of tea and a chat. We all gathered at 4.00pm for tea and cake before vespers.
After Vespers we had our second talk of the day with Sister Michaela “Do Not Be Afraid” - Lent through Narnia!
This was a session on how the books of Narnia have the themes of learning to live with our fears, overcoming them and breaking through them. Fear is cast out by love. We saw through the lives of the characters how they were transformed through their fears and experiences. We did an exercise by recalling a time when we were afraid, we imagined our safe spaces. We held onto a heart and imagined someone we had hurt, standing in front of us and saying, “I forgive you” We also had a handout giving us a selection of biblical passages with “Do Not Be Afraid” in them.
Sunday morning started with Mass followed by our second talk by Sister Michaela “Take Courage” Lent through Narnia part 2”. Again, we encountered different characters and how their lives changed through their courage. We took part in two activities with post stick pads and pieces of Lego! We watched a reflection on bravery to beautiful music. I was personally moved by the quote from Nelson Mandela: -
“I learned that courage isn’t the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.”
Maureen Ryan-Craig 23/02/2026