With work almost completed at our FCJ Spirituality House – Teach Spioradálta in the beautiful Spanish Point, County Clare in Ireland. Staff are looking started to welcome participants for residential retreats again. The full list of retreats and workshops for 2023 is on their website. Here is the latest newsletter.
Across the Waves – January News from Spanish Point
„The January Blues, I love the January Blues
‘Cause it’s naked and it’s true, I love the January Blues
Sometimes I love the January Blues, The low sun kissing our town
The ways we all get through – Some fly away, Some go underground
So come home to your night, and give your time some time
Wait there for the moon, The moon and the stars to rhyme”
Luka Bloom. January Blues
A chara,
Welcome to the January newsletter of FCJ Spirituality House – Teach Spioradálta. As we enter a new calendar year, may all that needs to remain behind stay there, and may all that we need for the path ahead, be laid out ahead as a light for our way.
As we enter a new year, we want to keep you briefed on all that’s happening here and we hope that we can meet in person across the year ahead! To keep the newsletter fresh, we’ve decided to share one featured local event and one upcoming retreat each month. Full details on all events are at fcjspiritualityhouse.ie for those interested in hearing more. We hope that is helpful.
Thanks again for all the prayers, notes and support – may these kindnesses be returned double to all who share them. Please do keep in touch
God bless
Nóirin Lynch
Director
News from the Point
We have been busy over these past few months making the accommodation ready for guests. A new fire system, fire doors and other work have all been completed and we are looking forward to welcoming guests almost every weekend from Jan 13th til June!
For all the work, we have tried not to change too much, so the most noticable change is probably the white (as opposed to wood stained) doors which we think bring in lots of light! Please God many coming to the various weekends will continue to experience the peace and inspiration that Ibriken Lodge / FCJ Teach Spioradálta has always been so beloved for.
We are also happy to have set up a new card payment system for guests. Now retreat participants can book online (website) or in person (cheque or card). We ask that everyone books well in advance of course to ensure places are available, as we have limited numbers. We are offering most of our retreats with residential and non residential options – so locals can join us, and people can make the arrangements that suit themselves best.
Please contact us with any queries.
We remain very grateful to all who help us to offer events in this space – Sr Maria, Sr Geraldine, Michael, Brenda, Mary, Trish, Bob, Linda, Anne, James, Mark, Eoin and so many more who cared for the building and the courses happening here. May all be rewarded trifold for their generosity.
May 2023 be a year of blessings for all who come and spend time by the sea here, as we continue to ‘find God in all things’.
Featured ‘local event’ in January – Our Monthly Song Circle
Once a month, we gather round the fire in the sitting room for an evening of song, poetry and laughter. All are welcome and we only ask for a small donation towards tea/coffee/heat.
In 2021 as we emerged from Covid, we wondered what we might offer to encourage and gather the local community with ease and fun after the tough years just passed. Movie and song nights emerged as ideas that might be gentle and interesting for many.
Anne Rynne and Noirin decided to offer a Song Circle one night a month. Those present each night would create the circle and whether a person listened, sang, shared a poem or a memory – each was a gift that made the night unique.
Every month people contact us to ask if its ok to just come and listen. It is. Most months someone produces some words from a pocket shyly saying ‘I didn’t intend to share this poem/song, but it feels ok to try’. Each month we have a mix of songs (traditional or new), poetry and stories from 10 – 15 people over 2 hours. It has become a very gentle gathering, encouraging and always different. Each month, the group makes the circle and a theme emerges without any intention or plan.
You’d be very welcome to join us – no booking needed. We’ll be here next Thursday, Jan 12th from 7-9.
Featured Upcoming Retreat – Be Still and Know: Centering Prayer with Fionnuala Quinn OP
If you are searching for a way to get to know God better, or want to experience the Divine in your life; this silent gentle way of praying may be for you.
Across this gentle contemplative weekend, Fionnuala will offer presentations and times of stillness together to deepen our practise of Centering Prayer. We hope that the balance of contemplation and a beautiful calm location by the Atlantic will offer the opportunity for the beginner or more experienced to really rest and renew themselves.
„God is present to each one of us, at the centre of our being, every moment of our lives, regardless of our religion, race, nationality or position in life.
God is loving us with a love we cannot begin to imagine. God knows us intimately and longs to make God’s self known to us.
In Centering Prayer we sit silently in God’s Presence and allow our usual thoughts flow past without paying any attention to them. We allow ourselves to be present to God, to let God love us. It is an ancient way of prayer presented in an updated form.”
Fionnuala Quinn op is a Dominican Sister, who resides in Dublin. Fionnuala opened Contemplative Outreach Dublin in 2007.
The FCJ Spirituality House, Teach Spiorodálta, is a home and spiritual haven of the FCJ Sisters, who have come to Spanish Point for generations for spiritual nourishment and refreshment. Now we would like to share our home with the wider community through spiritual moments, enjoyment of the natural beauty of creation, and the lifting of spirits with music, art and poetry.
Please see the events page for current listings. You can contact the House at info @ fcjspiritualityhouse.ie or by phone at +353 87 447 9115 with any questions.
