Retreat to hear how monastic virtues can help family life

Roscrea’s Mount St Joseph Abbey is to host a retreat on how monastic virtues can help support family life.

The retreat, to be held over October 16-18, is entitled “Supporting Family Life through the values of Cistercian Monasticism”, and builds on the success of a similar retreat last year. 

Integritas founder Patrick Treacy told The Irish Catholic that the retreat originally arose following conversations between the abbot Dom Richard Purcell and himself about how “family life can draw from the riches and wisdom of monastic life and be guided by it”.

Explaining that the retreat will take place within the context of monastic life, Mr Treacy said “the timing of this is fantastic because it’s bang in the middle of the synod,” continuing, “family is such a central – if not the central – medium of the Catholic faith during the papacy of Francis”.

“With the World Meeting of Families being held in Dublin in 2018,” he said, “we would hope this weekend could continue every year.”