An Easter retreat on Caldey island
I marked Easter with a five-day retreat at Caldey Abbey, a Cistercian monastery on a small island off the Pembrokeshire coast. It’s hard to evoke the depth of devotional atmosphere on an island with a monastic focus for 1500 years, and in an Abbey with several services daily for 115 years. It’s as if the spiritual force of gravity is halved: divine presence is very present here.
The services are beautiful: mostly in English, with a lot of exquisite plain chant, including psalms. The daily cycle begins with Vigils at 3.30am, followed by Lauds at 6am, then five more services before Compline at 7.30pm. I decided to excuse myself from Vigils, being in my seventies, although most of the brothers were my age or older.
Being here, with such simplicity, and the frequent rhythm of the services, showed me how full of distractions my typical days at home actually are. I treated the retreat as a digital detox, doing walks and devotional reading in between the services. I soon reached a sense of deep inner peace.
Marking Easter at Caldey is a profound experiencing of the whole story as it unfolds, from Maundy Thursday through Good Friday to Easter Sunday. The story was not only told through reading the gospel, it was re-enacted: on Maundy Thursday, the Abbot washed the brothers’ feet; on Good Friday, we went through the Stations of the Cross at the beautiful, simple 13th-century Church of St Illtyd. To usher in Easter Sunday, we had a candlelight service with a powerful series of Bible readings.
For me, it was a new kind of alchemy to immerse myself in the Easter story for five days, with its deep sorrows and its joy. When the material world looks so bleak, connecting with spiritual renewal can be very steadying.
One of the special things about staying on Caldey is the times when there are no day trippers, and you have the island almost to yourself. This includes Sundays, evenings and bad weather days! For a smallish island, there’s a lot of beauty and variety. This includes exquisite small contemplative gardens by the Monastery; woodland with amazing, huge old yews; a sandy swimming beach; and some dramatic big cliffs. It’s also a nature sanctuary, with red squirrels and some beautiful wildflowers.
The Monastery is a unique style, a kind of sacred exuberance, a fusion of Edwardian British Arts and Crafts with Italianate fairytale tall pointy turrets alongside solid 1910 oak woodwork!
The depth and grace I found on my retreat owe a huge amount to the seven monks at Caldey, who keep up the cycle of seven services a day, year after year. The brothers seem to be a real fellowship: they share tasks easily, including leading services, cooking and cleaning up, and they chat with each other like friends – impressive for a small group who are so constantly together. Whilst it’s only men who are allowed to stay in the Monastery, there is a retreat house nearby, St Philomena’s, where anyone can stay, and all are welcome to join in the services in the Abbey church. So if you need some balm for the soul, try Caldey.