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The Sabbatical Programme at Mount St. Anne’s  is a very particular experience, as the very beautiful  and peaceful surroundings form the best backdrop possible to a 4-week programme that aims to provide just the right rhythm and space to reflect, refresh and renew, through a carefully structured programme of daily prayer, liturgy, and ritual  built around formal inputs by the ...

Mount St. Anne’s Retreat and Conference Centre (Killenard, Portarlington, Co. Laois) is located in the heart of the Irish midlands. The very special surroundings and the closeness to nature contribute to the renewal that can be experienced through these Autumn Opportunities on offer through the Centre. All courses will run from 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm (GMT). Mount St. Anne’s ...

On Tuesday 22nd June 2021 Pope Francis released a message for the First World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly ahead of the date of the celebration which is scheduled for 25 July. The theme chosen by the Pope for the inaugural commemoration is “I am with you always” (Mt 28: 30).  The Holy Father addressed the theme from the Gospel ...

In the old Europe we inherited from the Bronze Age, this great feast of the Solstice was celebrated with multitudinous small fires lit throughout the countryside. Fire and the great living sun two great aspects of the flame to be honoured. The Summer Solstice on June 21st traditionally marks the start of the astronomical summer which ends with the autumn ...

Sunday June 20, 2021 is UN World Refugee Day. As the world celebrates the progress made to advance refugee protection polices and acknowledges the contributions that refugees have made in their host countries, it is important to remember that the need to continue to advance humane policies is now more critical than ever. We often think of refugees as those ...

As we emerge to more hopeful and light-filled summer days, it’s time to look towards ‘taking time out’ to rest, renew and recharge your whole being.  The following Rest/Holiday Opportunities are currently on offer at Mount St. Anne’s. Taking time to ‘take time out’ is … a graced moment in time an opportunity for healing a time to slow down ...

At a time when the role of women in shaping society was severely restricted, [Nano Nagle] lived on the razor’s edge, a woman fearless before a  tyrannical world. A woman ‘Ablaze with God’. ‘Nano Nagle, a woman ablaze with God, you daily walked the razor’s edge of life, witnessing to the divine conspiracy of love. Awaken within us the fire ...

This year’s World Day Against Child Labour is the first World Day since the universal ratification of the UN’s International Labour Organisation’s Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, and takes place at a time when the COVID-19 crisis threatens to reverse years of progress in tackling the problem. This Day falls each year on June 12 ...

The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is today, Friday 11th June.  Jesus specifically asked St. Margaret Mary Alacoque that “the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi be set apart for a special Feast to honour My Heart.” (Apparitions – 1673 & 1675) We know that the day to day ministry and social advocacy of Nano Nagle with ...

This is an opportunity to participate in a song contest with a difference – as the song revolves around the theme of ‘vocation’. The term vocation can be understood very broadly here: from the vocation to marriage and family, to priesthood and religious life, to the call of God to love and follow Him.  It is concerned with the questions: ...