Day 4: Time To Retreat - Franciscan Spiritual Center, Aston PA

Our Lady of Angels Convent/Franciscan Spiritual Center -  http://fscaston.org/

As I filled my schedule before and  after my time in Cape May NJ with visiting;  I recognized that I needed some soul time; time alone to prepare to receive what God had in store for me at the Sacred Rhythms Retreat in Cape May.  I was very excited about meeting Christine, attending the retreat and sharing time with other dancing monks from across the country but I also knew that God was also giving me an opportunity to be healed and renewed.  So in the tradition of the desert mothers and fathers, I decided to that I needed to have a break from visiting and driving.  I made reservations with the Franciscan Sisters to stay in one of their hermitages and made a commitment  to God - to spend the majority of my time praying and fasting

My Hermitage

 On the morning of September 17 I slept in and spent a leisurely time packing and repacking the car before going to lunch and on a walk with my friend's mother.   Rested and refreshed, I headed to Our Lady of Angels Convent where I met one of the Sisters who took me to my hermitage and showed me around.  It was a delightful little cottage with a bathroom, a single bed, a small closet and  a fully equipped mini kitchen - perfect for one person.  There was also a wonderful back porch to sit on that offered a great view of the woods.  So I settled in for my time with God, getting out my list of prayers and petition books and Bible. I ate my last meal enjoying the silence and stillness of the woods around me.  Such a holy place. Jesus said,
  " Come to me all you are heavy laden and I will given you rest." Matthew 11:2