Lenten Retreat in Passiontide 2026
at Our Lady of Grace Monastery
in Monastery, Nova Scotia
“Exalted by Humility:
The Way of the Cross as Christian Discipleship”
with Fr. Gethin Edward
Friday – Sunday, March 20 – 22, 2026
About the Monastery
Our Lady of Grace Monastery is located at 940 Monastery Rd, Monastery, NS. Founded as a Trappist community in 1825, the original monastery at Monastery, N.S. was destroyed by fire in 1892, and then rebuilt in 1894. From 1902 until 1919 the monastery was home to a community of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, and would then lie vacant for nearly 20 years. Beginning in 1938 the monastery was restored by Augustinian brothers, seeking refuge from Hitler’s Germany, and during their tenure the monastery grew to include a model farm, the retreat house, the Our Lady of Grace Shrine and Holy Spring, the new chapel and a recovery house. The Augustinians continued at Monastery until 1999.
From its establishment in 1948, the retreat house provided countless souls a place for quiet devotion and reflection in a tranquil pastoral setting, and for nearly three decades saw regular use by maritime Anglicans. Through the 1980’s and 90’s, retreats promoted by the St. Andrew’s Missionary Society at the University of King’s College and by the Prayer Book Society encouraged a contemplative approach to traditional Anglican devotion.
Following two decades of uncertainty, the monastery and retreat house are once again open to welcome groups seeking the spiritual peace, order and beauty which has so characterized this remarkable religious habitation since its foundation. The Prayer Book Society is happy to support a renewed habit of Anglican retreats, framed by traditional liturgy, both as a ministry of consolation for the soul wearied by the changes and chances of this fleeting world, and as a sign of Christian zeal to the broadening secular gloom of this age.
2026 Passiontide Retreat
The upcoming Lenten Retreat, ‘Exalted by Humility’, will happen from Friday, March 20, to Sunday, March 22, following the schedule below. All meals are included in the cost of the retreat. Please let us know if you have any allergies or dietary restrictions. Accommodations are private single rooms on the second and third floors of the retreat house, the second floor used by male retreatants and the third by females. There is a shared bathroom on each floor.
Payment for the retreat can be made either in advance, or upon arrival, by e-transfer to: ladyofgracemonastery {at} gmail.com. Retreatants can also arrange to make payment in person by cash or cheque. The cost of the retreat is $250. Limited student support is available, courtesy of the PBSC.
What to Bring:
The Monastery has extensive grounds which you are free to explore, so when packing plan to include seasonal outerwear. An indoor pair of shoes or slippers is also helpful. In addition to clothing and toiletries it would be helpful to bring a Bible, an alarm, note pad and pen, and a camera if you are photo-inclined.
Part of the intention of the Retreat is to encourage quiet reflection and a prayerful withdrawal from the business of life in the contemporary world. For this reason retreatants are asked either to limit the presence and use of digital technology, or to forgo it altogether.
Please register by Monday, March 16, 2026 by contacting Fr. Gethin Edward (gethin.edward@gmail.com). Please don’t hesitate to be in touch with any questions.
Schedule
Friday:
- 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Arrive at Monastery, Register
- 6:00 pm – Evening Prayer
- 6:30 pm -Ssupper
- 8:00 pm – First Address
- 9:00 pm – Compline
- Silence until Mattins
Saturday:
- 7:15 am – Mattins
- 7:30 am – Eucharist
- 8:00 am – Breakfast
- 9:30 am – Second Address
- Silence until Noon
- 12:00 pm – Noonday Prayers
- 2:00 pm – Third Address
- Silence until Evening Prayer
- 5:30 pm – Evening Prayer
- 6:00 pm – Supper
- 8:00 pm – Fourth Address
- 9:00 pm – Compline
- Silence until Mattins
Sunday:
- 7:30 am – Mattins
- 8:00 – Breakfast
- 9:30 am – Fifth Address
- 11:00 am – Eucharist
- 12:00 pm – Lunch
- 1:00 pm – Depart
Speaker
The retreat will be led by the Revd. Gethin Edward. Fr. Edward was born and raised on Prince Edward Island. A son of former PBSC National Chairman Michael Edward and a cradle Anglican, he grew up attending St. Peter’s Cathedral in Charlottetown, where his faith was formed and fostered by the Common Prayer tradition. During his teens, encouraged by the communities he found at the St. Michael’s Youth Conference and the chapel at King’s College, Halifax, he discerned a vocation to the priesthood, and after marrying his wife, Meg, in 1999, entered the divinity program at Wycliffe College, Toronto. He was ordained a priest in 2010, in the diocese of Saskatchewan. He now lives and ministers on PEI with his family, where he is the priest in charge of the parish of Montague and Souris, and also a member of the spiritual care team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown.