Sancti Angeli....

Silent individual Retreats

From about the middle of the year (from June) some places will be available for women wishing to make a silent and largely solitary retreat, with priority given to Friends and Associates, and women considering donate or eremitical religious life at, or in association with, the Skete. You need to be happy to be left on your own most of the time, turn up for at least one of the main monastic offices each day i.e. Lauds or Vespers (Latin/English chanted) and for meals, and be prepared to spend an hour or so helping each day with general chores and preparing meals. Apart from that it is a bit like a poustinia retreat - you have your own ‘cell’ and use of the library, and can go and pray in church or the small oratory, or walk in the nearby glens. There is a minimum charge to cover overheads, food and heating.

Icons on Commission

Iconography is an ancient religious art with links with the early Celtic manuscript illustrations, and the Celtic monastic life of the Highlands and Islands, still practised in Finland, Russia and Greece and making a comeback in the British Isles. They are normally commissioned to celebrate an event or the saint after which a person is named e.g. Wedding, St. Andrew. They can be big modern and minimalistic to add to the decor of your home, or small and intimate, able to go on a bedside table or be carried in your pocket. Highland and Island legend panels can also be commissioned. These icons are much sought after and there is a waiting list so apply in good time!

Icon Summer School

Three weeks of tuition, with two days in between sessions to explore Glen Affric and nearby Glens. The weeks can be taken separately over three years as part of your annual Highland holiday. You will need some artistic skills, on an amateur or professional level to begin. Icons are normally of religious subjects although the icon skills may be learnt and applied to a variety of modern painting methods. The white ground of the gesso ( slaked plaster and glue mixed) on a wood base gives exceptionally strong bright colours. Each day starts with a lecture at 9.30am lasting about an hour and the rest of the day is spent on practical artwork, ending at 5pm.