RETREATS & COURSES

“Finding Ourselves in the Manger”

Sunday 6th December – Thursday 10th December 2026

This Advent, enter the quiet intimacy of the stable.  This is a guided retreat that invites you to look closely at the Nativity scene, not just as an ancient story, but as a mirror for your own life.

Through gentle reflection, shared prayer and silent contemplation, we will discover where we fit in the Christmas narrative.  Are you the weary traveller seeking room at the inn?  The amazed shepherd, hearing glad tidings in the dark? or perhaps, you are called to cultivate the radical vulnerability of the manger itself, preparing a raw, humble space for Christ to be born anew in your heart.

Join us to rest, reflect and reclaim your place in the story of the Incarnation.

Cost: €550 (includes all meals, accommodation and facilitation) 

Facilitated by Fr Willie Purcell 

Willie Purcell is the parish priest of St. Canice’s Parish, Kilkenny; he also works as the national vocations coordinator for Diocesan Priesthood and is a member of the Council for Immigrants for the Irish Conference of Catholic Bishops. He holds a master’s degree in Theology from St. Patrick’s College Maynooth and has taught in secondary and third level colleges. He hosts a Saturday morning religious programme ‘Spirit Alive’ on Community Radio Kilkenny City and also writes for national magazines on religious and social affairs topics. He directs retreats and parish workshops in Ireland, England and the USA and is the director of the Kilkenny Gospel Choir.