Weekend Retreat
The Search for Truth:
St Edith Stein
14th - 16th March 2025
Exploring the life and teaching of St Edith Stein
Led by Fr Matthew Blake, OCD
This retreat explores the life and faith of St Edith Stein (also called Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), a convert from Judaism who was executed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. Born into a large Jewish family in Poland in 1891, she rejected God as a teenager, but her brilliant mind and her turn to philosophy eventually led her to recognise the truth through a reading of the life of St Teresa of Avila.
From there, she gravitated to the works of St Thomas Aquinas to further her new-found knowledge, continuing her life-long quest for meaning and truth in the light of her baptism and reception into the Church in 1922.
Edith joined the Carmelite monastery in Cologne when her teaching mission to Catholic women was blocked by the Nazis on the grounds of her Jewish heritage. She was moved for her own safety to the Carmel in Echt, Holland, but was rounded up with other Jewish converts to Catholicism by the Nazis, and taken to Auschwitz for execution in 1942.
Retreat structure
This retreat will offer several talks over the weekend, framed by opportunities for Mass, communal prayer in the morning and evening, and Adoration.
Free time for walks and reflection is built into each retreat.
Meet our retreat guide
Fr Matthew Blake is a Carmelite priest. Originally from Ireland, he has lived and worked in the UK for more than thirty years. His ministry has mainly involved retreat direction, for which he is well-known in the UK, and he has also worked in many different parishes.
About the venue
Theodore House offers a wonderful venue for any residential course. The tranquil and beautiful surroundings of the Stonyhurst estate offer a peaceful setting with endless opportunities for walks. Guests will enjoy the comfortable recreational spaces and a beautifully lanscaped garden.
For more information about Theodore House, please click here.
Timings
- Arrivals from 3pm for a 6pm start on Friday
- Departures from 3pm on Sunday
Cost (per retreat)
Single room: £230 p.p.*
Twin room (sharing): £175 p.p.*
Non-residential (includes lunches and dinners): £115
*Costs include full board from Friday dinner to Sunday lunch inclusive.
“Fr Matt is a brilliant teacher”
“This was an amazing experience, great speaker, comfortable venue.”
Please register below (includes £50p.p. deposit payment):
Venue & Getting to us:
If you are reliant on public transport, please consider traveling by train to Preston train station. From there, we aim to co-ordinate minicab shares or lifts amongst participants of any given event. If you require further advice or assistance, email us: [email protected]
The retreat will be preached by the Monks of 
Father Michael Miners o.c.d.s was born in Blackburn in 1953. He read theology at St Johns College, Durham, becoming a Catholic there in 1974. He undertook postgraduate research in Durham and then at Keble College, Oxford, before joining Ushaw College Seminary. He was ordained as a priest of the Order of Discaled Carmelites in 1984. Fr Michael has worked in both parish ministry and in formation as a novice master and master of students. He edited the Spiritual Journal “Mount Carmel” for eight years, and has a long experience of preaching retreats and offering Spiritual Direction. After five years as Catholic Chaplain at Keele University (1993-1998) he became a priest of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. Fr Michael lectures in Ecumenism at Oscott College and was Chair of the Diocesan Ecumenism Commission.
Fr Dominic White is a priest of the Order of Preachers and Prior of Saint Dominic’s in North London. He is also Acting Director of Research at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology in the Cambridge Theological Federation, and Research Fellow of the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology. Additionally he is founder of the Cosmos Dance Project and patron of the Eliot Smith Dance Company. Fr Dominic’s research interests include theology and the arts, sophiology (Wisdom theology), and the relationship between faith and culture.
Dr Joey Belleza is a philosopher and theologian, and CHC Assistant for Marketing & Communications. His research interests span the areas of Thomism, Franciscan studies, medieval mysticism, Church history, and sacramental-liturgical theology in general. His recent doctoral dissertation contrasted the poetics of Saint Thomas Aquinas with the poetics of the Franciscan friars Saint Bonaventure and Iacopone da Todi, viewed in light of their competing receptions of Neoplatonic metaphysics as formulated by the mysterious sixth century writer known as Dionysius the Areopagite.
Fr Emmanuel Mansford is originally from a small village in Bedfordshire. He joined the Franciscan of the Renewal in the Bronx, NY in 1998 and made his solemn vows in 2003. Ordained a priest in 2007, he lived for several years in the friary in the East End of London where he served as the local superior. In 2014 he became the vocation director for the friars and lived in New York City where he was involved in the friars apostolates of preaching the Gospel and serving the needy. He has a passion for preaching and people and loves to see God’s people encounter Him and come to life through the Gospel. He also enjoys playing and watching football and is a boyhood fan of Luton Town FC. He recently moved back to the UK to serve with the friars in their mission in Bradford.
Fr Roger Dawson SJ is a Jesuit priest, previously Director of St Beuno’s Jesuit Spirituality Centre. He is trained as a clinical psychologist and has a long experience as retreat and spiritual director. He is currently the Superior of the Jesuits in Scotland.
Fr Lawrence Lew is the General Promoter of the Rosary and the Rosary Confraternity for the Dominican Order throughout the world. He is author of 
Stefan and Ella Kaminski both have Licentiates from the John Paul II Institute for Studies in Marriage and Family Life, having dedicated their studies to the themes of human love and sexual complementarity. Stefan serves as Director of The Christian Heritage Centre, where he has been creating and delivering Catholic formation content for the last five years. Ella previously worked at the John Paul II Institute in Rome, before joining Stefan in Lancashire following their marriage. She is engaged in teaching dogmatic theology to seminarians on the one hand, and 5-year-olds on the other. Together, they offer marriage preparation courses and ongoing formation for catechetists.