Annual Knights’ Retreat

Male members of the Order in Great Britain gathered for their annual retreat last week, between 18 and 22 March 2026.

The retreat took place at the Passionist retreat house at Minsteracres, near Newcastle, formerly the seat of the notable Catholic family, the Silvertops and set within beautiful parkland and a famous collection of redwoods.

Fr Joseph Hamilton, a chaplain of the Order and the rector of the Domus Australia in Rome, led the retreat. Each day, retreatants sang Lauds, Vespers and Compline today, attended Mass, and received spiritual conferences from Fr Hamilton. These focussed on the importance of unity through obedience within the Church and the Order; the important of the fight against the “noon time demon”, Acedia, in the spiritual life; the danger of the sin of envy; and the role and importance of St Joseph as the model of the faithful layman. Some thirty-six knights attended, drawn from across the country.

At Holy Mass on Saturday 21 March, appositely illustrating the significance of obedience in the Order as explained by Fr Hamilton, Angus Hay, Knight of Honour and Devotion, made the Promise of Obedience for the first time. Please pray for him as he pursues this further commitment to his sanctification within the Order.

We are grateful to Fr Hamilton, to Fr Richard Duffield (who joined for the day on Friday), and to the Passionist community at Minsteracres for their welcome.

Eight of our confrères unable to make the journey north also met for a smaller retreat at Farnborough Abbey, by kind permission of Abbot Brogan.