30 Day Retreat, Loyola, Spain
Retreat in Loyola, Spain
For more than 450 years people have taken part in the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius Loyola in order to devote time to Christ, come closer to God, and discern their call in life.
Ignatius' Exercises in their traditional form, allows participants to let their lives interact with the life of Christ. This process almost inevitably sees a deepening of Faith and personal commitment and relationship with God.
The daily routine of the 30-day retreat sees participants typically spending four or five periods of prayer and sharing these daily with the retreat guide.
The Ignatian Spirituality Centre in Glasgow links with the Centro de Espiritualidad in Loyola, Spain, to offer the full Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius in a silent, individually guided form in English. All guides are native English speakers. Our time includes two days lead-in with visit to the local places of interest and a final day of lead-out from the retreat and 30 full days of retreat.
There can be no better place to enter into the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius than the birthplace of Ignatius, Loyola itself.
The Spirituality Centre
The Spirituality Centre has modern, single bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. See the video Centro de Espiritualidad de Loyola below - Loyola Centre of Spirituality, for an idea of the facilities the Spirituality Centre offers. The food is healthy Spanish cuisine, provided on a full-board basis. There are many chapels and places of prayer available including a beautiful hillside chapel, the famous chapel of Ignatius' conversion and the 14th Century hermitage of Olatz.
There is a private garden behind the Centre in the magnificent setting of the local hills.
The retreat includes preparation days with a visit to the local sites associated with Saint Ignatius.
During the retreat there are three rest days when we hope to visit Javier, the home of St Francis Xavier; Aránzazu, where Ignatius first stayed after his conversion on the way to Montserrat and an optional day in the beautiful seaside resort of San Sebastian.
The retreat can conclude with an optional pilgrimage to the other principle towns of Ignatian Spain, visiting Pamplona, Manresa, Montserrat and Barcelona.
Requirements
We suggest that before coming on a 30-day Spiritual Exercises retreat participants should have experience of shorter silent retreats and be familiar with Lectio Divina and Ignatian Contemplation. There is an application form to fill out and two references are required.
What is Included
- Retreat direction
- Guided walking tours Ignatian sites in Loyola, Azpeitia and Azkoitia.
- Accommodation in single rooms with en-suite bathroom
- Full board with mid morning and afternoon snacks
- Entry fee to Loyola Tower House
- Probably visits to Xavier and Aránzazu
- Transfer to and from Bilbao Airport.
(Flights to and from Spain are not included.)
The Weather
The weather in Loyola in June and July may well be cloudy and can rain sometimes. Temperatures range from 16-32°C (61-89°F) with 20-26°C (68-79°F) being most common.
It rarely suffers the hot, dry heat of the rest of Spain.
Travel from UK/Ireland 2024
Based on 2023 we suggest you arrive on the 26th of June. The nearest airport is Bilbao. We hope to pick up from Bilbao airport. Carrier details will follow when we have them.
An alternative airport to Bilbao is Biarritz in France or Santander in Spain. There may be direct flights available from London to Biarritz with Ryanair and Easyjet, which has bus connections to Loyola via San Sebastian.There may also be direct UK flights to Santander by Ryanair with bus connections to Loyola via San Sebastian. We will update this information when it becomes available
The return transfer bus will leave Loyola at 9am on 30th of July, arrive in Bilbao airport at approx. 10am so we suggest booking a flight after 12.00.
If you are going on the pilgrimage, then return flights should be booked from Barcelona El Prat airport on the 3rd of August to depart after 12.30pm.
Bilbao Airport
Time for a coffee?
We will meet at the coffee shop for our transfer bus to Loyola. It will leave around 18:30 - we will confirm the actual time to you later.
Retreat Centre Postal address:
Centro de Espiritualidad de Loyola, Loiola Auzoa, 15
20730 Azpeitia (Gipuzkoa), Spain. Tel: +34 943 025 025
Travel from outside UK/Ireland
We offer one transfer coach from Bilbao airport direct to Loyola. If you wish to travel on this let us know what flight you have booked and the arrival time in Bilbao.
If you are travelling from elsewhere in Spain or plan to arrive in Bilbao at a different time, direct buses are available to Loyola from the rail station in Zumarraga and the number UK1 from the bus station in San Sebastian (Donostia in Basque). Taxi from Loyola to Bilbao airport cost about €120 (2023 rates).
The Cost
This retreat is priced in Euro: for 2024 is €2,900* (which at August 2023 rate of exchange is approx. £2,525 or US$ 3150)
We are able to accept payments in euro € or US dollars, and some other currencies - please ask us for details when making a payment.
* As we have to pay the Retreat costs in euro, if currency rates fluctuate by +or-5% then the price in different currencies would be adjusted accordingly.
For those who are doing the Spiritual Exercises with us the Pilgrimage is an extra €700 (includes a single room supplement.)
Those who have booked to take part in the Pilgrimage will join the Pilgrimage group for the journey across Spain on the 30th July.
Overseas Payments: We recommend Wise - as it is quicker and cheaper than bank transfers.
We require full payment of all fees 6 weeks before the retreat
Grants: A grant towards this retreat may be available for UK and European residents who find our full offering difficult to afford. This is from a third party source. We will send you details when you apply and your application is approved. We also recommend that you try and source financial assistance elsewhere if you need it.
If you require further information then please email us
