*This itinerary is tentative and is subject to change.

PLEASE NOTE: For this event, participants are required to arrange their own flights. Please be in touch with us for details. You will want to arrive at least a day in advance and arrange for an overnight in Chartres the night before our group meets in Chartres to depart for Fontgombault. 

NOTA BENE: Our group will be accompanied by a member of the REGINA team, Natalie Sonnen. 

The Abbey chapel is open daily to the public from 7:00 am until 12:50 pm and 1:50 pm until 7:25 pm. Times are subject to change. 

There are three wonderful gift shops on the property that have different hours (one of them sells produce and other food items). Hours will be posted on their outside doors. 

Meal times will be different for the men and women. In the itinerary are written  tentative meal times for the women. Some of the meal times for the men will be determined ad hoc by the Guest Master. 

Silence must be respected after the daily recitation of the Office of Compline at nightfall (only men staying at the Abbey may participate in this Office that begins at 8:20 pm). 

For some of the day a monk is available for Confessions in English (the times are posted next to the confessional in the rear of the Abbey chapel). We will also arrange a time ad hoc for our chaplain to hear confessions for members of our group (time TBD by the Guest Master). 

Some reading material in English is available for men in the second floor library of the guest wing (at the end of the hallway) and for women in the kitchen of St. Scholastica House and on the first floor of St. Marie House. 

We will be assigned ad hoc a time and task each day for "manual labor," generally after the Office of None. Men and women will be separated for these tasks (time TBD by the Guest Master). Light refreshments will be served after by the monks for both the men and women. 

Participants are not required to participate in the daily sung Mass and all the sung Offices in the Abbey chapel. Participants will have adequate time for leisure and outdoor walks (some may wish to hike to see where the original monks lived in caves on the other side of the river, accessible by a bridge downstream). 

The monastery is a "school of the Lord's service" (cf. The Rule of St. Benedict). An atmosphere of reverence and filial piety must be fostered by all guests. This custom is in favor of the search for the "one Thing necessary" (God), because the world's agitation and noise can only trouble the soul's recollection. 

DAY 1: Tuesday, May 21, 2024 – CHARTRES, TOURS, FONTGOMBAULT

We meet in front of Chartres Cathedral with our luggage at 8:00 am for morning Mass in the crypt chapel at 8:30 am. After Mass we will meet at 9:30 am in front of the Cathedral and walk with our luggage down the hill to the meeting point to board our bus (at the plaza known as the Place Châtelet - the bus will be waiting on the Rue Charles Brune at 10:00 am - pending final confirmation). We will stop for lunch in the town of Tours, where we will visit the Basilica of St. Martin and the Oratory of the Holy Face. We will make time for a stop at the grocery store before our arrival at Fontgombault Abbey for check-in and dinner. Overnight at Fontgombault. Meals on our own. 

DAY 2: Wednesday, May 22, 2024 – FONTGOMBAULT

The Abbey chapel opens to the public at approximately 7:00 am. For male visitors staying in the Abbey guest house, the chapel opens at 5:15 am for Matins and Lauds. We gather for morning Mass at 7:00 am at a side altar in the nave of the chapel. At 8:00 am we gather for breakfast. At 8:30 am there is the optional chanting of the Office of Prime with the monks. At 10:00 am Terce is chanted with the Conventual Sung Mass (optional). Our daily retreat reflection (Lectio Divina) will begin at 11:00 am and conclude with the Angelus at 12:00 pm (the meeting point will be at the gate to the garden at the porter's lodge - we will either gather in the shade of the garden on outdoor chairs or inside the meeting lodge that abuts the garden). At 12:50 pm the Office of Sext is chanted and the church closes until 1:50 pm. Lunch is at 1:15 pm. At 2:35 pm the Office of None is chanted after which we will be assigned a time and task for manual labor (the time and task may change each day). At 6:00 pm the Office of Vespers is chanted. The church closes at 7:25 pm. Dinner will be served for the ladies at 7:30 pm. Overnight at Fontgombault. B, L, D

DAY 3: Thursday, MAY 23, 2024 – FONTGOMBAULT

The Thursday schedule is slightly different at the Abbey (the Office of Vespers is at 3:45 pm). We gather for morning Mass at 7:00 am at a side altar in the nave of the chapel. At 8:00 am we gather for breakfast. At 8:30 am there is the optional chanting of the Office of Prime with the monks. At 10:00 am Terce is chanted with the Conventual Sung Mass (optional). Our retreat reflection (Lectio Divina) is at 11:00 am and concludes with the Angelus at 12:00 pm. At 12:50 pm the Office of Sext is chanted and the church closes until 1:50 pm. Lunch is at 1:15 pm. At 2:35 pm the Office of None is chanted after which we will be assigned a time and task for manual labor. At 3:45 pm the Office of Vespers is chanted. The church closes at 7:25 pm. Dinner will be served at 7:30 pm. Overnight at Fontgombault. B, L, D

DAY 4: Friday, MAY 24, 2024 – FONTGOMBAULT

We gather for morning Mass at 7:00 am at a side altar in the nave of the chapel. Meals today will be meatless. At 8:00 am we gather for breakfast. At 8:30 am there is the optional chanting of the Office of Prime with the monks. At 10:00 am Terce is chanted with the Conventual Sung Mass (optional). Our retreat reflection (Lectio Divina) is at 11:00 am and concludes with the Angelus at 12:00 pm. At 12:50 pm the Office of Sext is chanted and the church closes until 1:50 pm. Lunch is at 1:15 pm. At 2:35 pm the Office of None is chanted after which we will be assigned a time and task for manual labor. At 6:00 pm the Office of Vespers is chanted. The church closes at 7:25 pm. Dinner will be served at 7:30 pm. Overnight at Fontgombault. B, L, D

DAY 5: Saturday, MAY 25, 2024 – FONTGOMBAULT

We gather for morning Mass at 7:00 am at a side altar in the nave of the chapel. At 8:00 am we gather for breakfast. At 8:30 am there is the optional chanting of the Office of Prime with the monks. At 10:00 am Terce is chanted with the Conventual Sung Mass (optional). Our retreat reflection (Lectio Divina) is at 11:00 am and concludes with the Angelus at 12:00 pm. At 12:50 pm the Office of Sext is chanted and the church closes until 1:50 pm. Lunch is at 1:15 pm. At 2:35 pm the Office of None is chanted after which we will be assigned a time and task for manual labor. At 6:00 pm the Office of Vespers is chanted. The church closes at 7:25 pm. Dinner will be served at 7:30 pm. Overnight at Fontgombault. B, L, D

DAY 6: Sunday, MAY 26, 2024 – FONTGOMBAULT

The Sunday schedule is slightly different at the Abbey (the Office of None is at 3:00 pm and the Office of Vespers is at 5:00 pm). We gather for morning Mass at 7:00 am at a side altar in the nave of the chapel. At 8:00 am we gather for breakfast. At 8:30 am there is the optional chanting of the Office of Prime with the monks. At 10:00 am Terce is chanted with the Conventual Sung Mass (optional). Our retreat reflection (Lectio Divina) is at 11:00 am and concludes with the Angelus at 12:00 pm. At 12:50 pm the Office of Sext is chanted and the church closes until 1:50 pm. Lunch is at 1:15 pm. At 3:00 pm the Office of None is chanted after which we will be assigned a time and task for manual labor. At 5:00 pm the Office of Vespers is chanted. The church closes at 7:25 pm. Dinner will be served at 7:30 pm. Overnight at Fontgombault. B, L, D

DAY 7: Monday, MAY 27, 2024 – FONTGOMBAULT, ORLEANS, PARIS

In the morning we tidy our rooms for departure. Following morning Mass and breakfast we receive a blessing from the Guest Master and offer one final prayer of thanksgiving in the Abbey chapel. Next we board the bus and depart at 9:00 am for our transfer to Paris Charles-De-Gaulle International Airport (CDG) for evening flights home. We will make a one-hour stop in Orleans for lunch and a brief visit to the Cathedral, where Joan of Arc frequently prayed. We aim to arrive at the airport by 6:00 pm for our evening flights home, while some participants may decide to stay on longer. B, Lunch and Dinner on our own

*The itinerary is subject to change.

B,L,D means breakfast, lunch and dinner.