Join us at Flores del Camino retreat centre
on an ancient pilgrims’ path in northwestern Spain
Easter Retreat for Ministers
With Alexander John Shaia, supported by Basia Goodwin
October 6-15, 2025
Early Bird: €2,250 (until Dec 31, 2024)
Full Price: €2,450
Deposit: €400
Contact us to set up an interview with Alexander John and book this retreat.
An Ancient Prayer
Are you a worship leader, a musician or in any way help a community prepare and pray at Easter? So we invite you to a spacious 10 day Easter retreat in October. Through presentation, ritual gestures, poetic prayers, contemplative exercises and quiet walks, you are invited to recover the mystical Easter of early Christianity (pre 500 CE).
This Easter Retreat is an exquisite offering - a 50 year long work by Alexander John Shaia who brings us a revitalised mystical easter of early Christianity that speaks to the times and inspires new generations into the Christian tradition. This retreat will be followed by zoom sessions to explore how you might bring elements of this back home to your community. Space is limited to twelve participants so we encourage early booking.
What Are We Coming to Pray?
This ancient Easter is remarkably different to the one celebrated today. The eight days of what Christians call "Holy Week" –Palm/Passion Sunday through to Easter Sunday– were crafted some 800 years ago to be a dramatic morality play, meditating on the supposed final days of Jesus’ arrest, trial, death and resurrection.
Today, many of us are surprised to discover that this morality play is neither Easter’s origin nor intent. Twelve centuries before the creation of “Holy Week”, Easter was a sacred 72 hour festival, spanning three nights and three days. This Easter prayed with the Cosmos. Three times, everyone prayed at sunset, prayed in the depth of nighttime darkness, and prayed at first light and new dawn. This thrice lived experience of night to dawn supported mindful living of the Christos, knowing the eternal pattern of dying and rising. The festival’s high moment was third dawn or Easter Sunday morning. When the sun rose on third dawn, everyone renewed their spiritual (baptismal) vows.
The core symbols/rites of this Easter are:
fire of our ancestors,
foot washing (as intimate marriage rite)
bathing the glorious cross,
touching the cord that binds and the two beams of the equidistant cross,
increasing radiance through the night vigils,
joining of womb (baptistry) and phallus (Easter Candle), and all humanity with every cell of the Cosmos,
Great Third Dawn,
renewing our covenant of life,
anointing with the Oil of Resurrection,
bringing and setting the table,
red eggs.
Living in a radical form of human community was the practice and true fulfilment of this Easter. Can there be a more noble cause for us today? To return to the wisdom of our elders who wish to teach us how to create, sustain and deepen in a vital diverse communion.
Within the retreat, there are also spacious opportunities to connect hand and heart and delve into the art of sacred geometry, exploring it as a contemplative practice. You can also paint your designs with natural pigments sourced from the vibrant earth colors along the Camino.
A unique experience
Embraced within community join us in a peaceful environment on the Camino.
The Village
You will be staying in one of the most beautiful villages in all of Spain. A heritage site, Castrillo de los Polvazares dates back from Celtic times to the 16th century. Enjoy stunning views at every turn. The warm coloured stones will embrace you. They glow at sunset and the old arched wooden doors shimmer red, blue and green. The village is in complete harmony with its surroundings and you can take spacious walks in beautiful landscapes.
The Retreat Centre
Your home will be Flores del Camino - a charming traditional Maragato house lovingly renovated to receive you. You will be staying either in an ensuite room at Flores, or at the nearby hotel we work in partnership with. Enjoy stunning views overlooking the village, church and rural landscape.
Your facilitator
Alexander John Shaia, PhD, is a thoughtful and poetic man, living the ancient rhythms of his Lebanese, Aramaic and Maronite (Eastern) Catholic heritage. He is an author, educator, cultural anthropologist, spiritual director, Jungian psychotherapist known as a creative, multi - disciplinary thinker and internationally sought out speaker. With deep conviction, he invites us into spiritual practices for the 21st century - ones that cross traditional boundaries, encourage vital thinking and inhabit a genuine community of the heart. For ten years, he guided a small group of pilgrims on the Camino Francés as an intentional rite of passage. And now for almost fifty years, he has worked to recover the mystical Easter of early Christianity. He lives between Santa Fe New Mexico, USA and a small fishing village on the coast of Galicia in northwest Spain.
Preliminary Schedule
Day 1 ~ Mon 6th Arrival between 3 and 4:30 pm. Opening Session at 5pm, followed by our evening meal.
Days 2 - 7 ~ Tue 7th - Sun 12th
Retreat
Day 8 ~ Mon 13th Excursion to a sacred site
Day 9 ~ Tue 14th Closing our time together & preparing for the return home
Day 9 ~ Wed 15th Late morning departure
What’s included
Accommodation
During your stay at Flores del Camino, all accommodation consists of ensuite bedrooms.
Food
During your stay at Flores del Camino, nourishing and healthy meals prepared onsite and served with love in either the dining area or in the courtyard under the pergola. Wine is offered at dinner.
Dietary requirements
When on-site at Flores, we cater for the following dietary requirements: vegetarian, gluten-free, carb-free, dairy-free.
Sessions
All equipment & material provided.
Outings
Site entries & transport fares for cultural activities.
Private transport between Madrid & the retreat centre
See times & pick up point details.
If you prefer to arrive independently to the retreat centre, see how to get here.
What’s not included
Flights
Insurances (travel, health, etc.)
Easter Retreat for Ministers
With Alexander John Shaia, supported by Basia Goodwin
October 6-15, 2024
Early Bird: €2,250 (until Dec 31st, 2024)
Full Price: €2,450
Deposit: €400