Women’s Spiritual Day Retreat 2026
“In the Gospel of Luke, women are equal recipients of God’s grace”
On the 8th of August, over fifty women, mothers, chanters, teachers, doctors, carers, and daughters of God gathered to learn more about Women Discipleship in the Gospel. Together, we discovered our roles in the eyes of God with the role models who came before us: the women of the bible.
We started off the day venerating the greatest mother of all, the Theotokos, with a paraklesis service, and this was followed by an enlightening talk from Abouna Jean about the apostles of the apostles, the female saints of the scriptures, and how the experience for women changed once Christ was welcomed on earth. A group activity accompanied the discussion, in which we dissected and summarised different quotes in the scriptures highlighting the wonderful women God gave to guide us.
“O most holy Theotokos, save us”
Lunch followed this, providing a moment for fellowship, connection and friendship over a beautiful meal. To consolidate our newly developed perspectives, a debate was hosted where four different topics about the Theotokos and her life were argued amongst the ladies present. As much of a challenge this was, the exercise really helped to solidify our new discoveries so that we can apply the blessings in our daily lives provided by not only our women saints in the church, but also the greatest female role model, the Virgin Mary.
A heartfelt thank you also goes out to St Paul’s Ladies Committee for organising such a successful event, and to everyone who attended and helped make the event possible. Glory to God for all things, and for bringing us together for this day to celebrate the women before us, and the women God has put us here to be.
