Mepkin Abbey

At Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina, I have found what I needed to find for my last week of sabbatical. The daily schedule of services begins at 3:20 A.M. and continues with periodic gatherings in the chapel--a sanctified space if ever there was one--through Compline at 7:35 P.M. The monks lead the worship, and it's as stirring and evocative as you might imagine. Retreatants like myself are welcome to attend all, some or none of the services; I started last night with Compline, then rose in the wee hours for the service of readings at 3:20 and have picked and chosen since then. (At the moment I've slipped out to the nearest town, Moncks Corner--no relation to the implied pun in the name, apparently.)
Sometimes a first impression of a visibly impressive place starts to fade after one becomes familiar with it. Sometimes you realize after 24 hours that what looked like such a genuine experience at first is really kind of limited or touristy or disingenuous. None of that is the case here. If the Avila Retreat Center in Durham (NC, USA)--boy does that seem like forever ago--provided a wonderful transition into Ministry Renewal Leave, with welcoming hospitality and good fellowship, and Turvey Abbey in England provided a spiritual home base for invigorating walks in the country and a sacred opportunity for individual prayer, Mepkin Abbey is providing the best of all, with its profound worship experiences (darkness, candlelight, antiphonal singing and sacred chant and the hovering smell of incense as one enters the church) and its spectacular grounds for walking, lingering, and contemplation. Plus, the rule of silence is strictly kept, from 7:35 P.M. until after the 8:15 A.M. prayers, and at all meals. Once you get accustomed to the layout of the place, you'd really have to try to mess this up.