Launch of the Lenten Vestment Mending Challenge 2026

This weekend we fire the starting gun for our annual Lenten Vestment Mending Challenge at the February Sewing Retreat at the Carmelite Retreat Centre, Boars Hill. 

Maniples repaired during the Challenge of 2023

The Challenge is a beautiful way of augmenting your Lenten devotions. Vestment mending is three times a service to the Church: it is simultaneously an alms to our priests, a Corporal Work of Mercy, and also a contemplative prayer in itself.

Passiontide crucifix veil made by Fr Stephen Morrison OPraem during last year's Challenge

Anyone who would like is welcome to join our Challenge, and if you have no vestment to mend, we will be happy to send you something suitable for your skill level - beginners included. 

Chasuble of Our Lady of Guadalupe repaired during the 2025 Challenge

There is a WhatsApp chat for support and encouragement too. To find out more or to participate, please email Lucy on guildofstclare@lms.org.uk . 

A young participant at work on her 2023 Challenge project

Online Booking for our November Retreat opens

 Booking is open for our next Sewing Retreat, which will take place between 13th-15th November 2026, at the Carmelite Retreat Centre, Boars Hill.

Fr Stephen Morrison OPraem, a great friend of the Guild of St Clare, has very kindly agreed to be our chaplain.

The Sewing Retreats always book up very quickly, so if you would like to come, don't delay in registering! More details about our retreats can be found here.

Learn to make an embroidered mitre

The Guild of St Clare is collaborating with the Royal School of Needlework to provide a special one day course, making miniature embroidered mitres. This is a unique opportunity to practise the skill of ecclesiastical embroidery and learn how to make a mitre using traditional hand construction techniques, in the beautiful setting of the RSN's teaching apartments at Hampton Court Palace. The tuition will be provided by RSN tutor Heather Lewis, who has led many courses for the Guild of St Clare in the past.

Heather leading our burse making course at the RSN in March 2020

The date is 14th March 2026, and the course will run between 10am and 4pm. Tea and coffee are provided; you will need to bring a packed lunch, or you can visit one of Hampton Court Palace's cafes. The cost, including the materials, is £196. 

For more information please email Lucy on guildofstclare@lms.org.uk, or book through the registration link on the LMS website.

Heather's embroidery sampler

Launch of the Scottish Chapter

The Guild of St Clare is delighted to be opening the New Year with a new Chapter, our first in Scotland. The Scottish Chapter will meet for the first time on 31st January at Lawside Convent, home of the Marian Franciscans. 

The leader of the new Chapter is Rosa Thurrott, an experienced Guild of St Clare volunteer who is also one of the winners of our Sponsorship Scheme. If you'd like to know more, or join the Chapter, you can email Rosa on gosc.scot@lms.org.uk .

I will be attending the launch meeting myself, and am looking forward enormously to meeting the volunteers and practising the beautiful art of vestment mending in this most romantic setting. Please pray for a successful inauguration!