2012 Upcoming Retreats
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February 17-20
SIGNS IN THE EARTH
Led by Lynn Bauman, Director of Praxis Learning Center, Telephone, Texas, and Ward Bauman
Do we indeed live in the midst of “signs” of change in both heaven and earth? Is the earth and the cosmos intelligent and able to speak to us – or is the universe dead, inert and purposeless? Or have we been taught by our culture not to see the signs? All of these issues are related, and now perhaps more than ever, seem relevant to this critical moment in human history. Could it be that just now, as we awaken from spiritual slumber, we are more and more capable of listening to the voices speaking to us, and more capable of “reading” and interpreting their message? We will explore all of these questions (and words of Jesus) in a new light based upon modern physics and the many signs and anomalies that are appearing almost everywhere now across the earth. Participants are asked to purchase and read Bernard Haisch’s text, A Purpose Guided Universe, before the gathering if possible. A second text will be available for purchase at this retreat. More information.
Cost: $395
April 3-8
HOLY WEEK RETREAT
Led by noted author, teacher and retreat leader, Cynthia Bourgeault, and Ward Bauman; co-authors of Holy Week Liturgies, based on the House of Prayer Holy Week retreat in 2010
This silent immersion retreat will open up the opportunity to experience Holy Week from the inside: as an imaginal reality leading to a direct encounter with that part of ourselves that already lives beyond death, and to a renewed intimacy with the risen Christ. The practice will be rigorous, combining extended sitting meditation with simple, contemplative liturgies and teachings on the mystery of death. Prerequisites: prior participation in a Wisdom School or an extended silent retreat. Holy Week Liturgies is available for purchase at the House of Prayer or through our website. Click here for an order form.
Cost: $680
June 16-24
KENOSIS: THE PRAYER OF SELF-EMPTYING
Led by Ward Bauman
This silent meditation intensive represents our central ministry in spiritual formation and is particularly geared for House of Prayer alums or anyone who has already been grounded in Christian contemplative practices and feels called to take further steps into the fullness of God through deeper prayer and honest reflection. This work is based on Jesus’ own pattern of life and practical teaching, “if anyone wants to be my disciple, they must first be willing to deny their own selves . . .” Central and foundational to all other Christian practices are the prayer forms that lead to self-emptying (kenosis). If you have questions about preparation for this retreat, contact Ward Bauman at wbauman@csbsju.edu.
Cost: $640
July 22-28
JULY WISDOM SCHOOL: THE ART OF LEARNING
Led by Lynn Bauman and Ward Bauman
Our wisdom schools are offered as models, based upon more ancient traditions, meant to raise human consciousness, thereby ultimately raising the consciousness of society. From its beginnings, Christianity has expressed multiple streams of wisdom that coalesced around the teachings of Jesus. Early Jewish, Apocalyptic and Platonic understandings contributed to its wisdom teaching, as well as sources that are not as familiar to us today such as Hermeticism. The stream of wisdom known as Hermeticism has played an important role throughout the centuries as a system of signs, and more recently has been reexamined by an important modern visionary – Valentin Tomberg in Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism. We will enter this stream together through a form of learning using methodologies congruent with the stream itself, fully engaging the whole human person.
Cost: $720
August 19-25
AUGUST WISDOM SCHOOL: BENEDICTINE WISDOM
The August Wisdom School with Cynthia Bourgeault is filled. If you would like to be placed on the waiting list for this retreat, please contact us at houseprayer@csbsju.edu.
Led by Cynthia Bourgeault, joined by Hillary Thimmesch, OSB, a former president of Saint John’s University and Director of the Benedictine Institute, and Ward Bauman
“On location” at one of the world’s great Benedictine Abbeys, we will study the Rule of St. Benedict as a wisdom template for inner awakening. Embedded within its great rhythm of ora et labora – “prayer and work” – is a vision of a conscious and balanced human being, flowing gracefully between contemplative repose and compassionate action. In our work together, we will explore this template for transformation with a particular emphasis on learning how to adapt it to the circumstances of our own lives. We will also explore why this template has so consistently expressed itself in the great tradition of Christian humanism, with a flourishing of the sacred arts and culture.
Recommended advance reading: The Rule of St. Benedict; Wisdom Distilled from the Daily, Joan Chittister, OSB (more information); The Love of Learning and the Desire for God, Jean LeClerq, OSB (more information).
Cost: $720
September 6-9
COOKING YOUR LIFE
Led by Ward Bauman and friends
Does cooking intimidate you? Do you wish to connect eating with your spiritual practice? Would you like to understand the basics of reading a recipe and the techniques required? Have you wondered why most great spiritual traditions view food and its preparation as sacred? Then this retreat is for you! Back by request, this retreat is appropriate for beginners as well as those who want to deepen their understanding of the fundamentals of food preparation. We will examine our food from production and purchasing to preparation and eating. We will visit a local farmer’s market to experience Minnesota’s great small farmer tradition. We will work with a wonderful array of food preparation techniques, geared for the needs of those who participate. We will see mirrored in the preparation of foods our own invitation to “cook” with our lives, creatively and mindfully. The emphasis will be on vegetarian fare, focusing on healthy eating and the creative techniques of cooking. This retreat workshop represents an evolution in our retreat work, as we seek to mix the ingredients of our lives to find health, joy and fulfillment! Book early–this retreat is kept small purposefully to accommodate a better teacher/student relationship. Comment from a past participant: “This retreat has changed our lives, from the way we prepare food to the way we eat!”
Cost: $355
September 18-25
BENEDICTINE EXPERIENCE
Join us for a six-day experience of the Rule of St. Benedict. We will explore the values, insights and wisdom of the Rule. Participants will join the monks of Saint John’s Abbey and the Sisters of Saint Benedict’s Monastery for the Liturgy of the Hours. Leaders include members from both monastic communities.
For information and to register, contact:
The Friends of St. Benedict
St. David’s Parish
5150 Macomb Street NW
Washington, DC 20016
202-363-8061
saintbenedict@verizon.net
**NEW DATE**
YOGA: A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
OCTOBER 19-21
Due to a scheduling conflict, these retreat dates have changed. They do not match the 2012 program brochure.
Led by Carole Baker (Practitioner and licensed teacher of Iyengar Yoga) and Ward Bauman
This meditation intensive will offer the beginning techniques of Yoga combined with Christian contemplative practice. The combination is offered to help the practitioner experience spiritual practice as it occurs through one’s body, developing ways to respond and open to new channels of spiritual energies. This introduction to Yoga and contemplative practice will require the participants to be in generally good health. Appropriate for beginners as well as advanced.
Cost: $330
November 9-11
A SUNLIT ABSENCE: SILENCE, AWARENESS AND CONTEMPLATION
Led by Martin Laird, OSA, and Ward Bauman
“The practice of contemplation is one of the great spiritual arts,” writes Fr. Martin Laird in his latest book, A Sunlit Absence. “Not a technique but a skill, it harnesses the winds of grace that lead us out into the liberating sea of silence.” We are pleased to have Martin Laird, also author of Into the Silent Land, join us for this beginner’s silent retreat. Martin Laird is Associate Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University, and a longtime student of patristics with extensive training in contemplative disciplines. This silent contemplative retreat will help us realize that “… the mystery of the God we seek circulates in ever-moving repose through us and in us. Christ reveals God as both door and doorway, both seeker and sought.” More information.
Cost: $340
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Individual and Group Retreats
The House of Prayer is also available for individual and group retreats and hosts outside organizations for meetings and retreats. For information on costs and our facilities, click here.
