RETREAT SCHEDULE 2013THE WEEKEND RETREAT — If you are interested in participating in a spiritual journey but only have weekends available, these retreats are for you. The conferences are scheduled Friday thru Sunday. You will check in on Friday after 2:00 pm, and check out by 1:00 pm on Sunday. THE MIDWEEK RETREAT— The mid-week retreats are much like our weekend retreats though often at a more leisurely pace, providing more time for personal prayer and reflection. The conferences are scheduled Monday thru Thursday. You will check in on Monday after 2:00 pm, and check out by 12:00 noon on Thursday. Our Preached Retreat program provides a rich variety of spiritual presentations for men and women. In these preached retreats there is a leader or presenter(s) who offer conferences each day, leads discussions and is available for private counseling. The presenter gives a presentation in the morning, followed by suggested readings to be used during the retreatant's personal prayer throughout the day. The day also offers an opportunity to share in the Eucharist, and invites you to spend your day, including meals, in prayerful silence. WEEKEND and MIDWEEK SCHEDULES INCLUDED | |||||||||||
| Jan | Feb | March | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec |
January 4-6 (Weekend)
Vocation Discernment
(Br. Michael)
This retreat is open to both men and women. For some people, an experience such as a vocational discernment retreat comes at a point in their lives when they have begun to feel, or have felt for some time, an inner pull toward the religious life or perhaps the monastic way. This can prove to be a trying and confusing time in which it is hard to discern the basic direction in their lives. Vocational discernment retreats provide a prayerful atmosphere of silence, beauty and peace where retreatants come together with others to listen to God and their own hearts.
January 21-24 (Midweek)
Walker Percy - Storytelling as a means to understand the Christian Spiritual Quest.
(Victor Kramer)
Utilizing Percy's first novel, The Moviegoer (1960), and concentrating on just the openings and endings of selected portions of the text. This retreat demonstrates how reflective, meditative, reading of this key book provides insights into the challenges of the Christian life. Search and Sacrament (especially Eucharist and Marriage), commitment and mystery are the themes emphasized. Percy's prayerful storytelling leads readers to raise questions about what it means to be Christian in a post-Christian environment. With focus on this book, the retreat will also introduce other works by Percy.
January 25-27 (Weekend)
Contemplative Prayer
(Frs. Tom Francis & Gerard and Br. Michael)
Prayer is a loving exchange with God. When we learn to receive the gift of God's presence through loving silence, we are able to develop our personal relationship with Him. One way to receive this gift is through centering prayer, traditionally known as contemplative prayer. This type of prayer enables us to rest in God, leading to a more intimate relationship with Him.
February 8-10 (Weekend)
Good Grief -- Moving from Loss to New Beginnings
(Fr. Tom Francis, Br. Mark & Robert Coyne)
Grief can help us move from the pain of loss into new hope and trust. One door is closed, and the window of fresh air blows into our lives. We can get stuck in the mud of endless tears, or we can look up to God, who is waiting to draw us up on eagles' wings. We can pretend there is no pain in our loss, letting it mysteriously rob our energy, hope and love, or we can wake up to its pain in new and fresh horizons. God is waiting to be gracious to each of us.
February 11-14 (Midweek)
Surrendering to Love, an Ash Wednesday Retreat
(Fr. Gerard & Martha Gross)
Lent awakens us to the invitation of God, echoed in the longing within every human heart. Lent encourages us to surrender to God's unconditional love and live out His love always in all our ways.
February 22-24 (Weekend)
Answering the Contemplative Call: First Steps on the Path to Divine Love
(Carl McColman)
All Christians - not just monks or nuns or priests - are called to an ever deepening life of intimacy with God. God reaches out to us, right where we are, no matter how messy or imperfect our lives might be. The call of God's love is a call to healing, to transformation, and to holiness. This retreat will explore how we can recognize God's action in our lives, and, following the wisdom of the great saints and mystics, how we can respond to that heavenly call.
March 22-24 (Weekend)
Palm Sunday: Meeting Jesus during Holy Week
(Frs. Anthony & James)
In the Passion narratives of the Gospels, we meet three facets of Jesus: (1) Jesus who plumbs the depths of human pain and alienation; (2) Jesus who reaches out to others in concern and forgiveness, even on the road to Calvary; and (3) Jesus who freely lays down His life and embraces death as victory. Contemplating these facets assures us that God is listening, even in our darkest hours of pain, failure and alienation. We can find God in suffering when we open ourselves to His reconciling compassion and forgiveness. Even the worst evil and distortion in our world have no power over Jesus or those to whom He gives life.
March 28-31 (Midweek)
Sacred Triduum and Easter Sunday
(Frs. Anthony & Tom Francis)
This retreat will help you to enter deeply into the powerful events that are the very foundation of our Christian lives. On Holy Thursday, we celebrate the gifts of the Eucharist and loving service to one another in the washing of the feet. On Good Friday, we walk with Jesus in His Passion and death. On Holy Saturday, we spend time with Jesus in the silence of the tomb in preparation for the joy of the Resurrection on Easter.
April 5-7 (Weekend)
Divine Mercy Retreat
(Frs. Anthony & Gerard and Br. Mark)
God has revealed to us His boundless, merciful love in His Son, Jesus. His heart was broken with love as He wept over a Jerusalem that would later refuse His love, nailing Him to a cross. That cross brings us hope today. The message has rung out through the centuries, yet we have often become deaf to His merciful love. This retreat will focus on how we can receive the healing love, poured out from the radiant heart of our Lord, once we learn to put our trust in Him.
April 8-11 (Midweek)
Becoming as Little Children: Our Good Shepherd Calls to the Child Within Each of us
(Br. Cassian)
We live with children; and, in our inner selves, we remain children: eager, receptive, vulnerable, hurt, and creative. How can we nurture ourselves to become the children of God we are called to be? In what ways can we listen more deeply to that Good Shepherd, who calls us toward the fullness of life?
April 19-21 (Weekend)
Vocation Discernment
(Br. Michael)
This retreat is open to both men and women. For some people, an experience such as a vocational discernment retreat comes at a point in their lives when they have begun to feel, or have felt for some time, an inner pull toward the religious life or perhaps the monastic way. This can prove to be a trying and confusing time in which it is hard to discern the basic direction in their lives. Vocational discernment retreats provide a prayerful atmosphere of silence, beauty and peace where retreatants come together with others to listen to God and their own hearts.
April 29-May 2 (Midweek)
Contemplative Prayer
(Frs. Tom Francis & Gerard and Br. Michael)
Prayer is a loving exchange with God. When we learn to receive the gift of God's presence through loving silence, we are able to develop our personal relationship with Him. One way to receive this gift is through centering prayer, traditionally known as contemplative prayer. This type of prayer enables us to rest in God, leading to a more intimate relationship with Him.
May 3-5 (Weekend)
Image, Faith & Photography
(Fr. James, John Spink & Matthew Jeffres)
Humanity is made in the image and likeness of God. Photography, at its best, can bring to view beautiful images that evoke a powerful sense of God's presence in our world. John Spink, a well known photographer whose work graces the pages of The Atlanta Journal Constitution, will share his insights and images. Matthew Jeffres is a friend of the monastery and also a professional photographer. He will also share his photographs, many of which are from this area. Fr. James Behrens will lead the retreat and share his photographs and comments on faith and the photographic imagination.
May 17-19 (Weekend)
Mary, God's Mother and Ours
(Frs. Gerard & Tom Francis)
Vatican Council II never intended to downgrade or discourage Marian piety.
Just the opposite: the bishops deepened and expanded its theological, biblical and liturgical roots so that Marian piety and devotion could be strengthened. These avenues will be explored in Conferences given on this weekends retreat.
May 20-23 (Midweek)
Spirituality of Imperfection
(Abbot Francis Michael & Br. Michael)
The spirituality of imperfection speaks to those who seek meaning in the absurd, peace within the chaos, light within the darkness, and joy within the suffering, without denying the reality and even the necessity of absurdity, chaos, darkness, and suffering. This is not spirituality for the saints or the gods, but for people who suffer from what the philosopher and psychologist William James called "torn-to-pieces-hood." We have all known that experience. To be human is to feel, at times, divided, fractured, and pulled in a dozen directions ... and to yearn for serenity and some healing of our "torn-to-pieces-hood."
May 24-26 (Weekend)
Yoga and Christian Contemplation
(Fr. Tom Francis & Tyler Francisco )
Communion with God in the silence of the heart is a God-given capacity. For the Christian, the life of prayer is central to living the faith. Also, for many Christians, Yoga has become part of their everyday lives. Can the life of prayer and the practice of Yoga be integrated? For those new to Yoga or for the experienced practitioner, this retreat will explore what the Early Church Fathers had to say about the life of prayer, while integrating Yoga into Christian contemplation.
May 31-June 2 (Weekend)
iPrayer and the Image of God
(Abbot Francis Michael & Fr. Anthony)
The focus of this retreat is discovering and exploring our images of God and how they affect our prayer. As St. Teresa of Avila learned, discovering the images of God can profoundly affect our prayer life and ultimately our relationship with God.
June 3-6 (Midweek)
Praying with the Scriptures
(Frs. Tom Francis & Gerard and Br. Michael)
The practice of lectio divina, meaning divine reading, is a form of prayer where one ponders Sacred Scriptures as a means of seeking communion with God. This retreat will discuss the steps of lectio divina and how we can practice this form of prayer in everyday lives as a tool to deepen our relationship with Christ.
June 7-9 (Weekend)
Spirit of Music/Music of the Spirit
(Fr. James & Chuck Henderson)
In his book The World's Religions, Huston Smith wrote that we danced and sang out our spirituality before we thought it out. Weather traditional or contemporary, in blues, folk, or whatever medium, nothing expresses our spiritual joys, sorrows, highs and lows like a voice raised in song.
June 17-20 (Midweek)
Eucharist: The Source and Summit of Christian Life
(Fr. Gerard)
We will spend time loving and adoring Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, day and night, throughout this retreat. We will talk about bringing the power of that Adoration into every corner of our lives, especially our families, recreation, places of study, and work. Jesus longs for us to treat all persons as created in His image and likeness. St. Benedict says that we should be, "treating the tools of the monastery like the vessels of the altar!" We seek to make this real and not just pious talk!
June 21-23 (Weekend)
Growing Close to Christ with Our Cistercian Fathers
(Br. Cassian)
Our 12th Century Cistercians lived closely with Jesus, as revealed in their deep reading of scripture. Guided by selected texts from Bernard of Clarivaux, Aelred of Rievaulx, and William of St. Thierry we will deepen our own journey with Christ.
June 28-30 (Weekend)
Anger, Resentment & Forgiveness
(Abbot Francis Michael & Fr. Anthony)
Forgiveness of all is a central challenge of Jesus' ministry. We can often get stuck in anger or resentment. History teaches us that this has led tribes and nations to marginalize, dehumanize, and kill other tribes, nations and peoples. This retreat will help us own our anger and resentment. While we have no pat answers, Christ is with us to empower us to forgive, to live forgiveness, and thus be the leaven of love to our communities in our modern world.
July 5-7 (Weekend)
Vocation Discernment
(Br. Michael)
This retreat is open to both men and women. For some people, an experience such as a vocational discernment retreat comes at a point in their lives when they have begun to feel, or have felt for some time, an inner pull toward the religious life or perhaps the monastic way. This can prove to be a trying and confusing time in which it is hard to discern the basic direction in their lives. Vocational discernment retreats provide a prayerful atmosphere of silence, beauty and peace where retreatants come together with others to listen to God and their own hearts.
July 12-14 (Weekend)
Writing & Journal Keeping
(Fr. James & Carl McColman)
Explore your personal connection between the inner life and the written word. This weekend includes time for silence, journaling, and reflection on the relationship between writing and the spiritual life. Suitable for professional and amateur writers at all skill levels, this weekend does not include personal criticism or feedback. Instead, it simply creates a space where you can write, pray, and perhaps even combine the two into a unified spiritual practice.
July 15-18 (Midweek)
A Spiritual Healing Retreat for Veterans
(Frs. Gerard & Anthony and Andrew Farris)
This healing retreat is for all veterans suffering from the trauma of war. "The journey out of war." *Healing begins with asking for God's forgiveness, and embracing the gift of life He has given us. This retreat will help "soul-wounded" vets overcome feelings of guilt, honor their lost friends, achieve self-forgiveness, and celebrate the gift of life through a healing ceremony. The retreat will put into words how to create a one-to-one relationship with God through contemplative prayer. Spouses are encouraged to attend. * W.M. Mahedy, Out of the Night.
July 19-21 (Weekend)
Listening to God
(Frs. Anthony & Gerard)
This retreat focuses on learning to listen to God with the ears of our hearts. We will learn to how to listen to God speak to us through the Scriptures, how to listen in the monastic tradition (Rule of Benedict), how to listen to conscience, the silence of God, and how to listen to the hearts of our brothers and sisters. Please bring a notebook for journaling.
July 26-28 (Weekend)
The Monk Within
(Br. Michael)
As we are all contemplatives; we all have a "monk within." Come and discover "the monk within you." This retreat will focus on ways to nourish the contemplative dimension in yourself through prayer, silence, solitude, work and community.
August 2-4 (Weekend)
Finding God in the Crossroads of Life
(Martha Gross)
Losses and major life changes -- whether they are anticipated or unanticipated, positive or negative -- force us to adjust to, or create, a "new normal". This retreat will help us find God's quiet but loving and powerful presence, leading us through the current challenges into New Life in Him.
August 5-8 (Midweek)
Contemplative Prayer
(Frs. Tom Francis & Gerard and Br. Michael)
Prayer is a loving exchange with God. When we learn to receive the gift of God's presence through loving silence, we are able to develop our personal relationship with Him. One way to receive this gift is through centering prayer, traditionally known as contemplative prayer. This type of prayer enables us to rest in God, leading to a more intimate relationship with Him.
August 9-11 (Weekend)
Cistercian Spirituality Retreat
(Fr. Anthony & Abbot Francis Michael)
This retreat will explore how the Charisms, such as patience, humility, Liturgy of the Hours, lectio divina, silence, and solitude, that define the life of the monastic community can be readily translated to the lay community. Both monastic and Lay Cistercians will discuss how they live the Charisms in their everyday life.
August 16-18 (Weekend)
Yoga and Christian Contemplation
(Fr. Tom Francis & Tyler Francisco)
Communion with God in the silence of the heart is a God given capacity. For the Christian, the life of prayer is central to living the faith. Also, for many Christians, Yoga has become part of their everyday lives. Can the life of prayer and the practice of Yoga be integrated? For those new to Yoga or for the experienced practitioner, this retreat will explore what the Early Church Fathers had to say about the life of prayer, while integrating Yoga into Christian contemplation.
August 19-22 (Midweek)
Joyful Challenges of Life after 50
(Frs. Anthony & James and Br. Mark)
The autumn years are a time when the greatest riches of life can unfold. This retreat will explore some of the ways to nourish our inner lives and stir our souls through challenges that make the most of this stage in our life.
August 23-25 (Weekend)
Boundaries
(Br. Michael)
This retreat will focus on "boundary issues." Do you "invade" other people's boundaries? Do you allow others to "cross" your boundaries? Boundaries are legitimate, healthy "fences" that we put between ourselves and others in order to maintain healthy relationships. The purposes of having boundaries are to protect and care for ourselves, and respect others, thereby establishing healthy relationships.
August 30-September 1 (Weekend)
God is Love: Contemplation and Action
(Fr. Tom Francis, Scott Hodgman & Cullen Larson)
The Catechism teaches us that the Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature" for this is why the Word became man and the Son of God became the Son of Man (Catechism, 460). Who is this God of which we partake and how do we partake of God? With contemplative prayer and God's justice as our goal, this retreat offers a Vision of right relationship with God and one another through three scriptural passages: God is Love; Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind; and Love one another, even as I have Loved you.
September 9-12 (Midweek)
Meditation with Abbess Hildegard of Bingen (1098 -1179)
(Dr. Dewey Weiss Kramer)
God called Hildegard, German Benedictine Abbess and Visionary of the twelfth century, to reclaim for her day the Good News of God's vibrant love for all of Creation. Her insights are equally relevant for us today. The weekend uses Hildegard's own writings, visionary art, and music to draw retreatants into closer relationship with the Trinitarian God who continually seeks us.
September 30 - October 3 (Midweek)
Thomas Merton - Merton's Journals as Lectio Divina: Reading the Everyday as Sacred
(Victor Kramer)
This retreat uses Merton's journals, especially Vol. 4, Turning Toward the Lord: The Pivotal Years, 1960-1963, to demonstrate how Merton often relied upon a four step process to construct meditations in simple journal entries. This draws readers into a process similar to traditional Lectio: Literal observations, meditation (connections), prayer, as well as contemplation. The retreat will examine selected entries: demonstrate how they lead to prayerfulness; and encourage a contemplative approach to the spiritual life. The goal of the retreat is to demonstrate how to use Merton's journal entries to be more prayerful.
October 11-13 (Weekend)
Anxiety, Depression and Burnout
(Martha Gross)
Not a replacement for therapy or drugs, this retreat will provide tools for opening ourselves to the healing touch of the Living God on a daily basis. Christ longs for us to deeply receive His Love - a Love that provides Peace to the anxious; Light to those trapped in the darkness of depression; and New Life to those who are experiencing burnout
October 21-24 (Midweek)
Matinee with the Monks
(Br. Michael)
We will show a full-length feature film which carries a redemptive and significant theme. There will be ample time for questions, and discussion. It will be a worthwhile excursion into the more insightful films of our time.
November 1-3 (Weekend)
Contemplative Prayer
(Frs. Tom Francis & Gerard and Br. Michael)
Prayer is a loving exchange with God. When we learn to receive the gift of God's presence, through loving silence, we are able to develop our personal relationship with Him. One way to receive this gift is through centering prayer, traditionally known as contemplative prayer. This type of prayer enables us to rest in God, leading to a more intimate relationship with Him.
November 4- 7 (Midweek)
Finding Unity In Diversity: The Lives of the Monks of Tibhirine
(Br. Cassian)
It can be a great challenge to create a harmonious community of people of different ages, temperaments, life experiences and talents. This is a challenge we all face in our families, our work places, our churches.
The monks of Tibhirine, Algeria, were such a group of widely diverse men, yet they found a deep sense of unity in the last years of their lives. The award-winning film "Of Gods and Men" was based on their experience. This series of conferences will be an opportunity to examine more closely their growing sense of one-ness.
November 8-10 (Weekend)
Wisdom of the Christian Mystics
(Br. Elias & Carl McColman)
From the Desert Fathers to Julian of Norwich to Thomas Merton, Christian history is filled with stories of men and women who experienced a profound sense of God's presence in their lives. Can the teachings of the mystics still speak to us today? The mystics themselves would say, "Yes." Furthermore, their message is not just for priests, monks or nuns, but is indeed meant for the entire people of God. With this in mind, during this weekend we will look at several ways that the wisdom of the Christian mystics can provide insight and inspiration for our age, including the universal call to holiness, St. Paul's directive to "pray without ceasing," and the promise from the Psalms to, "Be still and know that I am God."
November 11-14 (Midweek)
Preparing for Advent: Monastic Wisdom beyond the Cloister
(Br. Elias, Br. Michael, & Trisha Day)
This four-day retreat will draw upon the wisdom of the monastery to help busy people looking for ways to slow down and pay more attention to the spiritual significance of the Advent Season. The retreat will include an opportunity to view a documentary film series that captures the impact monastic life had on five women who were struggling with challenges that confront us all. Retreatants will explore aspects of contemplative monastic life that can lead to a deeper understanding of what it means to be attentive to the many ways God is present to us. Practical suggestions for incorporating monastic wisdom into everyday life will be included as well as suggestions for creating a more contemplative approach to Advent in our personal lives.
Trisha Day is a Lay woman who has spent three months living with the Sisters at Mississippi Abbey. She is the author of Inside the School of Charity: Lessons from the Monastery, based on what she learned as a result of that experience.
November 22-24 (Weekend)
12 Step Spirituality for Everyone
(Br. Michael)
This retreat will show how everyone can use the Twelve Steps of AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) in their spiritual lives. The retreat will provide practical ways to use the Twelve Steps as spiritual "tools" on your journey to God.
November 25-28 (Midweek)
Spirituality of Thank-Full-Ness
(Frs. Gerard & Anthony)
Practicing the spirituality of thankfulness strengthens our faith, as we remember the evidence of God's presence in our lives. Thank-full-ness encourages others, giving them strength and joy for their journey.
December 2-5 (Midweek)
Christmas Stories
(Fr. James & Br. Mark)
Fr. James and Br. Mark will share some of their Christmas stories and memories. We will also invite participants to share their stories with us.
December 6-8 (Weekend)
Pray As You Can
(Fr. Anthony)
Just as there are no two snowflakes exactly alike, prayer is different for each of us. Personal preferences may vary, yet each one is called to "pray as one can, not as one can't." We will take an in-depth look at prayer as described in the book Praying in the Cellar.
December 13-15 (Weekend)
Vocation Discernment
(Br. Michael)
This retreat is open to both men and women. For some people, an experience such as a vocational discernment retreat comes at a point in their lives when they have begun to feel, or have felt for some time, an inner pull toward the religious life or perhaps the monastic way. This can prove to be a trying and confusing time in which it is hard to discern the basic direction in their lives. Vocational discernment retreats provide a prayerful atmosphere of silence, beauty and peace where retreatants come together with others to listen to God and their own hearts.