Contemplative Living II: Daily Life as Prayer – via Zoom
2025-01-01 08:00 - 2025-04-01 17:00 UTC | Internet – Online
Your life is hidden with Christ in God.
– Colossians 3:3
Further enrich your contemplative life and embrace the practice of living each day as a form of prayer. In Contemplative Living I (CL I) the focus is on deepening your interior prayer life, leading to the awareness of God’s presence in all that is. In Contemplative Living II (CL II) the focus shifts towards increased intentionality in how you are living your daily life. You likely have a better understanding of what blocks you in deepening your relationship with God, others, and even with yourself. You are now more capable of looking at your part in relationships and what gets in the way of being and becoming the person God created you to be. Building on the contemplative practices learned in CL I, in CL II you will assess where you are in your life and how you can make choices aligning with your authentic self.
The design of Contemplative Living II: Daily Life as Prayer:
Gaining contemplative attitudes and dispositions through

Contemplative Listening – a practice of active listening in group spiritual direction, raising your awareness of the movements of the Divine within you and others.
Contemplative Discernment – a method of going to God with your questions and desires, allowing the answers to find you
Contemplative Awareness related to Addictions, Attachments and Aversion – using contemplative discernment to surface habit patterns that have become compulsions that you no longer freely choose
The Forgiveness Prayer – a prayer that guides you to follow Jesus’s example to live with hearts open to love
Contemplative Service – a vocation, a calling, or a way of life that’s rooted in living a contemplative life
Commitment to a Contemplative Rule of Life – looking at the rhythm of life you’ve created in this course, what practices have worked for you and that you will continue to commit to in the ordinary activities of your life
Contemplative Living Communities – the support we receive from community enhances our spiritual journey and is helpful to continue in some way at the end of the course

Please see the link below for more information and to register.

Writing Into the New Year: A Contemplative Writing Retreat
2025-01-10 16:00 - 2025-01-12 12:00 UTC | Mercy by the Sea Retreat and Conference Center, 167 Neck Road, Madison, CT, 06443-0191, United States
Stories give shape to the human experience
and touch us in our innermost places.
They pick us up right where we are and
leave us somewhere else – changed, transformed,
more awake, alive and aware.
– Sara Mackenzie, author
Life provides us with countless stories — of love, loss, grief, and courage; stories of unexpected life changes, family relationships, spiritual journeys, small miracles, and experiences in nature. Writing our stories demands attentiveness, honesty, courage, and a commitment to engage with a creative process that pulls us into the unknown where we are often surprised at what surfaces. It’s a journey of discovery.
This retreat will blend periods of Centering Prayer, personal writing time, talks, and creativity exercises. There will be time to read, walk the grounds, or gaze out at the waters of Long Island Sound. Come to work on a current project, begin stories long thought about, or immerse yourself in silence in order to discover what needs to be voiced. Come to be still and know …
Please see the link below to register.

Eight Day Centering Prayer Retreat
2025-01-10 17:00 - 2025-01-17 11:00 UTC | St. Mary’s Sewanee: The Ayres Center for Spiritual Development, 770 St. Mary's Lane, TN, 37375, United States
Each January, St. Mary’s Sewanee begins the New Year by hosting eight days of sacred silence in a Centering Prayer Retreat. Guests are invited to participate as either “intensive” (first time attending in a long retreat) or “post-intensive” (experienced in attending long retreats).
Guests can participate in daily sits, Holy Eucharist services, Meditation in Motion classes, and BodyWork sessions (acupressure). Fresh nutritious meals and daily snacks are provided throughout the week. Opportunities to enjoy the labyrinth, the meditation garden, the Turkey Hollow Trail, or a simple walk down St. Mary’s Lane, all while experiencing the gifts of holy silence.
Please see the link below for more information and to register.

Centering Prayer 5-Day Renewal Retreat
2025-01-10 18:00 - 2025-01-14 11:00 (America/New_York) | Cedarbrake Renewal Center, 5602 Hwy 317, Belton, TX, 76513, United States
Centering Prayer 5-Day Retreat
This in-person 5-day Centering Prayer Retreat is offered by The Church of Conscious Harmony at the beautiful Cedarbrake Renewal Center in Belton, Texas. The schedule will be quite spacious, with extended free time in silence and solitude. Retreat includes vegetarian meals and private room lodging. The retreat begins with check-in between 4 and 5pm and dinner at 6pm Friday and concludes by 11am Tuesday. Space is limited.
To register, select the link below or call the church office at 512-347-9673.

New Year Silent Saturday
2025-01-11 09:00 - 12:00 UTC | Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Road, Encino, CA, 91436, United States
Begin the new year by deepening our relationship with God. Join us for a quiet morning of Centering Prayer and silence. The day provides time for communal Centering Prayer, a contemplative walk, and private journaling and reflection, and ends with a period of Lectio Divina. All are welcome. A brief introduction to Centering Prayer will be offered for those new to the practice.
Facilitators: Silent Saturday Centering Prayer Team
A free will offering is gratefully appreciated.
For more information, please email Marilyn Nobori at centeringprayer@hsrcenter.com.
Registration online at www.hsrcenter.com is appreciated but not required.
(Arrive by 8:45 a.m.)
(Photo by Simon Berger, Unsplash)

A Time of Peace and Refreshment - via Zoom
2025-01-18 08:45 - 11:45 (America/Denver) | Internet – Online
If you need a retreat but can’t get away, join us for this free Centering Prayer online mini-retreat with periods of silent prayer, contemplative breaks and lectio divina.
This event is free, but a donation of any amount to Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. is greatly appreciated if you are able. You may donate here if you wish.
Please see the Zoom link below.
Times listed are Pacific Standard Time.

Retreat in Iceland with Mary Dwyer
2025-01-23 18:00 - 2025-01-26 14:00 UTC | TN
Welcoming Forgiveness
This retreat will be in silence with extended periods of Centering Prayer (Contemplative Prayer). Information and support will be available for those that do not know Centering Prayer.
Mary Dwyer will explore with us the dance between the Welcoming Prayer practice and Forgiveness. Soul friending will be available.
The Welcoming Prayer is a method of consenting to God’s presence and action in our physical and emotional reactions to events and situations in daily life. The purpose of the Welcoming Prayer is to deepen our relationship with God through consenting in the ordinary activities of our day — “consent-on-the-go.”
Centering Prayer is a receptive method of Christian silent prayer which deepens our relationship with God, the Indwelling Presence … a prayer in which we can experience God’s presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself.
Price: 110.000 Icelandic kronas – Room for one / 85.000 Icelandic kronas – Room for two. Food is included.
The retreat will be at Hotel Kríunes in the capital area in Iceland. It´s a long weekend from the afternoon of the 23rd of January until midday of the 26th of January. Sr. Arndís G. Bernhardsdóttir Linn and Bylgja Dís Gunnarsdóttir will lead the retreat. For more information send an email to Bylgja: kyrrdarbaen@gmail.com.

Chatting with the Divine Weekend Retreat
2025-01-24 17:00 - 2025-01-26 11:00 UTC | St. Mary’s Sewanee: The Ayres Center for Spiritual Development, 770 St. Mary's Lane, TN, 37375, United States
Sr. Marie Tasto wrote that practicing lectio divina “is an experience of being shaped by the Word of God and coming into fullness as the word God created us to be.” You are invited to participate in this experience while surrounded by the quiet beauty of St. Mary’s Sewanee. Although this is not strictly an introductory workshop, no prior experience of praying in this contemplative manner is necessary.
Participants will practice lectio divina in both the more structured scholastic format as well as the monastic format. Both formats invite participants to respond to what the Spirit is stirring up in them, thereby making manifest the grace and wonder of listening to Scripture as a community. Learn more about the two formats of lectio divina …
Please see the link below for more information and to register.

Laudato Si’ 10th Anniversary Contemplative Vigil - via Zoom
2025-01-25 | Internet – Online
The Laudato Si’ Movement, together with the World Community of Christian Contemplation, Contemplative Outreach, the Taizé Community, the Office of the Franciscan Minors for Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation, and the Assisi Center, invite you to participate in a 10-hour contemplative vigil to honor the role of contemplation in caring for our common home.
Each of the 10 hours will be guided by a quotation from Laudato Si’ and the wisdom of leading contemplative communities, as well as some form of contemplative practice and reflection.

Date: Saturday, January 25, 2025
Begins: 6 am NYC / 11 am London / 12 pm Rome / 2 pm Nairobi / 7pm Manila

Volunteers from the Contemplative Outreach community will speak during the first hour and then host the 10am Eastern time slot (3pm GMT) on Saturday, January 25, 2025. The session is entitled, “The Perils of Pride: Embracing Humility for a Sustainable Future.”
More information can be found here including the Zoom link to join. Participate as much or as little as you like.

Centering Prayer Summit: The Contemplative Heart of Unity: A Retreat into Oneness through Centering Prayer
2025-01-25 - 2025-01-26 | Internet – Online
In a world where division and disconnection often overshadow our shared humanity, the call to unity has never been more urgent.
The 4th Annual Online Centering Prayer Summit on January 25-26 offers a sacred space to move beyond personal peace to embrace a shared, universal connection with the Divine and all of creation. Guided by renowned contemplative teachers, including keynote speaker Cynthia Bourgeault, we’ll explore how contemplative prayer not only deepens our relationship with God but also weaves us closer to one another, illuminating our shared journey.
Through shared silence and wisdom teachings, we’ll uncover the Divine thread that connects us all, revealing the wholeness amidst the fragments.
For more about the presenters and schedule, and to register, go here.

Quiet Day with Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina – in German language - via Zoom
2025-01-25 08:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Paris) | Internet – Online
Centering Prayer Berlin lädt ein:
An diesem Tag gönnen wir uns, einmal für ein paar Stunden scheinbar nichts zu machen, wir lassen einfach geschehen. Wir legen die Handys beiseite (falls wir es nicht zum Teilnehmen am Zoom Meeting benötigen), lassen den Alltag hinter uns und verbringen die Zeit weitgehend schweigend miteinander. Wir habe Zeit für stille Meditation (Centering Prayer oder eine andere Form des stillen Gebets), Meditation mit einem Text (Lectio Divina) und vielleicht auch eine Zeit abseits des Computers in der Natur oder der Umgebung, in der wir leben.
Es sind keine Vorkenntnisse erforderlich, es erfolgt allerdings keine Einführung in die stille Meditation.
Der gemeinsame Tag beginnt um 9:00 Uhr und endet gegen 12:30 Uhr CET.
Registrierung erforderlich bis 12:00 Uhr einen Tag vor dem Event.
All times in CET

The Body’s Bridge to the Experience of Living in God: Exploring BioSpiritual Focusing in Context of BioSpirituality - in person and online
2025-01-25 08:30 - 16:30 UTC | Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road, West Hartford, CT, 6107, United States
Two Jesuits, Fr. Edwin McMahon and Fr. Peter Campbell, incorporated the embodied practice of Focusing into the larger context of BioSpirituality. Their work opens us to know ourselves as living within the greater Whole, the Body of Christ. During this day, we’ll experience BioSpiritual Focusing and explore, among other things, the embodied experience of grace and becoming a living expression of love. We’ll learn to reconnect to ourselves, one another, and to God, the Reality in whom we live and move and have our being.
This program will be offered both in-person and online via Zoom. Information on how to access the program on Zoom will be sent to participants in advance.
This program will include a morning and an afternoon session of Centering Prayer.
Please see the link below.

Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop
2025-01-25 09:00 - 12:30 UTC | Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Road, Encino, CA, 91436, United States
Contemplative Prayer is God’s personal and unique gift to each of us. If we are open to this gift, it will profoundly affect our lives and relationship with God, others, and the world. Centering Prayer is a form of contemplative prayer. It is a method of prayer that opens us to interior transformation and deeper intimacy with God and others.
The workshop includes four presentations and the practice of Centering Prayer.
Presenters: CP Introductory Workshop Team
Fee: $45
For more information, please contact Marilyn Nobori at 818-815-4480 or centeringprayer@hsrcenter.com.
Register online at www.hsrcenter.com by January 21st with a non-refundable deposit of $10.
(Arrive by 8:50 a.m.)

Certificate in Contemplative Spiritual Direction
2025-01-29 - 2025-05-01 | Columbia Theological Seminary, 701 South Columbia Drive, Decatur, GA, 30031, United States
The certificate offering is a 2-year formation and training program for persons who discern a call to the ministry of spiritual direction. Applicants will begin Phase I in July 2025.
Certificate in Contemplative Spiritual Direction features:

Contemplative spiritual formation as the foundation
A 24-month Focused Program with home-based assignments
A Cohort Model in a hybrid format (online and residential components)
Facilitated by seasoned practitioners
A Supervised Practicum (One-on-One/Peer Group) facilitated by trained supervisors
Use of the Enneagram in Spiritual Direction for Greater Self-awareness and Spiritual Growth

Read more about the program here. It includes emphasis on Centering Prayer (including a five-day retreat), Lectio Divina and the teachings of Thomas Keating.
Applications Due: May 1, 2025
To complete the application, you will need to submit the following.

One current reference, including name, phone number, and email address.
A PDF or Word document of your responses to the short essay questions, found below.
A non-refundable application fee of $75.

For any questions, please email lifelonglearning@ctsnet.edu.

Introduction to Centering Prayer
2025-01-31 17:30 - 2025-02-02 11:00 UTC | Bethany Retreat Center, 1031 Germania Rd, Frenchville, PA, 16836, United States
Sr. Ruth Ann Madera will introduce you and guide you tot the inner silence of Centering Prayer. Centering Prayer is a form Christian contemplative prayer, to center awareness on the presence of God.
Please see the link below to register.
