2010

February 6: STUMBLING TOWARD GOD Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. We are each living the universal human story--a story of love, loss, and redemption. We all feel like heretics, and we wonder if we're the only heretic in the pews. Healing comes when we know we are not alone. Using simple memory exercises, contemplation, and journaling, retreat participants will tap into pivotal moments in their own stumbling path toward God. In sharing these moments, we'll find companionship on the road.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Bring a sack lunch, paper and pencil for writing.
Minimum 5, Maximum 20
Margaret D. McGee, a writer and leader of spiritual workshops and retreats, is author of Stumbling Toward God: A Prodigal's Return, and Sacred Attention: A Spiritual Practice for Finding God in the Moment (SkyLight Paths Publishing).
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February 13: CREATIVE AND ACTIVE PRAYING: FINDING GOD IN MOVEMENT, WRITING AND DRAWING Saturday 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM. "Let the children come to me," said Jesus. So with a child's open and loving heart, we will seek union with God through various activities: moving in prayer, composing prayer poems, sketching, drawing, and photographing the Divine in its infinite manifestations.
Register by prior Friday - $50.Please bring a sack lunch, journal, favorite art materials, blanket, pillows, sticky mat, Bible.
Minimum 8
Roy DeLeon is an Oblate of St Benedict at St Placid Priory. He trained as a spiritual director with the Priory Spirituality Center. A certified yoga instructor, he teaches Blessed Movements regularly at the Priory.
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February 19-21: THE LENTEN JOURNEY: GOD'S TIME Friday 7:15 PM - Sunday 1:30 PM. Follow Jesus into the wilderness for greater solitude. Take time to deepen your spiritual journey in silence during Lent. The opening session will involve prayer, relaxation and preparation for the retreat with some materials for possible use during the retreat. The retreat will close with group prayer and sharing. A spiritual director will be available, for those who wish, to listen with you as you discern the actions of God in your life. You are also welcome to join the Benedictine Sisters for Liturgy of the Hours and the Eucharist.
Register by prior Friday - $130;     with spiritual direction - $165
Minimum 3, Maximum 10
Therese Gonneville OSB, spiritual director and gifted retreat leader.
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February 20: JOURNALING AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Helen Cepero believes we encounter God through attentive writing. Using her book, Journaling as a Spiritual Practice, as our guide, we will pay attention to our lives, honor our stories, mine below the surface, bless our bodies, reflect on our past and see where our journaling leads us. We will notice God in the everyday through our writing.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Bring a sack lunch and a journal
Minimum 5, Maximum 25
Dee McDonald, M.A., has lived and worked on the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. As a Teacher, she presents workshops on Communication and Diversity to agencies worldwide. With a wealth of personal life experiences to draw from, every evening in front of the fireplace, she turns adventures of the outer world into reflective story/poems/art of the inner world.
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February 27: INTRODUCTION TO WELCOMING PRAYER PRACTICE Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Welcoming Prayer is a companion practice to Centering Prayer. It teaches a prayerful way of letting go of upsetting emotions, feelings, thoughts, and commentaries that arise in our daily lives. Welcoming allows us to open ourselves to God and allows God to assist us in letting go of the personality defenses we've developed. In this daily practice of transformation we take on the mind of Christ. Previous instruction on centering prayer or other meditation practice highly recommended.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Please bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 8, Maximum 25
Cherry Haisten, Paul Fiorni and other presenters are certified by Father Thomas Keating's Contemplative Outreach to teach Centering Prayer.
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March 13: LECTIO WITH A DREAM Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Dreams are about moving toward wholeness. We will do Lectio: reading, meditating and praying with the dream, contemplating the dream and journaling about it. Please bring a dream with you if possible.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Bring a sack lunch, a journal and a Bible
Marian Maynard is an Oblate of St. Placid Priory and a psychotherapist.
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March 20-21: WOMEN IN MIDLIFE: A TIME OF SPIRITUAL DEEPENING Saturday 9:00 AM - Sunday 3:00 PM. Midlife is a journey reclaiming the authentic self. As a child and young adult, a woman creates identities that enable her to survive and to fit into family and culture. The midlife passage between the late 30's and early 60's calls her to release versions of self that she has outgrown and to reclaim her authentic self. Come gather with other women to explore, honor and celebrate this tumultuous and potent life phase. This workshop will include conversation and experiences around the following topics:

• Changes in the body, mind, emotions, and energy
• Yearning
• Discerning one's authentic path
• Soul Emergence

Register by prior Friday - $170 (Workshop and overnight stay)
Minimum 8, Maximum 15 (sharing rooms)
Rev. Suzanne Seaton, MSW, is ordained in the United Methodist Church. She is a spiritual director and a spiritual formation retreat leader.
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March 27: THE CHALLENGE OF FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION TODAY Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Forgiveness and Reconciliation are two endeavors that present real challenges when it comes to both big and small issues in our lives and world. We will look at what forgiveness and reconciliation are in light of Scripture; and at both of these in light of Benedict's Rule and focus on how both are part of an experiential, lived-out spirituality central to relationship and community-building.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Bring a sack lunch, Bible and a Rule of Benedict
Minimum 5
Phyllis Thompson is an Oblate of Annunciation Monastery in Bismarck, ND. She has been giving retreats, days of recollection, and workshops on the Rule and aspects of Benedictine spirituality since 1997. She has also published in these areas.
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April 1-4: JOURNEY TO EASTER: LENTEN RETREAT Thursday 3:00 PM - Sunday Noon. Travel the road to Calvary with Jesus. Let the silence of this retreat help you be fully present to this holy time. Begin by joining the Benedictine Sisters for a special meal on Holy Thursday. Be with us as we let the liturgies of each day lead us deeper into the journey to Easter. We will celebrate new life with 8AM Eucharist on Easter Sunday followed by a simple breakfast with the Sisters and Mass participants. Spiritual Direction is available on Thursday before the retreat begins.
Register by prior Friday - $180; with spiritual direction - $215.
Therese Gonneville, OSB is a Sister of St. Placid Priory, a spiritual director and retreat leader.
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April 10: KEEPING OUR BALANCE: Finding Enlightenment & Wisdom Enough to Hold On and to Let Go Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Life provides many ups and downs that can be weathered in ways that enlarge our spirits rather than diminishing them. We'll consider stories about restoring balance after something has thrown us off our path for a time such as facing a life threatening disease, the unexpected loss of a career, the death of a loved one, etc. Even achieving success in the very thing we longed for fill us with an over-inflated sense of self-importance that clouds our vision for a time. As we look for ways to restore our equilibrium, we must learn to look past ourselves to the larger pattern of which we are but a small part. Learning to see beyond ourselves allows us to more easily make peace with whatever happens as we make our life journeys, and it also prepares us to enter more fully into the deep mystery of life and to be able to let go of our part in it when it is time to do so.
Register by prior Friday - $60. Bring a sack lunch
Minimum 6, Maximum 16
Jan Lawry is a developmental psychologist who has worked in many settings observing the journey we take as creative human beings. Her work with college undergraduates, adolescents, abused children, divorced adults and creative elders has revealed many parallels in our psychological, spiritual and creative growth. She is an active member of the International Women's Writing Guild and offers workshops nationwide to help people recognize and utilize their creative talents and spiritual longings in pursuit of greater self-discovery.
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April 17: CHANGE THE WAY YOU SEE Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. "I want to see" will be the scriptural focus of the day. Letting go and letting God lead us comes through prayerful reflection and asset based thinking. The way we see ourselves, others and situations depends on personal, relational and situational assets. The day will include some theory and exercises on assets and blessings.
Register by prior Friday - $50. Please bring a sack lunch.
Sue Schneider has worked in the corporate world for over 30 years. For the past nine years, Sue has been an independent consultant focusing on high performance teams, strategic planning, and organization design/development working with a diverse client base. She has been working with the Benedictine Community at Mt. Angel for over nine years and most recently with the Benedictine Sisters at St. Placid Priory. Introduced to the Appreciative Inquiry process 5 years ago, Sue learned the concepts from David Cooperrider and has been using the AI process in her consulting practice.
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April 30: THE SACRED ARTS IN MINISTRY Friday 9:15 AM - 3:30 PM. This introductory workshop is a practical, hands-on approach to the use of artistic expression in Christian contexts of prayer, retreat, and spiritual direction. Participants will learn to incorporate gentle, accessible art experiences (music, movement, visual arts, poetry) into ministry settings. Engaging the arts in this way is not technical skill or mastery, but exploring the dynamics of the creative process and the inner symbolic life in relationship to God.
Register by prior Thursday - $65 (includes $5 art materials). Please bring a sack lunch.
Christine Valters Paintner, PhD in Christian Spirituality, is a spiritual director, teacher, writer, retreat and workshop leader who focuses her work on helping others to integrate spirituality, the arts, and creativity. She is co-author of Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction. To learn more about her approach and background please visit Abbey of the Arts
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May 1: WATER, WIND, EARTH AND FIRE: PRAYING WITH THE ELEMENTS Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:30 PM. Water, wind, earth, and fire are the four primal elements in nature and provide the template for our day of retreat together. Taking our cues from St. Francis and the Celtic tradition, we will explore our relationship to each of the elements and ask what gifts and questions they offer to us. In addition we will notice how becoming more aware of them grounds us more deeply in God's creation. Our time will include ritual, reflective journaling, contemplative prayer, poetry, and sharing.
Register by prior Friday - $60. Bring a sack lunch and dress comfortably.
Christine Valters Paintner, PhD in Christian Spirituality, is a spiritual director, teacher, writer, retreat and workshop leader who focuses her work on helping others to integrate spirituality, the arts, and creativity. She is the author of Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire: The Christian Spiritual Practice of Praying with the Elements (Ave Maria Press). To learn more about her approach and background please visit Abbey of the Arts
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May 8: THE ART AND BEAUTY OF MARY'S GARDEN Saturday 9:45 AM - 3:30 PM. Join us for a day of inspiration, exploring the world of Mary's garden--a sacred space of spiritual integration, illumination, and mystical marriage. We will learn about the enclosed garden's metaphoric, symbolic, and spiritual dimensions, and see how it was represented in beautiful late medieval and renaissance art. Scripture, poetry, music, and prayer will be our guides as we uncover the development of the sacred garden. You will be introduced to the individual plants and flowers that represent Mary's virtues, along with the symbolism of the mystic rose, and rose gardens. The day will include a look at medieval garden design as well as contemporary Mary gardens. There will be practical suggestions on how to plant and nurture a contemplative Mary garden of your own. Please bring a flower for the altar in honor of the Virgin Mary.
Register by prior Friday - $60 Bring a sack lunch and a flower
Minimum 14, Maximum 30
Victoria Scarlett (MA Art History, MA Museum Studies, BA Studio Art) is the Director of the Center for Sacred Art in Seattle reclaiming traditional sacred art as a tool for conscious living and contemporary spiritual practice. Victoria has taught in a variety of settings, from universities and museums to cathedrals, spirituality centers, and interfaith conferences.
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May 14-16: PRAYER OF THE HEART Friday 7:15 AM - Sunday 1:30 PM. This retreat will explore the stages of prayer and will focus on Centering Prayer and the Jesus Prayer. Participants will have time for reflection and silence, time to spend in nature, and will have opportunities to experience Centering Prayer in a group with guided mediations as well as time alone. Our God says: "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD." Come and spend time with your God in silence and in the depths of your heart and Being. Come to know more deeply the God within and around you.
Register by prior Friday - $160.
Minimum 5, Maximum 10
Therese Gonneville, OSB is a Sister of St. Placid Priory, a spiritual director and a retreat leader.
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May 15: INTRODUCTION TO THE ENNEAGRAM Saturday 9:15 AM - 4:00 PM. The Enneagram is an important tool for understanding ourselves and others. This class will introduce the Enneagram of Personality Types as a tool for recognizing how our habits of thinking, feeling and acting are organized in a way that allows us to live under the delusion of separateness from God and each other. Participants will be introduced to the nine fundamentally distinct world views that make up the Enneagram. Our aim will be to help each participant discover his/her own type and activate the inner observer, the witnessing stance that leads us to reunification with the Source of our being. This class is most suitable for new students of the Enneagram though anyone with an interest may attend.
Register by prior Friday - $60. Bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 6, Maximum 20
The Essential Enneagram by Dr. David Daniels and Virginia Price, PhD. will be available for purchase at the Priory Bookstore on the day of the class.
Debra Janison has studied the Enneagram for 20 years. She is certified to teach by Helen Palmer and David Daniels. She is a professional member of the Association of Enneagram Teachers in the Narrative Tradition and the International Enneagram Association. Her understanding of the dynamics of type has also been strongly influenced by the Diamond Heart work of A.H. Almaas. (For more information, see Enneagram Olympia)
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May 22: A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE IN THREE LINES Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. Writing haiku is a fun and effective way to tap into the sacred moments that permeate everyday living. By capturing and writing down images of what we find holy--moments of deep feeling that make us feel alive and whole--we relate to God through the "now" of of this moment just as it is. Using lively examples and simple guided exercises, this retreat introduces participants to a unique and creative spiritual practice. No poetry writing experience needed to have fun in this class!
Register by prior Friday - $50. Bring a sack lunch, paper and pencil for writing.
Minimum 5, Maximum 15
Margaret D. McGee, a writer and leader of spiritual workshops and retreats, is author of Haiku--The Sacred Art: A Spiritual Practice in Three Lines (SkyLight Paths). Her website, In the Courtyard, hosts a haiku forum.
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June 19: WALKING A SACRED PATH Saturday 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. "The labyrinth holds up a mirror, reflecting back not only our finest selves but also whatever restrains us from shining forth."--Melissa Gayle West     Learn why the ancient labyrinth has endured as a symbol of life's sacred journey. Experience the labyrinth as a tool for reflection, relaxation and discovery. This contemplative retreat will feed your spirit with silence, labyrinth walking, journaling, story telling and music.
Register by prior Friday - $60. Bring a sack lunch, journal, comfortable clothes and shores for walking outdoors.
Minimum 8, Maximum 20
Betty Hawkins is a labyrinth expert who designs and constructs labyrinths, organizes labyrinth community events and church events. After retiring from teaching community college mathematics, Betty has focused on learning about all aspects of labyrinths. She has completed labyrinth facilitators' training with The Rev. Lauren Artress and Robert Ferre.
Carol Spangler, M.A., MPH, is experienced in leading spiritual direction groups and retreats and offers contemplative retreats at her home on Vashon Island where she built a 38-foot labyrinth under Betty's guidance. She is a graduate of the Shalem Institute's Spiritual Formation Program and the Anam Cara Project at the Sacred Art of Living Center in Bend, Oregon. She is an active Hospice volunteer and a practicing Quaker.
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July 24
August 14: GOD THE ARTIST, WE THE CO-CREATORS Saturday 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM. God is the artist of our soul. This retreat will stimulate our creative souls. We will focus on our Potter God, using clay materials. We will meet at The Priory Spirituality Center and drive to Walter and Renata Siegl's clay studio in Shelton. They will aid us with our creations. All of us are artists, so come to play and pray! The pieces will be glazed by Walter and Renata and you may pick them up at The Priory Spirituality Center after they are fired. Note: You may choose to attend either or both dates listed.
Register by prior Friday - $60 includes materials. Bring a sack lunch.
Minimum 5, Maximum 10
Lucy Wynkoop, OSB is a retreat director and has received formal art education.
Renata Siegl pursues her hobbies of ceramics, water color and paper cutting (Scherenschnitte) after retirement as a Kindergarten teacher and mother of four children. Her education in Vienna was continued at San Antonio College in Walnut, California.
Walter Siegl was a teacher in Vienna, Austria and is a retired Architect, enjoying the endless possibilities of ceramics in the peaceful and serene setting of the Studio. He also took evening classes at San Antonio College.
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