Surviving pandemic isolation unleashed a whole lot of traveling for many of us. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how social and outward-oriented life has turned. Meanwhile, I wonder how many are noticing what I’m noticing: A longing to turn more attention inward, to nurturing the interior life. I’m beginning again with slowing down, stillness, listening, silence, and savoring home and neighborhood—ways of nurturing a kind of contemplative spaciousness. I invite you to slow down and engage hearts and minds in an embodied mystical realm through this Cinema Divina Overnight program, centered around a contemplative screening ritual on Saturday evening with a new Cinema Divina film made for this occasion through contemplative practice. Throughout the screening process, I will guide participants into reverent silences, writing, reflections, and deeper listening to the boundless wisdom that connects us all.
Two additional communal gatherings (Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning) will bookend our overnight, gentle times set aside for group sharing, connecting, and cherishing collectively the transporting benefit of communal contemplative practice. In between gathering times, whether at home or the spirituality center, participants are invited to do as they choose while listening with the ear of their heart (as St. Benedict urges) for what the Sufi poet and mystic, Rumi, would call, ‘guides and messages from beyond’. -by M Freeman
All are welcome, seasoned contemplatives as well as beginners.
Facilitator
M Freeman
Media artist, writer, spiritual director, and independent scholar, M Freeman works at the intersections of reckoning and resiliency, queerness and film, and contemplative, creative and social art practices. They are author of The Illuminated Space: A Personal Theory and Contemplative Practice of Media Art (The 3 rd Thing, 2020) and creator of Cinema Divina—short films for contemplative practice. Their text and media arts essays have been published in or at The Fourth Genre, Ninth Letter, TriQuarterly, Blackbird, Rolling Stone and Abbey of the Arts. Their films are screened on PBS and in galleries, spirituality centers and festivals worldwide. marilynfreeman.com. Learn more about M Freeman
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Call for Peace in the Middle East
Religious Sisters and some Bishops of the Northwest have issued aJoint Statementcalling for Peace in the Middle East.
SCRIPTURAL STATIONS OF THE CROSS
OPEN FOR PRIVATE RETREATS
The Priory Spiriuality Center is now taking up to 10 on-site retreatants. Register for your private retreat at One Day Retreats or Overnight RetreatsWelcome back!
Many of our programs and retreats are still being offered via Zoom AS WELL AS IN PERSON. Please register and pay online:
Click these links for more information on ZOOM RETREATS and PROGRAMS
Programs
Date & Time Details: Begins Saturday, May 4, at 3:00pm, and ends Sunday, May 5 by 11:15am
Hybrid: Cinema Divina Overnight – Slowing Down
With M Freeman
May 4 - 5, 2024
With M Freeman In-person and via Zoom
Scheduled gatherings:
Saturday May 4 | 3:00-4:15pm | Opening Gathering, Intros & Guided Meditation
Saturday May 4 | 6:00-7:30pm | Cinema Divina Contemplative Screening
Sunday May 5 | 10:00-11:15am | Closing Insights, Wishes & Intentions
Surviving pandemic isolation unleashed a whole lot of traveling for many of us. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how social and outward-oriented life has turned. Meanwhile, I wonder how many are noticing what I’m noticing: A longing to turn more attention inward, to nurturing the interior life. I’m beginning again with slowing down, stillness, listening, silence, and savoring home and neighborhood—ways of nurturing a kind of contemplative spaciousness. I invite you to slow down and engage hearts and minds in an embodied mystical realm through this Cinema Divina Overnight program, centered around a contemplative screening ritual on Saturday evening with a new Cinema Divina film made for this occasion through contemplative practice. Throughout the screening process, I will guide participants into reverent silences, writing, reflections, and deeper listening to the boundless wisdom that connects us all.
Two additional communal gatherings (Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning) will bookend our overnight, gentle times set aside for group sharing, connecting, and cherishing collectively the transporting benefit of communal contemplative practice. In between gathering times, whether at home or the spirituality center, participants are invited to do as they choose while listening with the ear of their heart (as St. Benedict urges) for what the Sufi poet and mystic, Rumi, would call, ‘guides and messages from beyond’. -by M Freeman
All are welcome, seasoned contemplatives as well as beginners.
Facilitator
Media artist, writer, spiritual director, and independent scholar, M Freeman works at the intersections of reckoning and resiliency, queerness and film, and contemplative, creative and social art practices. They are author of The Illuminated Space: A Personal Theory and Contemplative Practice of Media Art (The 3 rd Thing, 2020) and creator of Cinema Divina—short films for contemplative practice. Their text and media arts essays have been published in or at The Fourth Genre, Ninth Letter, TriQuarterly, Blackbird, Rolling Stone and Abbey of the Arts. Their films are screened on PBS and in galleries, spirituality centers and festivals worldwide. marilynfreeman.com.
Learn more about M Freeman
SISTERS SPEAK: OUR BLOG
Sisters post on our Blog weekly on Fridays. See what our Sisters have to say about living Monastic Life in the 21st Century.
Call for Peace in the Middle East
Religious Sisters and some Bishops of the Northwest have issued a Joint Statement calling for Peace in the Middle East.
SCRIPTURAL STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Many of our programs and retreats are still being offered via Zoom AS WELL AS IN PERSON. Please register and pay online:
Click these links for more information on ZOOM RETREATS and PROGRAMS
BENEDICTINE SISTERS ELECT NEW PRIORESS
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