MOUNT CALVARY COMMUNITY AT ST. MARY'S RETREAT HOUSE

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

We are offering programs here at St. Mary's Retreat House.  We hope that these weekday programs will appeal to many of you.  For further information, please call the office 805 682 411

May 30 - June 2 2013  A retreat open to all Women who love God

We will explore the stories of the Beguines, 13th Century women who sought to live the apostolic life, and how they might nspire our lives today.    These women left lives of comfort in order to live love witht he uffering of humanity and to live love in mystical union with God.  Let us resurrect their stories, poetry and theology and in so doing possibly become Beguines

Sr. Greta Ronnigen of the Community of Divine love, will complete her Masters in Theology through the Claremont School of theology  this May.  She is a chaplain to the icarcerated, ministering to young girls at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall and to men and women at the Twin towers in Los Angeles.  She is director of Contemplative Spirituality at the Church of Our Svior i San Gabriel, CA.  You may contact Sr. Greta for more information  at 626 703 4474 or CDLMonastery@aol.com.  

The cost of the retreat is # 345.00 and includes 3 night accomodation and all meals.  Arrival time is 3:00 p.m. for later, and departure is after the noon meal on Sunday.  A $50.00 non-refundable deposit is required.  For reservations call 805 682 4117 or mtcalvary1@aol.com.

July 19- 21 The Image and the Word: Writing as a Contemplative Practice

Scripture tells us we "cannot see God and live"- that is, God's Fullnness is too much for us in our earthly incarnational life.  But throughout history, God has accommodated our need to know and experience the Divine in part, speaking to us through images, metaphors, word pictures, and emotions.  Contemporary research validates that image and emotion are our primary speech, forming in the brain's right hemisphere long before ur capacity for words.  Yet we are people of the Word.  In prayer we join the images that ontinuously flow through us to the words with which we try to express them.

Beginning with a prompt posed by Franciscan Richard Rohr:  Who are you, God?  And who am I?" we will explore this connecion of image and word, using writing exercises to work with images from Scripture and our own emergent experience of how God meets us in images and leads us into prayer-in-words.  Not intended as a "ceative writing workshop" but as an introduction to writing as contemplative practice, this retreat is apropriate for anyone, even with no prior experience.  Just bring a notebook or journal, your favorite writing tool and openness to discovery.

Leonore Sullivan Cash, MFT, psychotherapist, writer and educator, conducts workshops and academic couses on a variety of topics.  She has previously co-facilitated retreats at Mt. Calvary in partnership with Dr. Malcolm Cole, UCLA Professor Emeritus of Musicology.

July 24 - July 28   Five Day Yoga Retreat

rejuvenate - refresh - relax - renew

This yoga retreat is appropriate for lvel I - II students.  We will have vigourous sessions as well a more gentle relaxing sessions.  Breathing and editation will be offered daily.  We will also have a guided hike and free time.  Please join us i this beautiful setting for a healthy and fun retreat.  

The retreat is to be led by Sr. Greta Ronnigen, CDL who has been practicing and teaching for 34 years.  To discuss the program call or email Greta at 626 703 4474 94 Gretayz@aol.com

The cost is $480.00 and includes 4 night accomodation, meals abd the program.  Arrival is Wdnesday after 3:00 p.m. and departure is after lunch on Sunday.  A $50.00 non-refundable deposit is required.  For reservations cadll 805 682 4117 or mtclavary1@aol.com.

August 16 - 18  Consenting to love:  An Introduction to Centering Prayer.

Centering Prayer is a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God's presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself.  Centering Prayer emphasizes prayer as a personal relationship with God and as a movement beyond conversation with Christ to communion with him.

This weekend presents the Introduction to Cerntering Prayer Workshop complete with DVD presentations of the six Follow-Up Sessions, group centering prayer experiences, and ample time for querstions, sharing and reflection. . .all offered in our beautiful setting. 

The retreat will be led by Suzanne R Dunn and Jeannette B Love.  $225.00 per person, two nights.  All meals are included.

September 19 - 22, a Retreat for Chaplains

Br Dennis, CDL will again lead a retreat for chaplains (or all kinds).  The cost is to be announced.