Welcoming Prayer Retreat
May 3-5, 2019 - FULL : Waiting List Only

Presenter: Sr. Rita Panciera, RSM

The Welcoming Prayer is a method of consenting to God's presence and action in the events and situations in daily life. It provides a method of being aware of our physical and emotional reactions and a method of dealing with them prayerfully in the midst of daily life.

The Welcoming Prayer helps to dismantle the emotional programs of the false-self system and to heal the wounds of a lifetime by addressing them where they are stored - in the body. It contributes to the process of transformation in Christ initiated in Contemplative Prayer.

The time together will be both retreat and workshop, with opportunity for silence and Centering Prayer in community. Also, participants will be introduced to the actual method of the Welcoming Prayer and provided with opportunities to practice. Discussions will include the human condition and the false-self system as the conceptual background of the Welcoming Prayer practice. There will be time for focusing, working with what is happening in our bodies and practicing the prayer. Brochures available.

Sr. Rita Panciera, RSM is a Sister of Mercy and Director of the House of Prayer in Erie, PA. She has been an experienced practitioner of Centering Prayer for many years and has facilitated many Centering Prayer retreats and programs, both at Bethany Retreat Center and elsewhere.

SPACE is LIMITED
Offering: $190 per person
Deposit: $75 non-refundable deposit due by April 22
Make Checks payable to: COCPa

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Facilitators: Sr. Rita Panciera, Sr. Ruth Ann Madera, & Fr. Philip Billotte

Bethany Retreat Center is providing an in-depth retreat for those with experience with Centering Prayer who wish to enter into a more profound level of spiritual practice. Gift of Life ~ Death & Dying, Life & Living continues and builds on the works of Fr. Thomas Keating over the past 30+ years. It offers a a vision of hope and a view of reality that counter the cultural norms that view death as a tragedy, or the end of living, or an entry into harsh judgment and retribution. Fr. Thomas sat with Fr. Carl Arico in an intimate conversation focused on the transformative process of death and dying as part of, rather than the end of, life's journey.

Requirements:

Contemplative Outreach, under whose auspices these retreats are given, require that those who participate in the Intensive Retreat be regular practitioners of Centering Prayer.

(Massage Therapist available - not included in the cost.)

Arrival: 5pm & Supper at 6pm ~ Departure: 11am, Sunday
Offering:
$490 for Private Room
$550 for Private Room w/Bath (Limited)
Deposit: $150 non-refundable

Limited Scholarships Available

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8 Day POST Intensive Contemplative Prayer Retreat
June 9 - 16, 2019 (Sun. to Sun.) - FULL : Waiting List Only
August 4-11, 2019 (Sun. to Sun)

Facilitators: Sr. Rita Panciera, Sr. Ruth Ann Madera & Fr. Philip Billotte

The purpose of the retreat is to assist the participants in entering into a more intimate silence in a nurturing, supportive environment that combines both solitude and community. The Post Intensive is a next step into a profound silence and stillness in order to facilitate a more intimate union with God.

Requirements for Making the Post-Intensive Retreat

1. Be regular practitioners of Centering Prayer
2. Have made an Intensive Retreat prior to making the Post-Intensive Retreat

(Massage Therapist available - not included in the cost.)

Arrival: 5pm & Supper at 6pm ~ Departure: 11am, Sunday
Offering:
$490 for Private Room
$550 for Private Room w/Bath (Limited)
Deposit: $150 non-refundable

Limited Scholarships Available

REGISTER NOW

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Contemplative Outreach of Central Pa presents:
Contemplative Attitudes Through the Practice of Centering Prayer
A Retreat Based on the work of David Frenette
October 11-13, 2019 (Fri. to Sun.)

Presenters: Roberta White and Nancy Cord-Baran

In the teachings of Jesus, there are prayers, and then there is prayer--the silent, loving communion with the divine, beyond words or ritual. With Father Thomas Keating's book Open Mind, Open Heart, hundreds of thousands discovered the transformative power of Centering Prayer as a form of Christian meditation. Now, with The Path of Centering Prayer, Keating's senior student, friend, and adviser, David Frenette, reveals the profound depths of this practice, facilitating a deepening of intimacy with God.

The retreat will focus on the contemplative attitudes, as reflected upon in David's book. It will also include silence and Centering Prayer.

Contemplative attitudes, the fruits of contemplative prayer, are revealed in daily life and we will explore how to foster them. Such qualities as simplicity, gentleness, letting go, resting in God, embracing, and finally integrating one's experience of prayer into one's daily life, are paired with David's Guided Meditations.

This retreat is suitable for beginners as well as seasoned practitioners.

Check in is from 3:00 to 5:00 Friday afternoon. There will be an optional video on the method of Centering Prayer (recommended for those new to the practice) at 4:00 PM.

A reception and welcoming at 5:30 begins the retreat, followed by dinner.

Offering: $195
Deposit: $75

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Roberta White has been involved with Contemplative Outreach since 2001. She has led retreats throughout the country on Centering Prayer, the Forgiveness Prayer, Lectio Divina, the Welcoming Prayer Practice and Centering Prayer as an 11th Step Practice. She has served on the Formation Team for those
preparing to become commissioned Centering Prayer workshop presenters. Roberta formerly served as co-coordinator of the Atlanta Chapter of Contemplative Outreach and is currently a member of the Contemplative Outreach of Atlanta Leadership Team.

Nancy Cord-Baran is a Spiritual Director and Co-Coordinator for Contemplative Outreach of Central Pa. She is a commissioned presenter for the Introduction to Centering Prayer workshop and has served on the Formation Team who has been practicing Centering Prayer since 1998.