LENTEN E-COURSE: BENEDICTINE SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
A Journey to the Heart of Lent
February 17-April 3, 2010*
*You will receive the first class lesson on Monday, February 15 to prepare for your Lenten practice
**REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS NOW CLOSED**
Subscribe to the Abbey Email Newsletter for Notices of Future Online Classes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION:
Make a Lenten commitment to cultivate the contemplative practices of lectio divina, centering prayer, and praying the hours. This online Lenten E-Course is a retreat experience in daily life. Through weekly lessons, guided meditation podcasts, and daily emails you will be supported in the learning and integration of these ancient Christian ways of praying and being in the world.
LONGER DESCRIPTION:
Are you ready to take a transformative journey through the Lenten season?
Each year on Ash Wednesday the prophet Joel calls us to return to God with our whole hearts and we are marked with ashes as a sign of the precious and fragile nature of our days. What if this year, when you heard those words proclaimed, you could say a deep yes – one that emerges from a commitment to grounding in ancient wisdom and practices? What if your response to being marked with the sign of your mortality prompted you to a deeper commitment to prayer in a meaningful way. St. Benedict advised that “always we begin again” – the invitation to return to God is ever-present – the question is how do we choose to respond? What are the ways of praying and being which can help us to cultivate this wholehearted spirituality of presence?
Lent is a time when we are invited into an archetypal pilgrimage into the desert to discover the essence of what is most important in our lives. The desert is the place where our illusions are stripped away, we grow in our capacity to be present to the Sacred Source pulsing within all of creation, and we expand our ability to love. The Lenten scriptures are filled with the image of the heart as that place where the wholeness of who we are encounters the Divine Mystery.
During recent years there has been a dramatic rise in interest in Benedictine spirituality. This sacred path offers the contemporary world a set of ancient Christian practices which call us to contemplative ways of being in a world of doing, to live into rhythms rooted in the natural rise and fall of the day, and to greater presence to the holy moments of our lives. In this course you are invited to explore and experience three essential Benedictine spiritual practices: lectio divina (sacred reading), centering prayer, and praying the Hours of the day. Each practice is a thread that weaves together with the others to create a tapestry in which we begin to see everything as sacred.
WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THIS CLASS?
This class is appropriate for individuals who are new to contemplative prayer as well as those who may have some experience with one or more of the prayer forms and are seeking a way to make a supported commitment to deepened practice.
This class is also designed for those who want to create their own small group gathering with fellow pilgrims and seekers to support one another on this Lenten journey (please see below for the *Group Discount* and *FREE Bonus PDF Small Group Guide.*) You might consider contacting friends or others in your church or spiritual community to see if they would like to take this journey with you.
_________________________________
HOW THE COURSE WORKS:
• Monday of each week – beginning on February 15, 2010 – I will send out an email with a PDF of the week’s lesson on one of the practices and a reflection on Benedictine themes which support this practice. Each week builds on the previous lessons and each practice continues to deepen the contemplative journey.
• Weekly Topics: February 15 & 22 on Lectio Divina, March 1 & 8 on Centering Prayer, March 15 & 22 on Praying the Hours, and March 29 is a week of final reflection and integration.
• On February 15, March 1, and March 15 you will receive a podcast with a guided meditation to assist and support you in your contemplative practice
• Each day you will receive a brief email with a suggested scripture passage for the day’s prayer, a quote, and a reflection question to inspire and encourage you in your prayer.
_________________________________
WHAT IS INCLUDED:
- Weekly written reflection on the practices of lectio divina, centering prayer, and praying the hours
- Daily suggestions for scripture and poetry sent by email with images for inspiration and encouragement
- A podcast every other week (three in total) with meditations
- One signed copy of Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening and Awareness and one copy of Season by the Sea: A Contemporary Book of Hours mailed to you by Priority Mail within three days of registration (the two books and shipping are a $35 value).
- Email access to me with questions and concerns about your practice – issues that you raise will be incorporated into the following week’s lessons
_________________________________
YOUR COMMITMENT:
· Read the Weekly Email Reflections and the Daily Practice Support
· Make a commitment to engage in the daily contemplative prayer practices for 20-40 minutes a day
· Commit to a longer session once each week to read the weekly lesson and reflect on how your practice has been going, taking time to journal your noticings, insights, and questions.
· Optional: Meet weekly with a small group you create for shared support and companionship (see below for special offer)
_________________________________
COST & PAYMENT:
INDIVIDUAL REGISTRATION
*$95 for the whole program* which includes 7 Weekly Lessons, 3 Guided Meditation Podcasts, Daily Email with Scripture Suggestions and Support, and a signed copy of Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening and Awareness and a copy of Season by the Sea: A Contemporary Book of Hours
**REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS NOW CLOSED**
Subscribe to the Abbey Email Newsletter for Notices of Future Online Classes
_________________________________
GROUP DISCOUNT & *FREE BONUS*:
Register 4 or more participants at the same time for a discounted fee of $75 each and also receive a FREE BONUS PDF Small Group Guide to Journeying Together through Lent. This 15-page Guide offers weekly outlines for a gathering of support and prayer through these practices. Consider joining together with fellow seekers and community members to support each other in contemplative life and practice.
_________________________________
PRAISE FOR THE CLASS:
(from students in Christine’s previous Benedictine spirituality classes)
“This was a superb class! The seeds were planted for a lifetime of practice.”
“Christine is highly effective at teaching spirituality courses. She has a rich experience to draw from and a great depth from which to share.”
“Christine’s preparation of our online class was fantastic and developed within me a deep appreciation for lectio divina.”
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK – Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening & Awareness:
“With the rising interest in the art of lectio divina, Christine Valters Paintner and Lucy Wynkoop have created a work of great promise. In this superb resource the ancient wisdom and the poetry of the lectio process shines forth. This is a praiseworthy offering.”
-Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB, author of Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day
“In the authors’ hands, lectio takes shape as a transforming power, combining the great aspiration to love and be loved by God, with full acceptance as we are. . . Lectio divina is an act of consecration–the lifting up of our lives and souls to God.”
-Dr. Norvene Vest, OblSB, author of Preferring Christ: A Devotional Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict
_________________________________
What are the differences between this class and *Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist*?
1. In this Lenten E-Course there is no facilitated online discussion forum and so no maximum enrollment. This class is offered only through emailed resources and so is ideal for those who want to work independently with the material with instructor support or who want to gather a small group together on their own for support.
2. The focus in this Lenten E-Course is on grounding in the three main Benedictine contemplative practices rather than on the integration with creative expression. You can register for both classes and will receive unique material for each course with just enough overlap for a deepening of your practice.
_________________________________
ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED TEXTS:
· Music of Silence: A Sacred Journey through the Hours of the Day
· Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening
_________________________________
If you’d like to be notified when future classes are scheduled,
please subscribe to the Abbey Email Newsletter
You might also be interested in Abbey Online Learning through *Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist* and *Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Contemplative Practice*
_________________________________
ABOUT CHRISTINE:
Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, OblSB is a teacher, writer, artist, retreat facilitator, spiritual director, and urban monk. She has been a Benedictine Oblate with St. Placid Priory for six years. As an Oblate she makes a commitment as a lay person to live out monastic practices and values in the heart of Seattle where she lives with her husband and dog, an old Weimaraner rescue fondly dubbed “Abbess Petunia” for her wise presence. Christine’s greatest passion is the weaving together of three threads: creative expression, contemplative practice, and the rhythms and cycles of the natural world. She loves bringing the wisdom of ancient prayer forms to the challenging realities of today’s world as a path toward vibrant, meaningful, and engaged living.
Christine earned her PhD in Christian Spirituality and her professional status as a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator (REACE) through the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association. She is the author of three books: Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening and Awareness (with Lucy Wynkoop, OSB, Paulist Press, 2008); Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire: The Christian Spiritual Practice of Praying with the Elements (Ave Maria Press, March 2010); and Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Expressive Arts to Spiritual Direction (with Betsey Beckman, Morehouse Publishing, February 2010). She also publishes a series of Reflective Art Journals which bring together her love of photography with reflections on different aspects of the spiritual life.
She also works as an adjunct faculty member at the School of Theology and Ministry (Seattle University), the Program Coordinator for the Ignatian Spirituality Center, art editor for Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction, and leads Expressive Arts Supervision Groups for those who are in ministries of soul care and compassionate listening.
Feel free to email Christine with any questions at Christine@AbbeyoftheArts.com.
