Birthing the Holy Advent Retreat 2022
Facilitated by Christine and John Valters Paintner, Polly Paton-Brown, Jill Geoffrion, and Betsey Beckman
+ Forum Facilitators Amber Andreasen and Polly Paton-Brown
Weekly live sessions on Mondays (November 28, December 5, 12, 19)
8-9:30 am Pacific
11am -12:30 pm Eastern
4-5:30 pm Ireland/UK time
Program Description
Join us in celebrating Mary and the sacred feminine during the season of Advent and holy birthing. This retreat is a companion to Christine’s book Birthing the Holy: Wisdom from Mary to Nurture Creativity and Renewal(book recommended but not included with registration fee). In her book, Christine explores 31 of Mary’s names and titles as poetic and mythic ways of entering into the gifts she offers to us and invites us to consider within ourselves.
There will be a weekly live webinar session on Zoom with Christine where she introduces the theme for each week, gives an overview of the names of Mary, then invites us into a contemplation with one specific title each week (Queen of Angels, Star of the Sea, Our Lady of the Underworld, Theotokos: God-Bearer) to draw us more deeply into relationship with that aspect of the sacred feminine. There will be time for meditation and personal reflection, and for those who desire to stay on for 20 minutes at the end of each weekly session for small group sharing.
During the rest of the week we will be sharing scripture reflections on Mary’s life written by John Valters Paintner, Polly Paton-Brown will be sharing creative and non-traditional ways of praying with the rosary, art-inspired prayer experiences flowing from the extensive Marian imagery at the Chartres Cathedral in France will be led by Jill Geoffrion, and Betsey Beckman will be offering her gifts of prayer-dances.
Supplies: You will want to have your own rosary. You can often find them very reasonably priced in charity and second-hand shops.
The live sessions will be recorded for those who register.
What's Included
4 weekly live zoom sessions with Christine (will be recorded in audio and video formats, also includes written transcripts)
8 scripture reflections with John (written format)
4 videos of creative and non-traditional ways of praying with the rosary with Polly
4 videos on art-inspired prayer experiences with Jill
4 videos of prayer dance with Betsey Beckman
Monday: Live webinar with Christine Valters Paintner via Zoom (75 minutes of content + 15 minutes of optional small group sharing) – November 28, December 5, 12, 19
8-9:30am Pacific time | 11am-12:30pm Eastern time | 4:00-5:30 pm Ireland/UK time
Tuesday: Praying the Rosary with Polly Paton-Brown (video)
Wednesday: Scripture reflection by John Valters Paintner (written)
Thursday: Praying with Art with Jill Geoffrion (video)
Friday: Dance Prayer with Betsey Beckman (video)
Saturday: Scripture reflection by John Valters Paintner (written)
Sunday: Sabbath day of rest and integration
Weekly Themes
Week 1
Week 1
Week 2
Week 2
Week 3
Week 3
Week 4
Week 4
Your Guides for the Journey
Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE
Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE is the online Abbess for Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery and global community integrating contemplative practice and creative expression. Her programs draw on the wisdom of the desert, Celtic, and Benedictine spiritual traditions as well as the joy of the expressive arts, embodied practice, and Earth-cherishing wisdom. Christine is the author of numerous books on spirituality and creativity, including three collections of poetry. She lives on the west coast of Ireland with her husband John and dog Sourney. Find out more about her here.
John Valters Paintner, MTS
John studied education and earned a teaching certificate in his home state of California. John later went on to earn a Masters in Theological Studies at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. After working in parish ministry for several years, John returned to the classroom, teaching high school religion for twelve years. He now works as Prior of the Abbey of the Arts alongside his wife of twenty years, Abbess Christine. Visit the “About John” page for more information.
Polly Paton-Brown, MA, UKCP
Polly Paton-Brown MA UKCP worked for many years as a psychotherapist and trainer in the field of trauma. More recently, Polly’s focus has been on helping people explore their spirituality and prayer, using creativity and connection with nature. Polly has a particular passion for creating healing dolls as a portal to transformation. Always a lover of nature, horses and creativity Polly now integrates all of these into her practice. She has trained in Nature Based Practice and Eco-pychology, Environmental Arts, Expressive Arts and Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy. She is a licenced facilitator of Chakradance, The Art of Allowing , Creative Awakenings and the Wild Soul Woman Programme. With roots in the contemplative and monastic traditions, Polly also draws wisdom from other spiritual paths such as Druidry and Sufism. She is passionate to help those wounded by the institutional church restore their image of God and themselves. Visit Polly’s website.
Jill Geoffrion, PhD, DD
The beauty of the Chartres Cathedral inspires Jill to use her gifts and training in service of all those seeking to experience deep and transformative Divine Love through this medieval building and its imagery. Jill’s most recent book, Visions of Mary, Art, Devotion, and Beauty at Chartres Cathedral, explores the ancient imagery and modern interpretations of the over two hundred Marian images in the cathedral. Whether on-site or on-line, Rev. Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion, PhD, DD combines stunning images and historical research to create contemplative prayer experiences. Like crossing the threshold through the doors of the cathedral and discovering a magnificent universe, the contemplative prayer experiences Jill offers can open vast inner worlds of faith and beauty.
See JillGeoffrion.com to learn more about Jill’s ministries on four continents where she often serves in places of acute suffering. Follow links to her art-based prayer blogs and sites on labyrinth prayer and the Chartres Cathedral. Her professional photography graces each page.
Betsey Beckman, MM
Your Forum Facilitators
Amber Andreasen
Amber Andreasen is a contemplative, ever desiring to deepen into and dance the rhythms of monk and artist. She has trained as a spiritual director, receiving her M.A. in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care from The Institute of Spiritual Formation at Talbot School of Theology. Wherever she finds herself, she desires to nurture a compassionate space where others can be listened and loved into fuller being by the Beloved. She is continually awed by the body as sacred storyholder and storyteller, and her heart beats loudly for the weaving together of creativity and spirituality in the discovering of what it means to live an embodied, fully human life in all its mystery and wonder.
Polly Paton-Brown
Polly Paton-Brown MA UKCP worked for many years as a psychotherapist and trainer in the field of trauma. More recently, Polly’s focus has been on helping people explore their spirituality and prayer, using creativity and connection with nature. Polly has a particular passion for creating healing dolls as a portal to transformation. Always a lover of nature, horses and creativity Polly now integrates all of these into her practice. She has trained in Nature Based Practice and Eco-pychology, Environmental Arts, Expressive Arts and Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy. She is a licenced facilitator of Chakradance, The Art of Allowing , Creative Awakenings and the Wild Soul Woman Programme. With roots in the contemplative and monastic traditions, Polly also draws wisdom from other spiritual paths such as Druidry and Sufism. She is passionate to help those wounded by the institutional church restore their image of God and themselves. Visit Polly’s website.
Registration
If you need a different payment plan or a greater scholarship to make this program accessible, please get in touch with us.
Purchase the Companion Book
The book is not included in the registration fee. You may purchase the book at the links below or at your local book seller. Thank you for your support!
Terms and Conditions
Please consider your purchase carefully and review the many free materials we have on our website to make sure the program will be a good fit or get in touch with any questions.
We ask that you honor our work by not sharing the program materials with others who are not enrolled.
Please contact us for permission to quote in settings beyond the program
These videos are made available to registered participants and may also be included in future versions of the program including self-study. If you choose to speak during a recorded gathering, you are giving us your consent to record that contribution. If you prefer not to be seen or heard, you can of course switch off or mute your camera or microphone at any time. Chat sessions are recorded and posted as well. Participation in the chat function is also giving consent to their recording. Breakout groups are never recorded.
If you choose a payment plan and stop payment before fulfilling the commitment without contacting us to make other arrangements, your access to the program will be removed.
