Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers
A Companion Retreat to the Book
- Companion retreat to the book
- Online retreat
- Self-study, start anytime
- Move at your own pace, in your own place
- Lifetime access
Registration Fee: $150 USD
Do you hunger for wisdom from the early Christian desert tradition?
Are you longing to connect with spiritual mothers and fathers as companions on your own spiritual journey?
Program Description
The desert is a place of sparse landscape, where we are stripped down to our essence and confronted with our own deep needs and desires. Naturalist and writer Terry Tempest Williams described its spiritual significance in her memoir Refuge: “If the desert is holy, it is because it is a forgotten place that allows us to remember the sacred. Perhaps that is why every pilgrimage to the desert is a pilgrimage to the self. There is no place to hide and so we are found.”
Join us for a very special journey. We invite you to take a pilgrimage to the desert and in the process journey to your own deepest self. This 6-week online retreat invites you to explore and engage with the insights of the desert mothers and fathers of fourth and fifth century Egypt. These men and women of God went to the desert to live out a simple but challenging spirituality that still resonates strongly for us today.
Themes explored include the importance of the cell, the cave of the heart, tears of compunction, radical simplicity, silence and solitude, detachment and inner freedom, boredom and restlessness, elders and spiritual guides, and the importance of daily practice and always beginning again.
We will begin each week with a recording of a session led by Christine Valters Paintner, a scripture reflection from John Valters Paintner, we will cultivate contemplative seeing through short films created by filmmaker M Freeman, and be invited into embodied exploration with songs and gesture prayers from Betsey Beckman.
This is a companion retreat to the book Desert Mothers and Fathers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Annotated & Explained (book not included in retreat fee but can be easily ordered from most bookstores).
Cinema Divina | Short Evocative Films Made for Contemplative Practice
“If you are unfamiliar with the work of M Freeman, you must get acquainted. These films have been transformative for me in the deep spiritual way that I have encountered other artists like Annie Dillard, Mary Oliver, and bell hooks.” Gabriel Molinaro, Songwriter/Musician, Pastor of Sanctuary Church Seattle
Cinema Divina is the creative, contemplative and social practice of media artist and writer M Freeman who re-imagines the ancient prayer ritual, lectio divina, in a film paradigm to foster intimacy with the Divine. M invokes a rigorous and devotional process in making short lyrical films—meditations on everyday wonder, gratitude, contradictions, loss, doubt, faith and love—and screens the films in guided contemplative practice for reverent engagement with individual and communal participating audiences.
Please note: This retreat was first offered during Lent. Some materials may make reference to that holy season. The invitations are available for any time of year.
What's Included
- Six days a week you receive an email with a link to the day’s content. The materials are in written, video, and/or audio format which you can view and listen to at any time. The seventh day is a day for rest and integration.
- 6 one hour long webinar recordings with Christine (audio and video)
- 6 scripture reflections from John Valters Paintner (written)
- 6 Cinema Divina videos from M Freeman (meditative short film practice)
- 6 Song and Movement experiences from Betsey (teaching and dance along videos)
- Weekly reflection questions for deeper inquiry
- 6 Closing blessings
- Closed captioning and transcripts
- Lifetime access to all material in our private and easy-to-navigate retreat platform
The desert is a place of deep encounter, not a place of superficial escape.
Weekly Themes
Week 1:
Listening to Word and Silence
We will explore the themes from Chapters 1 and 2: Give Me a Word and Your Cell Will Teach You Everything
Week 2:
Entering the Cave of the Heart
We will explore the themes from Chapters 3 and 4: Heart-Centered Spirituality and Thoughts, Desires, & Passions
Week 3:
Embracing Vulnerability
We will explore the themes from Chapters 5 and 6: Humility, Simplicity, & the Beginner’s Heart and Spiritual Elders & Soul Friends
Week 4:
Showing Up Fully
We will explore the themes from Chapters 7 and 8: Tears of Compunction and The Necessity of Practice
Week 5:
Serving the World in Love
We will explore the themes from Chapters 9 and 10: Virtues, Charity, & the Service of Love and Solitude, Silence, & Hesychia
Week 6:
Discovering What is Most Vital
We will explore the themes from Chapters 11 and 12: Three Essential Things and Prayer & Differing Gifts
Weekly Rhythm of Content
Six days a week you will receive an email with a link to that day’s content. The seventh day is a time for rest and integration. The materials are in written, video, and audio format which you can view or listen to at any time. You have lifetime access to the materials in the retreat.
Day 1: Recording of hour-long session with Christine
Day 2: Written scripture reflection from John
Day 3: Cinema Divina from M Freeman (meditative short film practice)
Day 4: Song and Movement experience from Betsey (teaching and dance along videos)
Day 5: Written reflection questions for deeper inquiry
Day 6: Closing Blessing
Day 7: Sabbath rest and integration
Your Guides for the Journey
Christine Valters Paintner, OblSB, PhD, REACE
Christine Valters Paintner is the online Abbess and director of AbbeyoftheArts.com, a virtual monastery exploring contemplative practice, creative expression, and ways to nourish an earth-cherishing consciousness. She is a spiritual director, teacher, pilgrimage guide, Benedictine oblate, and author of numerous books on spirituality and the arts. Her deepest belief is that the earth is the original monastery—a wisdom guide and mentor in living a soulful and vibrant life. Visit the “About Christine” page for more information.
John Valters Paintner, MTS
John Valters Paintner, MTS is the online prior for Abbey of the Arts, where he assists his wife Christine in ministering to global community both online and through in-person programs. John was a youth minister and pastoral associate for four years before becoming a high school religion teacher for twelve years. He has a Masters of Theological Studies from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. His love for the Bible, particularly the Hebrew Scriptures, emerged when he taught the “Old Testament” at an all-boys high school. John is also a lover of the art of story-telling and has written dozens of short stories, one-act plays, and short films in a variety of genres. Visit the “About John” page for more information.
Betsey Beckman, MM
Betsey Beckman, MM is nationally acclaimed as a spirited dancer, storyteller, teacher of SpiritPlay and dancing Spiritual Director. With her extensive repertory of sacred storydances, she is regularly featured as artist/presenter at national conventions as well as local churches. She earned her Masters in Ministry degree from Seattle University, her certificate in Movement Therapy from the Institute for Transformational Movement, and is a certified InterPlay leader. As dancer, choreographer, author, mother, wife, teacher and spiritual director, she is passionate about living life fully and fostering creativity in all those with whom she shares life and ministry. Betsey’s publications include books (she is co-author of Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Expressive Arts to Spiritual Direction), recordings, and The Dancing Word series of DVDs on embodied prayer. She offers the gift of playful improvisation whenever possible. Visit Betsey’s website at TheDancingWord.com.
M Freeman
M Freeman is a media artist, writer and spiritual director working at the intersections of reckoning and resiliency, queerness and film, and contemplative, creative and social practices. Their films have been featured on PBS and in galleries, theaters, festivals and spirituality centers worldwide from the Seattle Int’l Film Festival to the Franciscan House Kowloon in Hong Kong, from NewFest LGBTQ+ in New York City to NonfictioNow in Iowa City, and from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to MircroActs Artist Film Screenings in London. They are author of The Illuminated Space: A Personal Theory and Contemplative Practice of Media Art (The 3rd Thing, 2020) and creator of Cinema Divina—short evocative films made for contemplative practice. Freeman regularly facilitates Cinema Divina sessions virtually via St. Placid Priory Spirituality Center, a Benedictine community with which they’ve been involved for many years. Visit M’s website at MarilynFreeman.com.
The history of the ammas reveals that, from the very beginnings of the life of the church, women have been intiators of new patterns and teachings.
Praise for the Retreat
Registration
$150
Registration Fee
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.
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Some self-study retreats include video or audio recordings of sessions that were recorded in a live community offering of the retreat and may make reference to forums or other modes of sharing. Please disregard these as self-study retreats do not have these available.
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