On Friday, September 29, 10 members of the parish community will depart from the parish parking lot en route to a weekend silent retreat in the Cistercian tradition at Holy Cross Abbey, Berryville, VA. They expect to return in the mid-afternoon of Sunday, October 1.
These retreats have proven to be popular, memorable and very helpful for parishioners. We hope to reserve space at Holy Cross two or three times annually. Let us know if you would like to be considered for a future retreat.
Another set of contemplative pilgrims will hit the road late next April, for a weeklong “Contemplative Eldering” retreat at Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina. 14 people, out of a maximum of 16, have reserved space for the retreat. If you’re interested in the final two spots, please let the staff know ASAP.
Closer to home, some adjustments are being made to our regular contemplative practice at the parish.
The Liturgy of the Hours is part of our regular practice. At the moment, we pray Vespers in Spanish weeknights at 6:30pm from Tuesday through Friday. We’ve decided to now make the Tuesday Vespers at 6:50pm, in the hopes that those coming to the Tuesday Mass at 7pm may get to experience a part of Vespers and want to participate more actively. During Season of Creation (Sept. 1-Oct. 4), if the weather is conducive, we will pray Vespers outdoors.
We have introduced Morning Prayer in English now on Fridays. For the month of September, we’re experimenting with having Morning Prayer just before the 8:30am Mass, or to use a version of Morning Prayer that can be embedded within the daily Mass. A decision on which format will be the long-term version will be made at the end of the month.
As a reminder, the church is open every evening Tuesday-Friday at 6pm, to foster individual contemplative practice of whatever method you choose.
We also hold a popular Lectio Divina session on Monday mornings at 9am in the church. In this session, we look at the Gospel for the coming Sunday. In advance of the first Sunday of Advent, we will add a Monday evening session at 6pm starting Nov. 27.