Monday, August 12, 2013

Dorothy and Dorothee: Two "Novena Retreats" (online)

No time for a retreat? Think again...

Details on two short August online offerings

Dorothy and Dorothee: 
Two Novena Retreats


What, when, where

* Two nine-day online spiritual retreats

* one, August 15-23, with the help of the writings of Dorothy Day

* one, August 24-September 1, with the help of the writings of Dorothee Soelle 

* Note that the dates have shifted by one day from the initial announcements: the retreats begin August 15, not August 14, and August 24, not August 23. 

* Make one novena retreat or the other or both.

* Click the links above at the names for more information on Dorothy Day and Dorothee Soelle. See also below for photographs and brief descriptions.

* Simple and accessible:

     one theme per day
     one quote per day
     one spiritual exercise per day
     one prayer per day

* At home, in your daily life: read, meditate, and pray in a way that suits your schedule.

* You'll need 20 minutes a day of focused time and a computer or tablet with internet access.

* $45 for each novena retreat

* Spiritual refreshment, nurture, and challenge

"Novena retreat" ?

A novena is a sequence of nine successive days of prayer–usually prayers of either petition or thanksgiving. It is generally a public and popular spiritual practice and is found most often in the Roman Catholic religious tradition.

I am using the word “novena,” meaning nine days, as part of the description of these two retreats to indicate that they are nine days long and involve daily meditation and prayer.


The two women whose thoughts and prayers anchor this retreat were Roman Catholic and Lutheran respectively, but these novena retreats are ecumenical. They are a new twist on the traditional novena.

An online retreat? How does that work?

* The retreat offers daily resources (the quotes, spiritual exercises, and prayers mentioned above, with some images as well to nourish you visually) online on a blog. More specifically, a closed blog.


* What's a closed blog? It's a blog like this, but it is not public: it is open only to those whom the blog owner-administrator (that's me) has signed in. In other words, it is not open to anybody wandering around the internet. It is not "searchable": random web surfers will not be able to view either the blog or our conversations in the comments.


* Once you register for the retreat, I will send instructions on the one-time sign-in mechanism. After that, the blog will always recognize you.

Registration 

To register, write me, Jane Redmont, at readwithredmont@earthlink.net. I will send you full registration instructions with payment address and online sign-up information. (Both of these are simple.)

Cost

$45 for each novena retreat (check or money order)

Payment is non-refundable and due upon registration.

I will send you the mailing address when you write me to register.

Privacy and community

During the retreat, you can remain private and just read the blog and use the quotes, spiritual exercises, and prayers on your own.

 or

If you are more extroverted and communal or in need of companions on your retreat, you can  share your thoughts, experiences, and questions via the comments function on the blog and engage in conversation with other retreatants and with the retreat facilitator. 




Dorothy Day


Dorothy Day (1897-1980) is best known as the co-founder of the Catholic Worker, an anarchist, pacifist, lay movement, and of the newspaper by the same name. Journalist, activist, mother, speaker, she was also a person of prayer whose Roman Catholic religious observance cannot be separated from her work for social and economic justice and peace and from what Christian tradition calls “the works of mercy.”


Dorothee Soelle

Dorothee Soelle (also spelled Sölle) (1928-2003) was a theologian, poet, peace activist, Protestant and ecumenical Christian, spouse and mother, teacher, socialist, and from mid-life on, feminist. She was the author of The Silent Cry: Mysticism and Resistance, Against the Wind: Memoir of a Radical Christian, Revolutionary Patience, Theology for Skeptics, and many other works.

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