Centering Prayer Weekend Retreat

Touching Into the Sacred: A Contemplative Centering Prayer Weekend

"God of the silence:
Calm and quiet my soul at the fount of your loving presence.
In your silence, replenish me with a force for love…"
                                                                     – Peter Traben Hass

This weekend, anchored in silence and Centering Prayer, will offer opportunities to connect with ourselves, with God and, surprisingly, with others, surrounded by the summer beauty of the Connecticut shore. The schedule will include three Centering Prayer sessions, an overview of the practice, evening prayer, lectio divina, and other contemplative practices. Remaining hours are unscheduled for private prayer and reflection.

The retreat will begin with dinner on Friday evening at 5:30 p.m. and end by noon after a closing session on Sunday. All meals on Saturday and Sunday breakfast will be in silence. No previous experience with Centering Prayer is required, however, if you are new to a silent retreat or Centering Prayer, please contact either Claire (crusowicz@hotmail.com) or Anne (asimpkinson@gmail.com) before you register.

Anne Simpkinson has been practicing Centering Prayer (CP) since 1996. A certified Introductory Centering Prayer workshop leader, she has led work-shops and Quiet Days in New York City and Connecticut. While living in New York, she served as co-coordinator for Contemplative Outreach for three years and as a Centering Prayer facilitator at St. Bartholomew and St. Ignatius Loyola churches. With Claire, she currently facilitates Mercy by the Sea’s weekly and monthly Centering Prayer circles and contemplative weekends, as well as retreats and day programs in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Claire Rusowicz is a certified spiritual and retreat director and spiritual director supervisor with more than 20 years working with groups and individuals in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. She co-facilitates Mercy by the Sea’s weekly and monthly Centering Prayer circles and, with Anne, facilitates contemplative weekends at Mercy by the Sea and in other locations in Connecticut and Massachusetts.