Note: This program is held at Peace of Christ Parish, 533 Humboldt Street, Rochester, NY.
To register or for more information, please contact Rosalie at 585-872-6657 or alrosmr@frontiernet.net.

6 Wednesdays: September 10, 24, October 15, 29, November 12, 19, 2008 @ 10:00 a.m. –Noon
The general theme of this program is:
Session #1: Getting to Know and Love Who I Am Today
“In the image and likeness of God, we are created.” Gen. 1:27
“Love God, your neighbor as you love yourself.” Mt. 22:40
Session #2: Becoming Whole/Holy! Connecting Mind/Body/Spirit
“I have come that you might have life, and live it to the fullest.” Jn. 10: 10
Session #3: Looking at the Past with “What I Know Now”
“When I was a child, I talked and acted like a child.
Now that I am mature, I shall put my childish ways behind me” I Cor. 13:11
Session #4: Connecting our Hearts with the Sacred Heart
“I will take away your heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh.” Ez. 36:26
Session #5 :Facing Our Mortality with Peace of Mind
“Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.” Lk. 11: 26
Session #6: Celebrations of Lives Fully Lived
“Peace I give you, My own peace I- give you.” Lk. 14:27
“This is what I command you, love one another.” Jn. 15: 17
“This is My beloved, My chosen one.” Mk. 9: 8
Cost: $10 per session or $50 for the series

10 Mondays: September 22, October 27, November 24, December 29 (new date), 2008 & January 19, February 23,
March 23, April 27, May 18, June 22, 2009 @ 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
A drumming circle will be meeting once a month for those seeking to deepen their spiritual journey. The sessions will include chanting, movement, healing energy work and of course open drumming. The repetitive sound of the drum often deepens our prayer and meditation. As we listen to the drum, we are reminded of Earth’s heartbeat which connects us to all creation. Participants are encouraged to bring their drums, rattles, tambourines, and other instruments to bring voice to the universe.
 “Let the Spirit come to us now in our sacred bodies. Let the drum teach us to unbind, vitalize and Earthen ourselves.”
Let the Drumming circle continue to teach us to play, dance, have fun and pray. In the circle we connect and celebrate energetically with all life with our whole “beingness”.
Cost: $10 per session
Come to one or as many sessions as your time permits.

Spiritual Literacy-A Series with Georgene L. Wilson

3 Tuesdays: September 23, October 21, November 18, 2008 @ 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Spiritual literacy is practiced in all the world’s wisdom traditions. It can be referred to as “reading the book of one’s everyday life” through the lens of Wisdom, Mystery and Compassion. It happens inside and outside of our very being as we breathe in communion with All.
During this monthly series of three sessions, we will explore the “A thru Z.” of Franciscan Spiritual Practices that can help us be spiritually conscious adults in the midst of the chaos of today’s world: to pray as a pilgrim! Learning or relearning these practices will help us to web the connections between gazing and contemplation with blessing and service.
Freewill Offering
Participants are encouraged to register for the series, but are welcome to attend individual sessions.

Saturday, September 27, 2008 @ 10:00 a.m. – Noon
Mother-Daughter team of the raw food company, EatinVegan, will demonstrate and offer samples of highly nutritious treats that can easily be incorporated into your weekly diet plan at home. Come and learn recipes for a delicious smoothie, a wonderful entree, and a tasty dessert that are all 100% good for your health!
Cost: $10

Monday, October 6, 2008 @ 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.
A gentle evening of prayer and reflection using music to bring healing to women suffering after abortion. Confidentiality is assured. You need only leave a first name to register.
Location: TBA

6 Mondays, October 6, November 3, 2008, January 5, March 2, April 6, May 4, 2009 @ 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Christianity & other religions hold a treasure of Wisdom. It is the path Jesus embraced in his lifetime and the way of the mystics. Wisdom is the path of self-emptying love rather than dogmatic rules and mental constructs. The poet Rumi speaks of the mystery in this way:
Friend, our closeness is this / Anywhere you put your foot / Feel me in the firmness under you./ How is it / With this love / I see Your world / And not You?
In this class we will delve into the ways of Wisdom alive in our own lives.
Suggested Donation: $20.00 per session or $100.00 for the series

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 OR Thursday, April 23, 2009 @ 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Are you curious? Have you been asking questions? Are you looking for challenge, support and companionship on your spiritual journey? This presentation will introduce you to the Wheaton Franciscans – their mission, philosophy, and ministries, as well as various ways of connecting. Please join us for information and conversation as we explore who the Wheaton Franciscans are.

3 Saturdays: October 18, November 1, November 15, 2008 @ 10:00 a.m.– Noon
These three sessions of morning meditation practice are just the thing to get ready for what often seems like the busiest time of the year. Take some Saturday morning time to come home to your quiet inner center, to savor simply being in the present moment, and to fine-tune a mindfulness meditation practice that will carry you through the holy days and holidays of the winter season ahead.
Come to one, or come to all. Each session will feature simple mindfulness instructions based on the themes of the season, and will conclude with a Franciscan blessing meditation.
Suggested Donation: $5 per session

2 Mondays: October 20,November 17, 2008 @ 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
 “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.” Ps. 19
Following the Earth Summit held on the Wheaton Franciscan Campus on October 11, 2008, please join us for a discussion on how to consider the large amount of information we have about the environment (and the larger amount that we don’t have!) and the features of a faith-based understanding of creation.
Topics will include global climate change, environmental contaminants, and the nature of risk. Our discussions will be necessarily short, but participants will leave with some tools for further inquiry.
Freewill Offering

Saturday, November 8, 2008 @ 9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
To see with new eyes, to change how we think about and respond to the dissonant other is a challenge not to be underestimated. More often than not, the mere thought of such engagement is met with clenched teeth and a squirming gut. This presentation/retreat will explore the historical foundation and vested interest Franciscans have in bringing about the union of opposites; it will acknowledge the personal tussle we have with forgiveness and reconciliation; and it will offer a practical approach in dealing with the “dreaded other” through the medium of myth and animal folklore.
Freewill Offering

This program has been cancelled.
Monday, November 10, 2008 @ 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
OR
Monday, March 30, 2009 @ 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Evolved from a Lakota Sioux way of acknowledging the seasons in our lives and blessing the Holy at work in each, this Evening of Reflection offers teaching and practice in The Prayer of the Six Directions. Also known as The Consecration of Space, this is a way to be prayerfully present to our natural endings (West), our suffering (North), newness and creativity (Spring) and our sources of nurture and sustenance (Summer). Each direction has associated with it a time of day, a virtue, an archetype and life questions. The last two directions, Mother Earth and Father Sky, invite us to be aware of how the Holy is both immanent in our lives and transcendent.
In my experience of leading this practice over many years, this gentle way of noticing what Providence is offering has been a dynamic source of insight and prayer for folks of widely differing spiritualities. The Prayer of the Six Directions allows us to sit peacefully together in a Circle of Blessing, sharing respectfully the path each walks.
Freewill Offering

Tuesday, December 2, 2008 @ 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Add a reflective dimension to your craft making this Christmas as you learn how to create unique angels from lace. You can use your “angels” as ornaments to decorate your Christmas tree and gift packages, hang them around your house, or give them as unique hand-made gifts. Materials and supplies will be provided. Just come for a morning of prayer and fun!
Registration deadline: November 25, 2008
Freewill Offering

Friday, December 5, 2008 @ 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
OR
Thursday, March 26, 2009 @ 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (Please note new date)
This day-long workshop provides an opportunity for spiritual directors offering individual sessions to experience group spiritual direction. In many ways, the two experiences are similar. In group spiritual direction, as in individual spiritual direction, people are present together in the Mystery of Love explicitly to assist in discernment. Both require a shared desire for God.
A strength of group spiritual direction is the collective wisdom of the group that affords the possibility of many faces of truth being uncovered. The meditative process of group spiritual direction includes the sharing of experiences, reflective listening, silence and response.
 “Unless we are grounded in Mystery—unless we experience both ourselves and others as co-participants in Mystery—we find it almost impossible to live in compassionate love of one another for any length of time. Unless we have ‘new eyes’ that can see the others contemplatively, it is easy to miss the many-splendored thing that is our life together.” Carolyn Gratton
Space is limited, please register early.
Cost: $50

Saturday, December 6, 2008 @ 10:00 a.m.– Noon
This morning is dedicated to celebrating the inner meaning of Christmas from a unique Franciscan perspective. St. Francis was so moved by the profundity of the Incarnation that he convinced an entire town to reenact the Bethlehem moment. St. Clare experienced a vision of her brothers celebrating Christmas, and Franciscan theologians ever since have made Christmas the key to understanding no less than the entire meaning of the cosmos. Come for a morning of Christmas conversation that spans the centuries and the universe.
 (For those who wish, this program is the perfect conclusion to the Saturday mornings of meditation in preparation for the holidays offered on October 8, November 1, and November 15)
Suggested Donation: $15

3 Mondays: December 8, 15, 22, 2008 @ 6:30 – 8:30 PM
In this seminar we shall investigate the ways in which we can facilitate the flow of energy within us. How can we bring ourselves to a place of inner stillness releasing the impediments to the natural flow of life within. Meditation and bodywork will be utilized. Previous exposure to the chakras would be helpful.
Registration deadline: November 24, 2008
Cost: $30
(Note this program does not meet at Maura Hall. It meets at Our Lady of the Angels Motherhouse” The Jubilee Room)

New Program
Friday, January 9, 2009 @ 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
This group is for spiritual seekers who want to intentionally experience their God. The person seeking spiritual direction is on a journey. Even the most self-sufficient person cannot escape the need for rest and nourishment. The secrets of our lives and more especially the secrets of our souls are precious.
“I have faith in the process of growth and change… and even more faith in the power of God’s grace. I thank God for this ministry of presence and for those who will respond to the invitation.” Jean Ford
Please register as group is limited to four to allow maximum participation.
Cost: $20

This program has been cancelled.
Saturday, January 10, 2009 @ 9:30 a.m.– 3:30 p.m.
If you have never been to Assisi, come and see! If you have been there, come and remember! Using intriguing images from Assisi and from the lives of St. Francis and St. Clare, we will explore what it means to belong, to heal, and to contemplate, so as to become lovers of no less than a soul-filled world, and one another. The world of St. Francis and St. Clare in Assisi can give us wonderful clues that reaffirm the spiritual dimension of our own contemporary lives. We too, can know their mystical joyfulness and grace. It will be an opportunity to look with fresh eyes at how God is still with us, and present in all the day-to-day events of our lives.
Suggested Donation: $15

3 Mondays: January 12, 26, February 9, 2009 @ 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
In this series we will look at several methods and resources for studying the Bible:
The Basics - Why study the Bible? Which version should I use? What does the Bible say about itself?
Inductive Bible Study - What does the text say? What does the text mean? How does the text apply to me?
Context and Commentaries - Using a concordance, historical atlas, Bible encyclopedia, and other resources to enrich your study.
Naked Scripture - Using the manuscript study method.
Please bring your Bible! If you prefer otherwise, several copies of the Bible will be available for your use.
Each session is self-contained, but participation in all three sessions is strongly recommended.

Saturday, January 17, 2009 @ 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
This day-long session will invite participants to break through old patterns of perfection to the realization that being good enough is accepting our human condition. Many of us were caught in a paradigm of either/or; black/white, female/male. This old paradigm gave us so little space to explore what it might mean to be complete rather than perfect. Reflective periods, discussions and information gathered from different sources will help support participants on their transformative journey.
Cost: $25

3 Thursdays: February 5, March 5, April 2, 2009 @ 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Poetry is the symbolic language. Symbols throw us together: Heaven and Earth, mind and heart. Come and listen to the poems of today as they whisper breath-line of the soul.
Participants are encouraged to register for the series, but are welcome to attend individual sessions
Freewill Offering

This program has been cancelled.
Saturday, February 14, 2009 @ 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
This day-long workshop will invite us to reflect on our own life experiences of love. Opening ourselves to love brings pain and joy into our lives. God is love. Love your neighbor. Love starts with loving yourself. We are surrounded with lofty thoughts. Participants will have a chance to gather their personal wisdom: what life has taught them about love. Reflective periods, sharing times and quotes from Carl Jung to Ken Wilber will punctuate the day. Discerning love within a group adds the group wisdom which can only help the Spirit move in our own lives.
Cost: $25

This program has been cancelled.
Saturday, February 21, 2009 @ 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
 “Come Back to me. . . . . . .                           with all your heart.”
During this Day of Reflection, we will ponder the age-old quote above as we seek to discover, with God’s help...
                        WHERE IS MY HEART?
                        WHO IS IN MY HEART?
                        WHAT IS IN MY HEART?
                        WHAT DOES MY HEART NEED NOW?
Input, quiet and guided reflections will serve as a springboard for our pondering and sharing. We will discover that these questions take us deep within our heart.
Freewill Offering

Saturday, February 28, 2009 @ 9:30 a.m.– 3:30 p.m.
“In the beginning was the Word” opens the gospel of St. John. Explore the power of language, and the transformative spirit alive in words spoken aloud in a circle of intention and blessing. Based on the ground-breaking Circle-work of Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea, and using contemporary research from both psychology and spirituality, this workshop is an opportunity to hone the skills of sacred conversation: to deepen and refine our life by listening with the heart, by breathing with the spirit, and by practicing a soul-speech that promotes peace and cultivates disarming hospitality. The intimate connection between divine conversation and prayer will also be explored from a Franciscan perspective. Come prepared to practice soul-conversation and to be delighted by grace.
Suggested Donation: $15

7 Wednesdays: March 4, 11, 18, 25, April 1, 8, 15, 2009 @ 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. –Our Lady of the Angels
This seven week seminar is for those who have had some exposure to the chakras and would like a deeper study of each one. What are the characteristics of an unbalanced chakra? How can we bring the chakras into balance? How do we strengthen the chakras and utilize them for guidance?
Meditation and visualization will be utilized. Wear loose and comfortable clothing for gentle yoga.
Registration deadline: February 25, 2009
Cost: $70
(Note this program does not meet at Maura Hall. It meets at Our Lady of the Angels Motherhouse” The Jubilee Room)

Two Groups:
6 Wednesdays: April 15, 22, 29, May 6, 13, 20, 2009 @ 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Please note new dates.
Are you missing your dreams? The practice of recording your dreams and hearing the dreams of others will help you with recalling more of your dreams. The practice of doing dream work in a group can enlarge your understanding of the symbolic language of dreams.
In each class we will work with a person’s dream and then engage others in the group to amplify dream language and symbol. Basic concepts of Jung’s understanding of the human psyche will be explained as needed. To prepare for these sessions, place pen and tablet at your bedside and write what you remember from your dream (even if it’s one line). Then add a note about what had an emotional impact upon you the previous day.
Registration preference will be given to those who can attend all six sessions in each program.
Cost: $90

Monday, March 9, 2009 @ 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Add a reflective dimension and a personal touch to your special occasions as you learn how to create bread flowers using Wonder® bread, glue and paint. You can use your “flowers” as ornaments to decorate your pictures or use them to decorate wedding invitations, graduation and other special occasion greeting cards. Materials and supplies will be provided. Just come for a morning of prayer and fun!
Registration deadline: November 25, 2008
Freewill Offering

This program has been cancelled.
Saturday, March 14, 2009 @ 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Repentant sinner, apostle to the apostles, prostitute, church leader, favored disciple, and first witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, each of these titles has been a part of the story of Mary Magdalene.  Who really was this woman?  Come spend a creative day of prayer and reflection with the most misunderstood woman in the history of the Church. Discover who she was, why she sparks such interest over 2000 years later and how she speaks to us in our time. 
Freewill Offering

Saturday, March 21, 2009 @ 9:30 a.m.– 3:30 p.m.
The medieval Franciscans intuited that what we experience of the world “mirrors” God. Theologians today speak of God and of God’s expression through creation, including human beings, as always in “process” and always more revelatory. Celebrating the life of Teilhard de Chardin, and using his insights, participants will have opportunity to discover and appreciate a spiritual perspective in direct dialogue with the world in which we live. It will be an opportunity to integrate the growing edge of our contemporary quantum understanding of “how things are” with the beauty and wisdom present in the long lineage of Christian theologians who so loved God’s good creation.
Suggested Donation: $15

Friday, April 3, 2009 @ 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
& Saturday, April 4 @ 9:00 a.m.  – 1:00 p.m.
A two-day retreat of Sacred Sounding Prayer using the most wondrous of Divine Instruments, the voice. Discover and master breathing, sonic meditation, and sacred chants. Develop breath and sound in ways that set parts of the body and mind into harmonic resonance while experiencing balance and spiritual enlightenment. Come to one or come to both. No experience is necessary. Wear comfortable clothing.
Suggested Donation: $10 for Friday, $40 for Saturday, or $45 for both

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 @ 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
This mini-workshop will introduce you to the craft of book scrapping and card making. Bring something meaningful, such as a poem, a quote, and/or a photo, that you would like to work with. Materials and supplies will be provided. In addition, feel free to bring any supplies you may already have.
Registration deadline: April 15, 2009
Freewill offering to cover materials and supplies

Saturday, May 2, 2009 @ 9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
This seminar/mini-retreat will incorporate Franciscan themes and prayer with a walking tour of the Wheaton Franciscan, Our Lady of the Angels 60 acre Campus. Participants will be invited to recognize and reverence the mystery of “God’s glory exposed” in the rich environment of prairie grasses, flowers and trees with a possible peek at the creatures that inhabit them. Ample opportunity for both reflection and discussion of the myth, meaning and healing properties of the landscaping (trees in particular) will be highlighted. Bring a bag lunch, a blan