St. Ann Parish, Lawrenceville, is hosting a Lenten adult faith formation series entitled “Lent With the Mystics.”

The program is offered as either a one-day retreat on Feb. 13, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., or over the course of four sessions on the following Tuesdays: Feb. 23, March 1, 8 and 15, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Lent with the Mystics focuses on Christian mystics whose lives were centered in Christ. Their spiritual practices and experiences offer lighted pathways to expand and support the spiritual journeys of faithful in the company of others. Participants receive a reading list to explore further the Christian mystical traditions.

The four parts of the program are as follows:

Part 1 will study the third to fifth century abbas and ammas of Palestine, Syria, and Eygpt. Participants will explore these intrepid men and women and their basic spiritual practices of fasting, guarding the heart, ceaseless prayer and an early form of spiritual direction.

Part 2 will focus on the Benedictine/Cistertian monastic tradition perfected over 1,500 hundred years through Lectio Divina (listening for God through sacred texts), the Liturgy of the Hours (including Gregorian chant), and living in community. A study of mystics formed in this tradition from sixth century St. Benedict to 12th century St. Bernard de Clairvaux to 20th century Thomas Merton.

Part 3 will focus on the practices of 11th- to 20th-century women mystics with their intense visions and colloquy with Christ and Mary, such as Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, St. Teresa of Avila, the Beguines, Maria de Agreda, and Evelyn Underhill. The prayer practices of Spanish mystics St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. John of the Cross will be explored and how these women and men, who sought and found intimacy with God, still influence spiritual seekers today.

Part 4 will conclude the series with the contemplative prayer stream from the 14th-century Cloud of Unknowing to its transformation into the contemporary Centering Prayer movement associated with Trappist Father Thomas Keating. Experiencing God in and through inner stillness and silence is the heart of contemplative prayer. Participants will also explore the Cosmic Christ through experiencing the interconnectedness of all life, a tradition rooted in Franciscan spirituality and expressed through modern religious such as Fathers Thomas Berry and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Sister Ilia Delio. 

The retreat leader and instructor will be Dr. Laura Dunham, who teaches and writes about Christian spirituality. She is author of “Path of the Purified Heart: The Spiritual Journey as Transformation,” and is currently working on a book on the Blessed Mother. She is a Benedictine oblate, guides the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises and is a member of St. Ann Parish. She helped found The Friends of Christ School for Christian Spirituality.

The event is free and open to the public. All sessions are in the church located at 1253 Lawrenceville Rd., Lawrenceville.  If attending the one-day retreat, an optional box lunch is available for $10, payable at the door. Reservations with choice of lunch should be made by Feb. 9 by calling 609 882-6491, ext. 116, or email:  [email protected].