Fall is such a beautiful time in these mountains. Join us for our October Introduction to the Theology and Practice of Contemplative Prayer. It runs from Friday the 11^th to the Sunday the 13^th. Also, don’t miss our Patristics program on Saturday November 16 (or stay from the 15^th through the 17^th). In this class we will focus on an very interesting text, written by Saint Gregory “the Wonderworker” of Neocaesarea, who lived from 213-270.

Information on this and our other fall programs is below. You may also wish to contact us at info@monsnubifer.org or by calling 607-832-4401 to schedule your own personal retreat.

Dip your feet into the ocean of contemplative practice in the classical Christian tradition. Through an engagement of scripture and patristic and liturgical texts, participants gain a solid theological and historical foundation in Christian spirituality, put to work through a guided immersion in contemplative prayer. Learn how contemplative practice touches, deepens and unites all aspects of the Christian life: serving the Liturgy, study, serving others in our livelihoods, and in the Christian moral and ethical life. Learn the essentials of Christian prayer and how prayer can be deepened; how to chant the daily prayer offices in morning, noon and evening prayer services; how the Christian sacramental and communal life supports and deepens contemplative practice, and how to maintain prayer in activity and to make activity prayer. Participants have the opportunity to avail themselves of individual spiritual direction and/or the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession) during this retreat.

For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 1 Corinthians 4:15

As a young teenager, Gregory “the Wonderworker” (c. 213-c. 270) had dreams of becoming a great lawyer and rhetorician. On his way east to study, he and a friend decided to stop off at the Christian Catechetical School of Alexandria, founded by the great Saint Clement and now headed by his successor, Origen. Curiosity brought the two youths there, but a newfound faith forged in the face-to -face relationship with a Christian teacher kept them there. Forgetting all about their careers, the two friends remained for seven years under Origen’s tutelage. After his training, Gregory took his leave of Origen, whereupon he delivered a public address in gratitude for all that his teacher had done for him. The address is especially significant because it gives us a small window into the intellectual and spiritual rigor that formation in the early church might have entailed. It also bears witness to the importance of teacher/student relationships in Christian formation, giving us a glimpse of what that relationship of discipleship was like in his case. Local people can participate in the Saturday portion only, which will include all of the topical material, but are encouraged to attend the periods of prayer before and after the teaching sessions. Please contact us to find out more. This program is offered in commemoration of the feast day of Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Caesarea, on November 17.

The Prayer Vigil is at the heart of the contemplative training on offer at Mons Nubifer Sanctus. Participants enter into a deep and regenerative silence, spending many hours together each day engaging the practice of still prayer (Christian meditation). This is punctuated by the chanting of the psalms at morning, noon, and evening prayer services, and a daily period of silent work helps us to carry our prayerfulness into everyday activities. All participants have an opportunity to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession) and/or to receive individual spiritual direction during the program. This prayer vigil ends with the mass of the First Sunday in Advent.