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Remembering Dear Friends || Praying With the Heart || Pilgrimage to Italy

Remembering Dear Friends
Living Ordinary Lives with Extraordinary Love

A letter from Pat Johnson: 

I’ve been meaning to write ever since Sarah died and I’m just now getting around to it. 

Sarah died on February 1st and the reading for that day was the one from Corinthians that talked about love. She is so very present that at times I feel she hasn’t gone anywhere except we are not taking care of her. She is powerfully taking care of us. It was obvious to all of us that Sarah directed and orchestrated her whole leave taking. All her siblings were there with us and I was holding her, amazed at her strength to keep on breathing. I jokingly said that she was waiting for 7:18 pm, the time of her birth. Sure enough, that was the time she took her last breath and such a gentle breath it was.

We buried her at the Lama Foundation in New Mexico which is a place of great significance for us. The residents had totally prepared a space on the library floor and a bier with apricot silk over it for her body and 4 votive candles with Mary on them around the bier. We laid her there and her siblings kept vigil that night while Bob and I lay in the warm library hearing them sing and tell memory lane stories. The next morning after going to the prayer room for a sit, the residents did a tea ceremony and made the first bowl of tea for Sarah and placed it on the altar with a statue of Mary with rose petals. The ceremony before burial was so moving with 40 people there telling Sarah stories and our kids singing some wonderful songs. Mary Ann Matheson made four prayer flag poles and had her twin sisters and two brothers carry them as we processed down the hill to the burial gardens. The whole thing from start to finish was absolutely exquisite in its simplicity and beauty. Saturday the 21st of February we had a memorial service at St. Benedict’s Monastery for her and Fr. Thomas officiated. Again it was an incredible and inspiring service. Over 200 people attended. It was totally grace filled and awesome in its simplicity and genuineness.

Sarah was born with profound physical disabilities. Her parents, Pat and Bob Johnson, are with Contemplative Outreach of Colorado. Fr. Theophane Boyd lived at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado, and passed away from cancer last October. He has been an important part of the East/West interreligious dialogue and author of the inspiring book Tales of a Magic Monastery. Sarah and Fr. Theophane were well-known and loved by many who attended retreats at Snowmass. The painting above is by Seamus Berkeley.

Remembering Dear Friends || Praying With the Heart || Pilgrimage to Italy

Praying with the Heart, Praying with the Body
by By Rita Weick

My “vestibule” now includes gentle yoga, breathing and chanting that I learned at a pilot retreat this summer outside of Santa Fe, Praying through the Body, Praying from the Heart”. Jim Reale was the extraordinarily talented teacher. Throughout the week, Jim taught us a series of gentle moves, slow deep breathing and his original chants. We entered our prayer periods with a calmed mind and tension-free body. For those with physical limitations Jim expertly modified postures and tailored his instructions. He relentlessly and discreetly coached us; not calling attention to what we did wrong so no one felt singled out. He maintained an aura of reverence for the task and for the students. He so gently transitioned us from the yoga to our prayer time, that he made it all holy. It was said that our whole beings showed up for Centering Prayer. We left with simple but completely understandable diagrams of the three yoga routines, words to the chants and the memory of how to do them that comes from well-structured repetition. Jim and the Contemplative Outreach team of Santa Fe created an innovative and profoundly enriching Centering Prayer retreat. For information on future retreats contact Susan Rush at susrush@aol.com .

Remembering Dear Friends || Praying With the Heart || Pilgrimage to Italy

Italy
The 2004 Pilgrimage of Extensión Contemplativa

This year the annual fundraising event for Extensión Contemplativa Internacional, the international Spanish-speaking ministry of Contemplative Outreach, will be a pilgrimage to Italy, sponsored by the Central and South Florida chapters. We invite you to join us on this unique pilgrimage for an unforgettable experience. We will travel with our own contemplative priest, have daily mass in very special places, and provide you with the opportunity to do Centering Prayer twice a day if you so desire. 

Our host will be Ilse Reissner, an experienced traveler who has successfully led several of these pilgimages. Our spiritual leader is Fr. Justin Languille, coordinator for Contemplative Outreach in San Diego. 

We will be visiting Milan, Turin (shroud), Venice, Padua (St. Anthony), Florence, Sienna (St. Catherine), Pisa (the Leaning Tower), Assissi (St. Francis and St. Claire), Loreto (the little house from Nazareth), Lancio (Eucharistic Miracle), San Giovanni Rotondo (Padre Pio), and Rome, including an audience with the Pope. 

This pilgrimage is a fundraiser. You will be supporting Extensión Contemplativa Internacional in their mission to bring Centering Prayer to Spanish-speaking countries throughout America. Our prayer partners in these countries are often unable to pay the travel expenses of our facilitators when they travel there to provide formation and training workshops. 

The tour will be an escorted and enjoyable 13 unforgettable days, with two meals included each day. We will travel in an air-conditioned deluxe motorcoach from airport to airport in Italy, with an English-speaking guide who will stay with us throughout the journey. We will stay at good hotels, with private bathroom facilities and twin beds. We need a minimum of 25 persons by the end of January or we will have to cancel the trip. 

Departure: April 18, 2005 from Miami 
Return: April 30, 2005 from Rome 
Double Occupancy: $2,996 (round trip from Miami or New York) 
Single Supplement: $45 per day 4-Day Extension to the south (Naples, Sorrento, Capri, Pompei and Mt. Cassino): Additional cost is $849. 

If you wish to stay for a longer amount of time after the tour there will be a nominal surcharge on your ticket, but it can be arranged as long as the basic group is not less than 15. 

To request a color brochure, call 407-767-7567 or 305-223-7329, or email ireissner@juno.com or Ricardol@camilo.com. 

A $300 deposit is required to secure your space.

Para Informes en Español
...Resources Translated in Spanish

Extensión Contemplativa, the branch of Contemplative Outreach serving our Spanish-speaking members, handles the sale of books translated in Spanish. Contact Maria Lopez at (305) 223-7329 for a complete listing and to place an order.

Remembering Dear Friends || Praying With the Heart || Pilgrimage to Italy

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