Some retreats offer us new information. Others give us the time and space to return to something ancient and discover that it still has something new to say to us.
This November, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Kathleen Cahalan back to the Benedictine Center at St. Paul’s Monastery for Practicing Lectio Divina with Scripture, Creation, and Life Experience, November 6–8. Whether lectio divina has been part of your prayer for years or you have wondered how to begin, this is a retreat not to miss.
Kathleen is Professor Emeritus of Practical Theology at Saint John’s University School of Theology and Seminary, where her teaching has focused on pastoral ministry, pastoral care, vocation, discernment, and spiritual practice. She is the author or co-author of numerous books, including Stories We Live: Finding God’s Calling All around Us and, with Laura Kelly Fanucci, Called on the Way: The Daily Practice of Discipleship. She has led retreats on lectio divina and discernment for many years and currently leads Daily Lectio on the Ritual app.
Kathleen is also no stranger to St. Paul’s Monastery. Her relationship with the Benedictine Center reaches back many years, including her leadership of our School of Lectio Divina, an intensive silent retreat that invited participants deeply into this ancient monastic practice.
Her return this November is especially timely. On October 15, Liturgical Press will release Kathleen’s newest book, Pressing In On the Word of God: The Practice of Lectio Divina. The book approaches lectio not as a technique to master but as an ongoing conversation with God—through Scripture, creation, and the sacred encounters of our own lives. Kathleen explores familiar forms of lectio alongside practices such as praying with the lectionary, memorization, short “arrow prayers,” and sustained attention to a passage over time.
Those same themes will come alive during her retreat at the Benedictine Center. Participants will practice lectio with Scripture, creation, and life experience, exploring how each can become a place of encounter with God. Silence outside the teaching sessions, prayer with the monastic community, and the rhythms of life at St. Paul’s Monastery will provide the container for the weekend.
This is the kind of opportunity we hope you will not only consider for yourself, but share with someone else. Perhaps you know someone longing for a deeper prayer life, someone needing quiet, or someone who wants to hear God more clearly amid the noise of everyday life.
Kathleen has been part of the Benedictine Center’s story for many years. We are grateful to welcome her home again—and to once more make room together to listen for the Word of God, November 6–8 at St. Paul’s Monastery. Please visit the retreat registration page or contact the Benedictine Center regarding current registration availability.
