RETREATS
Seven Day Intensive and Post-Intensive Centering Prayer Retreat
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​Sunday, August 2 - Saturday August 8, 2026
Sponsored by
Contemplative Outreach of Southeast Wisconsin
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At
Siena Retreat Center, Racine, WI
“Beginning a regular practice Centering Prayer is a process of spiritual growth.”
Thomas Keating’s book ”Invitation to Love” is his attempt “to provide a road map", as it were, for the journey that begins when Centering Prayer is seriously undertaken, and to point to some of the recognizable landmarks on the journey as well as to its ultimate destination. The regular practice of contemplative prayer initiates a healing process that might be called “the Divine therapy”.
The Intensive Retreat provides an opportunity to deepen the practice of Centering Prayer in an atmosphere of profound silence and community support. (If you have experienced only a weekend retreat, this retreat is for you.)
The Post-Intensive Retreat provides an opportunity to deepen the practice of Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina in an atmosphere of profound silence and community support. (If you have experienced a seven day or longer retreat, this retreat is for you.)
December 3 Day Retreat
Removing Obstacles for Transformation..Moving Toward Union
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​Thursday, December 3 -
Sunday, December 6, 2026
Sponsored by
Contemplative Outreach of Southeast Wisconsin
​
At
Siena Retreat Center, Racine, WI
Closer than breath itself, God is present to us, but why do we feel separate? Let Thomas Keating guide us on this spiritual journey with the pearls of wisdom, to access our true divine nature. "The false self is looking for fame, power, wealth and prestige. The unconscious is very powerful until the divine light is shed on it.” Thomas Keating
PRESENTER:
 Christine Bender has facilitated classes of the Spiritual Journey Series for Contemplative Outreach of Colorado and COSEW, including The Human Condition, Divine Therapy, Spirituality in Everyday Life. “I have had the great privilege of going to retreat at St. Benedict’s Monastery at SnowMass with Thomas Keating, Abbot Joseph, and especially participating in the Inter-spiritual Series of Annual Retreats held in Denver, which were the result of the Interfaith and Inter-spiritual Dialogs hosted by Fr. Keating.”
"Christine Bender is a commissioned presenter for The Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop"
For questions, contact: bendercm@earthlink.net
