Meditating with the Mystics
Meditating with the Mystics is a contemplative retreat series led by Bishop Aidan. Each retreat centers on a particular mystic from the ancient wisdom traditions, inviting participants to step into their world through story, silence, and sacred text. Rather than studying mystics from a distance, these retreats invite participants to practice with them—to listen for how their insight speaks into our own lives, our relationships, and our care for the world.
Each retreat weaves together practices drawn from the contemplative tradition and the natural world. Through guided meditation, breath prayer, mindfulness, deep listening, and time spent noticing the land around us, participants are invited into a slower, more attentive way of being. These gatherings are spacious and experiential, offering room to pray, reflect, share, and rest in the presence of Mystery.
May 9th
Gregory teaches that the spiritual life is not about arrival, but about ever-deepening desire for the Infinite. He invites us to see longing not as lack, but as holy movement—an endless drawing toward love that continually expands the heart.
October 3rd
Francis of Assisi calls us back to a life of joyful simplicity, kinship with creation, and radical trust. This retreat focuses on practices of presence, gratitude, and humility, inviting participants to rediscover what it means to live lightly and lovingly in the world. Francis reminds us that contemplation is not escape, but a way of belonging fully in and to all that is.
June 20th
Isaac the Syrian teaches that God’s love does not know limits, conditions, or exceptions. In his writings, mercy overwhelms judgment and compassion becomes the true measure of holiness. This retreat explores prayer formed by a love that never ceases healing.
Eckhart Tolle
TBD
Spiritual teacher and writer Eckhart Tolle invites us into the stillness beneath thought. His teaching centers on presence, simplicity, and the freedom found in the now. This retreat explores contemplative practices that quiet the mind and open us to a deeper awareness of being, grounded in attentiveness, spaciousness, and inner peace.
September 19th
Visionary, healer, composer, and prophet, Hildegard of Bingen invites us into a world alive with divine vitality. Her theology is luminous, embodied, and deeply ecological. This retreat weaves contemplative practice and attentiveness to the natural world, exploring how wisdom is lived through the body, the land, and creative expression.