About this Event

Benedictine Father Laurence Freeman, Spiritual Director of the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM) and recipient of the Order of Canada for interfaith dialogue, will lead the Canadian Christian Meditation Community National Conference Retreat entitled From Anxiety to Peace from July 5 to 7.

Participants will learn about this ancient form of contemplative prayer based on scripture, which is found in the 4th-century writings of the Desert Fathers and Saint John Cassian's Conferences. It is also found in the 14th-century spiritual classic The Cloud of Unknowing. Bishop Douglas Crosby of Hamilton has described it as "a beautiful form of prayer." All are welcome whether they meditate or not.

Father Laurence Freeman will highlight sources of spiritual wisdom and talk about the transformative effect of meditation and how a practice of silence and attention will support a movement from anxiety to peace. There will be times of contemplative prayer and Mass.

We will hear from contemplatives supported by meditation in the hard, often lonely work of climate change and listen to experiences of how the embrace of the beauty of nature can also free us to be fully alive. We will see why the solution to the ecological crisis lies in our inner ecology. For what we are like interiorly, so we will act externally.

Registration

Register early! In-person spaces are limited.

• Live on campus: $495 (includes accommodations and meals)
  University of British Columbia (2525 West Mall Totem Park, Vancouver)
  Register by Thursday, May 30
  
  
• Commuter: $340
  Register by Wednesday, June 26
  
  
• Online via Zoom: $120; $60 for students
  Register by Monday, July 1

This event is organized by the Canadian Christian Meditation Community. Patrons of WCCM are Cardinal Walter Kasper, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Cardinal John Tong Hon, Cardinal Sean Brady and Vatican Foreign Minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher. For further information, please contact us or visit wccm-canada.ca.