The guided retreat is a small group retreat which consists of daily presentations, quiet reflection time, prayer and ritual, optional spiritual guidance, group process and the opportunity for Eucharistic liturgy. All these retreats are held at the Franciscan Spirituality Center, La Crosse, WI.
Sacred Windows to the Divine: Icon Writing Retreat/Workshop
The icon of Elijah the Prophet will be painted from:
Sunday, May 2 (7:00 p.m.) through Saturday, May 8 (noon)
The icon of Noli Me Tangere will be painted from :
Sunday, July 11 (7:00 p.m.) through Saturday, July 17 (noon)
Investment: $570 includes retreat/workshop, bedroom and meals
Commuter: $450 includes retreat/workshop and meals
$100 non-refundable registration fee to reserve a place.
Register early. Limited to 20 participants for each workshop.
The icon of Elijah the Prophet will be painted during the May workshop. Noli Me Tangere—the scene of Mary Magdalene meeting Jesus after the Resurrection—is the focus of the July workshop. See Philip Zimmerman’s website for information and his rendition of these icons. www.philzicons.com. Icons will be written from start to finish, guided in a step-by-step gradual process by Phil Zimmerman, ending with a completed icon, varnished and ready to display. All materials and supplies are included. Anyone can enter into this process, expressing through the icon the mystery of the image portrayed. We
begin each day by meditating and praying with icons. Phil supplements these sessions with information about the history of Byzantine and Russian iconography. Each day, all participants will be gifted with one hour of live harp music played by Sister Malinda Gerke, fspa. Please note: Those who wish to consider the focus of the week to be a retreat will be provided additional materials to support the silent and reflective focus.
Directed by Master Iconographer Philip Zimmerman
Phil Zimmerman, a noted iconographer, was born September 17, 1953, in Stoystown, Somerset Co., PA. While a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Phil studied iconography with Richard Osacky (now Bp. JOB, OCA Diocese of Chicago and the Midwest) who came to the area to attend seminary and serve at St. John the Baptist Church in Black Lick, PA.
Phil taught public school art for 14 years. In 1988 he opened a studio of iconography at Antiochian Village near Ligonier, PA, to produce icons and murals for churches and private commissions and began teaching classes in icon painting. In May, 1999, he relocated to a private studio at New Florence, PA. Teaching has taken him to many areas throughout the US and Canada as the popularity of icon painting continues to grow and captivate a significant following of artists from all religious and cultural backgrounds who find it to be spiritually meaningful.
Since opening his first studio, Phil has taught over 1500 students. Icons produced in Phil’s studio are painted according to ancient guidelines and techniques, incorporating modern artist’s materials. Selected subjects are chosen by careful study of time-honored prototypes. The excitement of iconography is that it combines artistic skill and creativity with spiritual motivation and discipline and religious devotion.
Prayer and meditation leader: Joan Weisenbeck, FSPA
Joan Weisenbeck, fspa, is on staff at the Franciscan Spirituality Center and is the hostess for the retreat/workshop. She leads the meditations and prayers with icons during the workshop. She has hosted workshops with Phil since 1998 and has written several icons.
Contact us about this retreat
The Parables of Jesus: An Invitation to Enter Jesus’ Dream for Us
Dates: May 30 (7:00 p.m.) through June 5 (noon)
Investment: $355 includes retreat, bedroom and meals
Commuters: $195 includes retreat and meals
This silent retreat is an invitation to enter the heart and soul of the stories of Jesus, called parables. They represent the very words of Jesus, capturing in vivid, dramatic language the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. They will be offered in the context of the cultural, societal, economic, political and religious background of first century Palestine so the radical demands for personal conversion can be heard anew, as if for the first time. The stories ought to leave us all rather uncomfortable, yet affirmed, for even as we recognize how far we are from the Kingdom, we see how personally we have been called to enter it, with Him who loves us. Through prayer, exposition of the stories, and silence, we will be able to enter, with some depth, into Jesus’ own dream for us.
Director: Francis W. Vanderwall
Francis W. Vanderwall, M.A., M.Div., Ph.D., is professor of
theology at Our Lady of the Lake College and chair of the religious studies department as well as occasional adjunct professor in the School of Social Work at Louisiana State University. He earned his M.Div. at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA, and his doctorate from the Graduate Theological Union. He was a
Jesuit for almost 30 years and working in retreat ministry since 1973. He is the author of four books on spirituality and one video series on prayer, as well as numerous articles dealing with spiritual direction, psychology, scripture, varieties of prayer and related topics. His previous published work,
Freedom from Fear: A Way Through the Ways of Jesus the Christ, won the Catholic Press Association award in its category in 2000. His latest book, The Liberating Stories of Jesus: Word, Context, Reflections (2008) is all about the parables, the very words Jesus used in proclaiming the imminence of the coming of the Kingdom of God.
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Cyber Franciscan Pilgrimage Retreat
Dates: Sunday, July 25 (arrive after 5:00 p.m.). Five days, July 26 through July 30, depart Saturday a.m., July 31
Investment: $355 includes retreat, bedroom and meals
Commuters: $195 includes retreat and meals
Directors: Staff of Franciscan Pilgrimage Program
This unique experience is an opportunity that is offered to Franciscan women and men, their affiliates and associates, and members of the Secular Franciscan Order who are unable to travel to Italy for the hands-on experience of Assisi and Rome. At a fraction of the cost of a group pilgrimage, interested persons can have a taste of what so many have enjoyed in the land of Francis and Clare.
This five-day cyber or virtual pilgrimage uses PowerPoint presentations, reflections, prayers and rituals to “visit” Chiesa Nuova, San Ruffino, San Damiano, the Basilicas of Francis and Clare, the Carceri, La Verna, Santa Maria Maggiore, Greccio, the Porziuncula and various places in Rome.
Register online now
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