Monastic Winter Retreat
By Sister Cecelia The monastic winter retreat this year has been especially wonderful for me. Ordinarily, I love having a dog to care for, but I do not have one now, so I am enjoying more time for the “leisure” activities monastics are supposed to have time for. I was especially blessed to find and read a biography of Fr. Thomas Keating by Cynthia Bourgeault. Fr. Thomas was the Abbot at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, when we first came to New York. These monks helped us through their friendship and also financially as we were getting started here. Having met, talked with, and shared a meal with the person being written about certainly increased my interest. It was such a delight for me to read about his struggles and breakthroughs, especially in his last five years. Fr. Thomas was able to experience what theosis is. Understanding and living theosis is a goal of Eastern Orthodoxy. The union with God and awareness of God’s presence eventually enabled him to say, “I ...