Centering Prayer at St. Mary’s Sewanee
Rest your body and spirit and listen for the voice of God in the deeper stillness beneath the rush of daily life.
When Your Soul Needs Room to Breathe
The pace of ordinary life can leave you carrying more than you realize. Your body feels tired, tense, or restless; your mind crowded by responsibilities and noise; your heart distant from the quiet presence of God. Even faithful people can become spiritually weary and long for a place where they can simply be.
Centering Prayer offers a way back through sacred silence, gentle rhythm, and attentiveness to God’s presence.
Centering Prayer is a contemplative Christian practice that invites you to open yourself to God beyond words, thoughts, and distractions. Rather than filling the silence, you learn to rest in it, entering deep fellowship with God through what Thomas Keating called “God’s first language.”
Over several days, the repeated rhythm of prayerful silence can help the body settle, the mind quiet, and the spirit listen more deeply. While each retreat may vary, Centering Prayer at St. Mary’s Sewanee usually includes prayer sits, meditation, spacious time for rest, nourishing meals, the natural beauty of the bluff, and a community held together by sacred silence.
Centering Prayer is the Restful Silence You’re Looking For
This retreat is for anyone who feels spiritually weary, distracted, or in need of quiet. It may also be meaningful for clergy, spiritual directors, and ministry leaders seeking refreshment, as well as those drawn to the contemplative tradition, or anyone with a desire to go deeper with God through silence.
This experience is open to everyone, whether you are new to Centering Prayer or have practiced for many years. Come as you are and bring your weary soul to rest, renew, and reconnect.
Financial Assistance
Thanks to generous supporters, financial assistance may be available for those who want to attend but are concerned about the cost. We don’t want financial concerns to prevent anyone from seeking spiritual renewal at St. Mary’s. Please feel free to contact us about scholarship inquiries.
Help Keep Centering Prayer Available to Those Who Need It
If Centering Prayer has shaped your life, or if you believe in the healing power of sacred silence, we invite you to help make this retreat experience possible for others. Your gift helps provide scholarships so that more people, especially those carrying weariness or spiritual hunger, can step away from the noise and enter the quiet grace of God’s presence at St. Mary’s Sewanee.