Saturday, February 25 | Period 6 | 2:45pm - 4:00pm 

Poetry is an important resource for deepening our prayer practice and our interior life. Many Christian mystics wrote poetry and many who want to live a more contemplative life today consider poetry what the ancient Celts called an 'anam cara,' a soul friend. Poems help us to tap into the sacred in the ordinary, rediscover what we love about the world, and cultivate an inner calm. We will explore the deep spirituality in the work of several contemporary poets and show how their words might open us to thinking in fresh ways about our world and our lives. This is a workshop for poetry lovers as well as those wishing to overcome "poetry anxiety" and discover in poems a deep source for spiritual growth.

Judith Valente is the author of five spirituality books and two collections of poetry. She was selected by poet Mary Oliver for the 2005 national Aldrich Poetry Prize. She worked as a staff writer for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal and was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in journalism. She currently contributes articles to U.S. Catholic, NCR, Global Sisters Report and America magazine.  She is a lay associate of Mount St. Scholastica Benedictine Monastery in Kansas and has led spiritual retreats across the country for busy people seeking a more contemplative life. 

Session Handout

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Questions: speralta@la-archdiocese.org