Led By: Br. Aidan Owen, OHC
Wednesday, 17 June to Friday, 19 June 2020 at 2pm on Zoom
A pilgrimage is an outward, physical journey that marks an movement to the heart of Christ, where we find the fullness and freedom of our truest self. In this retreat, we will explore making (needlework, woodwork, gardening, pottery, and any other manual art) as a form of pilgrimage. Drawing on a diverse set of sources including contemplative Christian writing, contemporary philosophy, and Jungian psychology, we will come to see our crafts as ways of becoming more fully human and more fully alive. Themes include the sacredness of creation, radical incarnation, contemplation through action, rootedness and a sense of place, moving through resistance to God, rest, and Sabbath.
Each day, we’ll gather on Zoom at 2pm for a talk lasting 45 minutes to an hour. Then there will time for fellowship, questions, and reflection. Please bring your crafts to work on while Br. Aidan talks and to show off to the group! We’ll post the Zoom link here and on our Facebook page the week of the retreat.
These sessions will be recorded for those who cannot join live (or who wish to hear them again).
You may wish to read Br. Aidan’s essay “A Maker’s Pilgrimage” as preparation for the retreat, or you may prefer to show up and take in the ideas and themes afresh!
You can also download the Bibliography and Selected Quotations for the retreat in advance, if you like.
We suggest a donation of $15/session ($45 for all three sessions) for this retreat, which you can offer at www.holycrossmonastery.com/donate or by sending a check payable to Holy Cross Monastery to P.O. Box 99, West Park, NY 12493. Please put “maker’s pilgrimage” in the memo line of your donation. No one will be required to donate in order to join the sessions.
No preregistration is required for this retreat.
Br. Aidan, known in the fiber world as the Knitting Monk, seeks to bring a contemplative and ecological approach to all his fiber work. When not crafting, he’s the Monastery’s Guestmaster and Groundskeeper. He also practices sewing, quilting, natural dyeing, writing, and gardening. When asked whether he spins, he always replies “not yet.” You can find his Ravelry page here, his writing here, and past episodes of his fiber arts podcast here.