The 11th Day of Christmas: An Epiphany Retreat
Today, you’re invited to visit or revisit our 12 Days Contemplations, weaving them into your own Epiphany retreat. Because Christmas is when you make it.
Dear companion on our journey,
My spiritual advisor once told me, “If you are in a hurry, do not say your prayers quickly. Instead, choose one part you can do and give yourself fully to that.”
Thus, welcome to this self-paced Epiphany retreat. If you have only one minute, do scan this stage of the journey, then mark it as important so you can return to it. Then, when you return, take some time to give yourself to meditation. What ever time you can bring, some minutes, a morning, afternoon, or evening, bring a cup of your favorite drink and make yourself a place of retreat.
Tomorrow, Sunday, is the 12th night, and the eve of Epiphany. It marks also the end of our strenuous pilgrimage through the Christmas days, and Almut is looking forward to share a sweet story of being surprised by joy in that last contemplation of our journey.
And may Christmas find you where you are, Chuck, with Almut and little one.
We are now at the retreat time of our journey. It is a day to set aside some piece of time in order to give yourself the gift of reflection. We pause again, as we do so often on this journey, to look backwards and forwards, to gather up the days, and our courage, to once more become aware of Christmas within us, and to hold it up as a light to our path.
My spiritual advisor once told me, “If you are in a hurry, do not say your prayers quickly. Instead, choose one part you can do and give yourself fully to that.”
Below are gathered all the stages of our journey, each with a short summary and invitation. (You can find them also all listed with their beautiful photos here.) Read the summaries, get a feel for the journey as a whole, and then choose some part to which you can give yourself fully, in the time you have set aside for yourself.
As you read, look for a pattern in your experience of the journey that you want to deepen and choose those few reflections that help you to do so. It might be just one (I always like the Bonhoeffer hymn on day 7). Or it might be a few that emphasize a theme or a contrast that is important to you. Ot you chose to read into the comments and share with others. Do choose, and take some time to give yourself fully to the God who dwells within you.
The 12 Days of Christmas Journey: Towards the deeper Self
Below you can find all the contemplations of our Journey listed with a brief description and linked to the original post. You can also click on the banner above to get to our virtual 12 Days archive to find them all on one place with photos and all.
And now, let your heart chose where to start and where to go:
May Christmas Find You Where You Are. A Christmas Eve meditation on Bethlehem and the wonder and pain of that place and that night. The concluding blessing unpacks, in its last two lines, the motto of all our 12 Days retreats: “May Christmas find you where you are.”
Bring your heart. The 1st day, Christmas Day. We start with a recognition of the pain and brokenness we all carry, and remember gladly that Christmas is seeking us.
Do not be afraid! The medieval Abbess Hildegard of Bingen helps us to understand the Angels’ announcement as the birth of the Divine presence in us. Then you are invited into a meditation on the one of Hildegard’s illuminations, accompanied by her ethereal music.
Following the star. The meaning of the star is illuminated, again by Hildegard, as the taste, the longing, for the gifts of God. It is the heart’s longing that guides us. This meditation is accompanied by the plaintive voice and spare lyrics of a star song.
On journeying together. This begins with a reminder that we are not journeying alone. We are not alone, but are gathered together to help each other. We are also supported by a host of witnesses in the form of the archetypal images in the Christmas story: Pilgrim, Desert, Angel, Star, and Manger. With a French carol suggested by two of our fellow pilgrims.
Sacred pause. Because pausing is as important as journeying. An image of a bridge in the morning fog draws us into a meditation on the eternal and the present moment.
Gathering the year. A recipe for mulled wine. And a meditation on joys past and future. Accompanied by Katie McMahon’s lovely rendition of “In the Bleak Midwinter.”
By Gracious Powers Wonderfully Sheltered. The classic poem and hymn by theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written from a German prison just before his execution and the end of the war. It acknowledges the pain and offers comfort and courage. Accompanied by two versions of the hymn.
Beginning anew. A story about a new year’s day walk. And then a walking meditation to guide you on your own walk.
Learning from Joseph. Finally seeing Joseph as more than a backdrop. Carl Jung, Pope Francis, and Hildegard of Bingen help us see Joseph as the visionary dreamer who embodies wisdom, working quietly in the background.
Deepening self. The journey itself is the way, and it is through this journey that the deeper self is revealed. Edith Stein helps us to see that the journey is one of opening ourselves to God’s quiet presence in the midst of our everyday lives.
May this self-guided retreat help you to find your moment of pause, to reflect on the past, and to move forward in good courage.
Chuck, with Almut and little one.
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