The practice of Christian Mindfulness: Not Shrinking God but breathing God's Presence in each moment.

Link below to a 20 minute homily I gave recently on the Practice of Christian Mindfulness as part of an ongoing parish mission we Capuchin friars are giving in St. Cronan's Parish, Brackenstown, Co. Dublin.

Do you shrink God to fit your own ideas of Him or do you allow Him to breathe His infinite love through you in each succeeding moment? This is the path of Christian Mindfulness...
Enjoy :)

https://twitter.com/CronanParish/status/702875623396495360

"Breathing into Love": A new course on the practice of Mindfulness in the Christian Tradition

Breathing into Love: The practice of Christian Mindfulness:

“God has given to the earth the breath which feeds it. It is His breath which gives life to all things. And if he were to withhold His breath every thing would be annihilated. His breath vibrates in yours, in your voice. It is the breath of God that you breathe and you are unaware of it.” St. Theophilus of Antioch.

As mindfulness practitioners and teachers we are all familiar with those practices that attempt to teach us to be present, to show up for life, to take a moment by moment approach. We are also aware of the importance of the breath and how our awareness of it plays an important part in this process. Some of us have come to mindfulness to deal with stress, some to improve their relationships, some to deepen a pre-existing meditation practice, some as a way of re-connecting with the deepest part of ourselves or to touch the ancient wisdom of the Sacred Traditions of the world. But for the Christian who seeks the mindful way the present moment is always, above all else, the place of Divine encounter and this encounter is always with the One who is Love. It is love that’s sustains every breath, love that is breathing in us in every moment, love that is holding all things in being, moment to moment, the love that is God. In our tradition the ancient art of monastic attention, known from the desert days of the early church as “Prosekai” sought to bring the practitioner to a mindfulness practice that balanced both attention and intention so as to prepare the whole being body, mind and soul for the journey into meditation and thence into a contemplative way of being that centred the self in a stable spiritual equanimity drawn from the awareness in our very being of the infinite and unconditional divine love from which all that is arises.

(This was the way of the Christian Mystics whose teachings we explore in our other workshops on them in the Sanctuary more of which are scheduled in the coming months. I’ll tell you about them as they arise.)

This art of attentive mindfulness taught by the ancient monastic fathers and mothers was centred on meditative exercises of awareness that sought to bring about a change to a mindful way of life. The practitioner was called to find ways of slowing down so as to become mindful of their breath, of their bodies, of their thoughts, of their actions and their surroundings, and especially of the sacred scriptures and the liturgy. Through those steps in mindfulness they sought to become aware of the Divine in-breathing that is present behind all of these phenomena as they arise. For the Christian Mindfulness Practitioner “breathing into love” is the beginning of the way of pure prayer, a prayer that transforms both our inner self and how we experience reality. In the coming weeks in the Sanctuary Centre in Dublin’s inner city I will be offering a practical and experiential course in these ancient practices beginning with the awareness of the breath and the various ways of praying with it. We will also look at the understanding of the process and goal of meditation in the Christian tradition and the use of the “versiculum”, the prayer word or Christian mantra that allows us to come to stable equanimity and quieten the thoughts. We will then look at the practice of Lectio Divina and its place in the larger process of Meditative prayer and we will encounter the sacred and sacramental character of the present moment and the ways of accessing it as such that have been taught in the Christian tradition.

If you would like to deepen your mindfulness practice and re-connect to the Divine Presence from which the present moment arises in Love, where attention and intention meet and where all of creation reveals it has been breathed into by Love then come along. You may just be surprised…

You can find our more and book your place at www.sanctuary.ie 

The Course details are as follows :

• Starting Wednesday April 6^th 2016
• 7pm - 8.30pm
• 5 week evening course
• Cost: €85.00
• Suitable for beginners and those who wish to deepen their practice
• Introduction to Christian Mindfulness Tradition
• Mix of information, discussion and practice
• Breath practices for stillness and reflection

Further details:

With Brother Richard, this 5 week evening course provides an introduction the tradition of Christian Mindfulness Tradition. This tradition has often been overlooked or not well understood. In the past the practice was mostly confined to contemplative monasteries. This course provides an introduction to the key practices of the tradition and will cover:

• The place of Mindfulness in the Christian Tradition 

• Breath practices for stillness and reflection

• Lectio Divina as a Mindfulness Practice 

• The use of the Versiculum or Christian Mantra

• The Sacrament of the Present Moment 

• Centering Prayer and dealing with the thoughts

• The present as the Place of Divine Encounter 

• The practice of the "Prayer of Calm Abiding"

• The Jesus Prayer

The course is suitable for beginners and for those who wish to deepen their mindfulness practice through uniting it with the Spirituality of the Christian Tradition.
 

“All that God asks of us is that we be faithful to the present moment” Ven. Solanus Casey

Thoughts for a Friday

Thoughts for a Friday:

If you're running to do,
while forgetting to be,
let your doing be being
by being your breathing;
with fullness of mind
not leaving behind
the person you are
in a moment so far
from the real and the now;
lest forgetting quite how
you'd ever get back
to a mind that's on track
and be able to deal
with all that could steal
your peace and your grace
and the light from your face!
So why not breathe deep?
Into now you will leap
and there be quite free
to do and to be,
in one unified whole
that we call the soul,
and from there take flight
to a place of clear light
with no strain and no stress,
no fear and no mess,
but a present that's wide
as the sea at full tide,
from where you'll begin
to let peace back in
and then you will find
your true and clear mind,
always stable and right
in the One who is Light.

A litany of St. Brigid of Ireland

Today is Lá Fheile Bhríde, St. Brigid's Day! It is a solemn feastday here in Ireland as we commemorate the great Brigid of Kildare, Abbess, eldress, healer, wonderworker and patron of Ireland. Traditionally today was seen as the first day of Spring here in Ireland and the work of the year ahead both on the land and in the home was placed under the patronage of St. Brigid... 

Litanies both old and new are wonderful ways of meditating on the life and witness of the saints may this litany bless you and yours this St. Brigid's day.

Brigid of the hearth and the hare

Brigid of the spark and the flame

Brigid of the cloak and the veil

Brigid of the herb and the stars

Brigid of the byre and the kine

Brigid of the ill and the old

Brigid of the young and the wild

Brigid of the poor and the voiceless

Brigid of the oak and the staff

Brigid of the long nights watching

Brigid of the sun’s slow dawning

Brigid of the moon’s spring rising

Brigid of the first bloom’s flowering

Brigid of the well’s gentle healing

Brigid of the Earth’s old wisdom

Brigid of the Nun’s deep chanting

Brigid of the High King of Heaven

Brigid of the rush woven cross

Brigid of the shaven head

Brigid of the lost sword

Brigid of the royal house

Brigid Abbess of the duel house of prayer

Brigid Eldress of the sanctuary’s light

Brigid Wise Woman of the healing touch

Brigid saint of Ireland

Pray for us