Way of Beauty Retreat in June in Rural Vermont

posted by Creator Mundi

By David Clayton

I have been invited by the OQ Farm in beautiful farmland close to Woodstock, Vermont) to lead a weekend retreat centered around the traditional formation that would been given to the great Catholic artists of the past. This will certainly be of interest to artists of any creative discipline; but not just artists. It is open to anyone seeking a traditional formation in beauty and inculturation that engenders creativity and openness to inspiration. It takes place from the 3-5th June, 2016.

John Paul II said in his Letter to Artists, written in 1999, that every person has a personal vocation to contribute creatively and beautifully to the culture in some way as we go about our daily lives. In that sense we might become artists through supernatural means: by being united to Christ we are transformed and participate in the divine nature. St Athanasius was referring to this supernatural transformation in the 3rd century AD when he said that, ‘God became man, so that we might become god’. Maximus the Confessor, in the 7th century AD, in reiterating this said that, ‘One becomes all that God is, except an identity in being, when one is deified by grace.’ Benedict XVI said that through this each of us can participate in the ‘creative love of God’.

It is an extraordinary privilege, yet it is one that is offered through the Church to every single person.

This call to be raised up so that God works through us, and to contribute creatively and beautifully to society, is the essence of the New Evangelization. Through grace we lead a life of beauty and contribute creatively to a new culture. It is by this beauty and love in our lives that others see Christ and are drawn to the Faith. This result is described by Benedict in his paper on the New Evangelization, written in 2001; and in the same paper he gives us the method by which we can participate in this. The method of the ‘New’ evangelization is rooted in the one which worked so successfully for the early Church. It is a traditional pattern of prayer, which incorporates different sorts of prayer and contemplation, and has the worship of God in the sacred liturgy at its heart. This will be a journey in which together we will study this short document (under 10 pages) and try to put into practice what he (Read More)

Source:: http://thewayofbeauty.org/2016/04/way-of-beauty-retreat-in-june-in-beatiful-woodstock-vermont/