Contemplative Prayer

By the Rev. Clare Morgan 

Back in August of 2022 I was thrilled to be invited to become the new “priorix” (a non-gendered version of prioress!) for the

Sanctuary of the Arts Contemplative Arts Community.Sanctuary of the Arts (SotA) is an affirming, intersectional, arts-based spiritual community grounded in creative contemplative practices. An offering of the St. Hildegard’s Sanctuary community, SotA is a unique and innovative offering in our diocese! It is not only intersectional and queer/trans-affirming but interfaith as well, open to people of all or even no faith, as long as they are willing to explore spirituality through art.

I first touched base with SotA in the summer of 2022 when I was interviewed for their podcast, Salon Sophia, by my predecessor, former prioress Monique (here is our conversation, by the way!) 

When Monique moved on to other projects, community abbess Melanie asked me if I would like to succeed her. I was thrilled to receive such an offer! Everything about SotA is right up my alley. I’m passionate about creating interfaith spaces for shared worship and art, and I love finding innovative ways to connect with others in today’s more hybrid world.

Best of all, though, this was the perfect chance to relaunch the Cathedral Contemplative Prayer group with a new and exciting line-up of offerings.

The Cathedral’s Contemplative Prayer group, which has been on and off hiatus throughout Covid, is coming back on Tuesday nights in-person from October 4th through to December 13th. We will be partnering with SotA twice a month as well as returning to Centering Prayer, an ancient Christian practice of contemplation revived by the Catholic monk and scholar Father Thomas Keating, and services of chant, including (but not limited to!) music from the Taizé community.

We will meet Tuesday evenings at Christ Church Cathedral from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

Our hoped-for rotation will run as follows:

First Tuesdays of the month will feature music and chant.

Second Tuesdays of the month we will have creative practices with music, a chance to gather in-person or online and engage in creative and artistic practices accompanied by gentle music.

Third Tuesdays of the month will likely feature a rotation of contemplative practices which will include Centering Prayer.

Fourth Tuesdays of the month will feature a workshop hosted by SotA. The first one, on October 25th, will be led by me! I’ll teach you how to create “prayer tangles.” All you need are paper and crayons or markers! No artistic experience required.

All are welcome!

To learn more, contact Clare@thecathedral.ca