September 2026 Newsletter
“...ladies, light of my eyes, deign to remember me, whether I am in the body or out of the body.”
- Saint Egeria (or Etheria or Aetheria ), from her writings now known as the Peregrinatio or Itinerarium Egeriae. In about 381/2–384 CE, she wrote what is today the earliest surviving detailed travel diary of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Saint Egeria is also the first known writer from the Iberian Peninsula. (This quote of Saint Egeria connects to themes in this month's newsletter.)
In This Month's Issue...
Reflect with Nicholas Fournie on To Remember Moments Lost.
Deepen in The Sacred Feminine in a Fractured World through this TCS online retreat with Cynthia Overweg, held for you this month.
Explore Nature Divina (Terra Divina) through viewing TCS's new video on this spiritual practice.
Encounter Christian contemplation as a seminarian or young faith leader aged 40-and-under through Formed By Silence, a free TCS online retreat generously supported by a bequest from The Estate of Constance Irene Burns and held in partnership with the Faculty of Divinity, Trinity College, University of Toronto.
Peruse TCS's new Cynthia Bourgeault Digital Archive.
Welcome ritual as God’s gift to humanity by joining, Why Ritual?, a TCS online retreat facilitated by Paula Pryce.
Diarise for AGM 2026 of TCS, to be held via Zoom on Thursday 29th October 2026, from 6:30-8pm Pacific Time.
Consider TCS's Forthcoming Retreats.
To Remember Moments Lost
by Nicholas Fournie
The human world is driven by story. We have the unique ability to enter other people’s lives through word and image. In doing so, we condense the vastness of a life into highlights, and those highlights have a way of gripping our hearts. This is as true of the story of Jesus of Nazareth as it is for each of us.
I felt that familiar sensation of a life flashing before my eyes, as I compiled the Cynthia Bourgeault Digital Archive over these past months. I scanned and organized documents from throughout the life and ministry of the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault, collapsing minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years into folders of highlights that I could experience, condensed yet vivid. The images of TCS’s early days spoke of a different time, and yet here I was, holding them in the present, looking at a moment lost forever.
Image: Rosa Hagström family 1940, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
(Altered by Nicholas Fournie).
"As God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother."
Julian of Norwich
“We are all meant to be mothers of God.”
Meister Eckhart
Presented by
The Contemplative Society
Thursday 24 September 2026
6:30pm to 9pm Pacific Time.
ONLINE.
(This retreat will be recorded for later access by participants.)
The Sacred Feminine and Sacred Masculine are regarded as equal and complementary divine energies that are beyond gender and form. The mystery of the Sacred Feminine dwells deep in the hearts of both women and men. She invites us to give birth to the inner transformation that dissolves the illusion of separateness from each other, from nature, and from the unconditioned love that underpins the whole of life.
This online retreat has four segments: An overview of the Sacred Feminine through time; Mary of Nazareth and the birth of the Christ consciousness; the Sacred Feminine as represented in the work of Hildegard of Bingen; and the significance of the Sacred Feminine in today’s world and within ourselves. Time will be time set aside for questions/answers/discussion.
$45 or pay-from-the-heart.
Nature Divina (Terra Divina) Teaching Video
In this introduction to Nature Divina, also known as Terra Divina, explore the practice of engaging with the Earth as a sacred text and a place where we can encounter beauty, wisdom, relationship, and the presence of God. Rooted in the Christian contemplative tradition of Lectio Divina, Nature Divina invites us to slow down, awaken our senses, and attend to the living world around us. Through noticing, meditation, prayer, and contemplation, creation becomes an invitation to deeper presence and connection.
Drawing on the wisdom of Saint Augustine and Thomas Merton, this video considers how Scripture and the natural world can renew the way we see, and help us recognise that we are not separate from creation, but participants within it.
Photo: Twin Lakes, Banff. Credit: Nicholas Fournie.
The Contemplative Society
Presents:
"Formed by Silence:
Seminarians and Young Faith Leaders aged 40-and-under, Experiencing the Tradition of Contemplative Prayer."
A FREE online retreat in honour of
Constance Irene Burns.
With Nicholas Fournie and
Rev. Dr. Therese DesCamp.
Saturday 24 October 2026
9:00am - 2:00pm Pacific Time
Created for seminarians and young faith leaders aged 40-and-under, this retreat offers a transformative entry into the Christian Wisdom tradition through contemplative stillness. Rooted in the 14th-century mystic text, The Cloud of Unknowing, this gathering will guide participants from theological study into direct experience via Centering Prayer (an apophatic practice of self-emptying silence) and the somatic Welcoming Practice for embodying divine presence in daily life.
This retreat is made possible through a generous gift received from
The Estate of Constance Irene Burns.
This retreat is being held in Partnership with the:
Faculty of Divinity, Trinity College, University of Toronto.
The Contemplative Society
welcomes you to explore our new:
Cynthia Bourgeault Digital Archive.
TCS offers this archive as a gift to Cynthia, to you as a member of our contemplative family, and to future generations: a way to trace Cynthia’s unfolding contribution as a modern Christian mystic, and to support the ongoing renewal of contemplative practice in the world.
The Contemplative Society
Presents:
Why Ritual?
The relationship of stability and openness in contemplative prayer
online with Paula Pryce.
Thursday 05 November 2026
6:30-8:30pm Pacific Time.
(This retreat will be recorded for later access by participants.)
$45 or pay-from-the-heart.
Ritual is God’s gift to humanity.
Whether formal liturgy or intentional living, ritual exists in every culture as a conduit to the Divine beyond our own imagination. Ritual provides an anchor that steadies us in the fluid, often unsettling world of moving beyond the ordinary and expected.
Photo courtesy of artofit.com
In recognition of their membership, current TCS members who register for this retreat will receive a $10 discount coupon, valid until October 15th, 2026, for any purchases made in TCS's e-store.
Explore TCS membership HERE.
ADVANCE NOTICE
Annual General Meeting 2026
of
The Contemplative Society
Thursday 29th October 2026
6:30-8:00pm Pacific Time
To be held via Zoom.
This AGM is open to all members of
The Contemplative Society (TCS).
To renew your membership or to become a member of TCS, explore HERE.
Details on registering in and accessing documentation for AGM 2026 will follow in the October 2026 newsletter.
TCS is a non-profit society and registered charitable organization in Canada run by a volunteer board and a dedicated circle of contemplatives. It was formed in Victoria, BC, Canada in 1997 to serve an emerging contemplative renewal, and to support and spread the teachings of Cynthia Bourgeault and other distinguished Wisdom teachers. We lovingly carry forward this work, adapting to the changing needs of the present and future, while anchoring ourselves in the ancient Wisdom tradition.
We would love for you to join us as a member and to help sustain and build our offerings with a donation of any amount.
Please visit our website to find out more about membership & support options.
Mail: PO Box 23031, Cook St. RPO
Victoria, British Columbia
Canada, V8V 4Z8
E-mail: admin@contemplative.org
Telephone: +1.250.381.9650
Copyright © 2026 - The Contemplative Society. All rights reserved.
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