This silent Contemplative Retreat with individual guidance provides a step-by-step introduction to the Gries Path of Prayer developed by Fr Franz Jalics SJ. For those familiar with this form of contemplative prayer, the retreat offers the opportunity to refresh and to deepen it. Fr Jalics SJ, in 1984 established Haus Gries Spirituality Centre in Germany to develop a particular style of contemplative retreat/school for meditation rooted in his own experience of contemplative praying and living. Over almost forty years, the retreats have spread across the world. Since 2015, the retreat has been offered in the UK - at St. Augustine’s Priory, House of Prayer, Old Colwyn, The Monastery of Our Lady and St Bernard, Brownshill, Stroud as well as St Rita’s. With the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, the retreat is also being offered online in different forms. The team, led by Paddy Rylands, has been offering this retreat residentially since 2015.
Fr. Jalics’ publications include: The Contemplative Way – Quietly savouring God’s Presence and Contemplative Retreat. An Introduction to the Contemplative Way of Life and to the Jesus Prayer.
There are many paths to contemplation. I show you just one of them. I’m conscious of the fact that God leads many people to contemplation without any external help. Frequently he uses natural circumstances. A simple life of love, some years on a sickbed, a brush with death, the leaving of one’s homeland in order to live among the poor, and other events can lead to contemplation. I also deeply respect the non-Christian ways of contemplation. And there are in the Catholic Church itself many other introductions into contemplation. I do not want to exalt my way above others. On the contrary, I am very happy that they exist, and I appreciate them. I myself have walked the way I describe, and should it help someone else to find his or her way I am satisfied. Franz Jalics. Contemplative Retreat. P 6.
