Holy Comforter Lenten Program

Every year during the Lenten season, Holy Comforter offers a Lenten Program that is open to everyone. The Lenten Program is a spiritual program that is divided into five weekly sessions. These sessions are offered on five consecutive Wednesday nights in Lent, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., beginning on the Wednesday night following Ash Wednesday and ending on the Wednesday night before Holy Week. The Lenten Program is organized by a committee of four-a coordinator and three committee members. To permit an infusion of new ideas into the program and to allow for the maximum number of persons to serve, each committee member, except the coordinator, serves for a period of two years. The committee meets approximately three times each year to plan for the Lenten Program. Meetings are conducted both telephoncially and in person.

Lenten Program sessions begins with an opening prayer and a light meal. Following the meal, the discussions begin. The Lenten Program focuses primarily on Bible study, spiritual videos, and personal spiritual reflection. All Lenten Program sessions are led by a facilitator who may be a member of Holy Comforter, another Episcopal church, or a different denomination.

The Bible-study format includes a facilitator, a theme, and pre-selected Biblical passages that are read, discussed, analyzed, and related to modern-day situations. Attendees are frequently divided into small groups. Discussions are lively, with everyone participating.

The Lenten Program video format includes the showing of a video with spiritual themes and issues. The group views the video for half an hour. The facilitator then initiates discussions, in which the group participates. The program ends with a closing prayer at approximately 9:00 p.m.

All are warmly invited to attend the Lenten Program sessions!

Holy Comforter Lenten Retreat

LENTEN RETREAT 2010

Please plan to join us for the annual Holy Comforter Lenten Weekend Retreat in 2010 (Feb. 26-28, 2010) . The Retreat is SILENT. It will be held at Bishop Claggett Center in Buckeystown, Maryland. The cost is approximately $150.00 per person. Please contact the Church at 202-726-1862 for further information.

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READ MORE ABOUT THE LENTEN RETREAT

The Holy Comforter Lenten Retreat is separate from the Holy Comforter Lenten Program. Holy Comforter began its annual Lenten Retreat in 1987 and has held a Lenten Retreat each year, with few exceptions. The period of Lent has traditionally been a great time for deep spiritual reflection. Retreatants take this opportunity to leave home, family, friends, work, and cares behind for one weekend and to seek renewed spiritual growth and rejuvenation. A typical retreat begins with registration from 2:00 to 5:30 p.m. on a Friday afternoon and ends at noon the following Sunday.

Initially, Holy Comforter Lenten Retreats began as non-silent retreats. However, in one of the early years, the retreatants bravely agreed to open themselves to a trail silent retreat. The consensus of all who participated in that first silent retreat was that they gained more spiritually from the silent retreat than they did from the non-silent ones. Consequently, a decision was made to make all future Holy Comforter Lenten Retreats silent.

A silent retreat does not mean absolute silence. Retreatants are free to socialize from the time they enter the retreat facility until evening prayer at 6:00 p.m. on the Friday on which the retreat starts. Silence is observed until the conclusion of Holy Eucharist on the Sunday morning but may be broken for exigent circumstances and for participation in the retreat program.

The daily retreat program is led by a retreat conductor and includes a number of spiritual sessions (which may provide for verbal group interaction), formal morning prayer, noonday prayers, evening prayer, and compline. Holy Eucharist is celebrated early on Sunday morning, the last day of the retreat. Retreatants assist in all religious activities, from conducting formal prayers and compline to reading psalms and scripture lessons. Members of the altar guild prepare a temporary altar for the Eucharist. Inspirational short stories are read by retreatants during meals. The retreat schedule permits an ample amount of free time for breaks, which retreatants may utilize for quiet walks, rest, reading, pastoral conferences, and individual spiritual reflection.

Consistent with the purposes of a silent spiritual retreat (rest, spiritual reflection and rejuvenation, peace, and a respite from daily cares), retreats are held, to the extent possible, away from the immediate Washington, D.C. area. Also, retreatants are discouraged from using radios, televisions, telephones, and newspapers during the retreat. Some spiritual reading materials are provided for retreatants. However, retreatants may also bring their own reading material.