Category: Events

As we prepare ourselves to enter the season of Lent, please consider yourself thoroughly invited to join with us this Sunday evening at 6:30pm, to take part in the liturgy of the Contemplative Eucharist at 15 Francis St, Darlinghurst.

The intent of the readings across these weeks that lead into Lent circle around the characteristics of the Holy Spirit, as encountered in both orthodox and heterodox scriptures, and indeed, in our own still moments, where we might attune closely to our senses, and realise more deeply the treasures of quiet contemplation.

Wisdom, sanctification and the purifying fire of love are the qualities which we are graced to witness in every encounter, in every breathing moment where we presence the divine energy of the Trinity, described in orthodoxy as the unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, recognised perhaps as the hypostasis (unified essence) of the Invisible One, Christ and Barbelo in apocryphal sources, particularly in the Apocryphon of John.

As the readings call us to partake in the intermingling of Sophia, wisdom, with Barbelo, the first thought, so too are you deeply welcomed to come and share with us in the Contemplative Liturgy, led by Reverend Tim Mansfield, to renew and invigorate the subtle, still presences of each of these qualities that are indeed with us in every moment, every hour, every encounter, with each other.

Readings:

The Holy Spirit As Sanctifier
http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/lect023.htm

The Apocryphon of John
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn.html

Contemplative Eucharist – 6:30pm
The service this Sunday will be the Contemplative Liturgy, written by our very own Reverend Tim Mansfield. The service alternates engagement and stillness, provoking a meditative attitude and the cultivation of deeper perceptions. The service features prayer and contemplative practice, including a period of silent meditation, as well as sharing of the Body and the Blood, in the form of bread and wine.

We follow the service with some conversation, hot drinks and snacks. Please come along and join the discussions, sharing in fellowship and hospitality.

Trish Nowland

Please come join us on Sunday 12th December, as we gather together to engage in contemplative practice, blended with liturgy.

The Contemplative Eucharist takes the essentials of eucharistic celebration, and intertwines the contemplative practice of centering prayer, allowing that we might still our mind, and attend to our heart, and engage more deeply with the sacramental mystery always present in communion.

In this third week of Advent, we're invited to recognise the coming of the messenger, to set aside our ordinary mundane concerns to allow the joy and bliss of the celebrations of the coming of the Light to arise and be present within our awareness.

As we read in the introduction of the Secret Book of John:

"A little child appeared before me in the light.
 I continued looking at him as he became an old man
 And then he changed again, becoming like a young man.

I didn't understand what I was seeing,
But the one likeness had several forms in the light,
And these likenesses appeared each through the other
And the vision had three forms."

Source:
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn-davies.html

We understand that many layers may be present or 'seen', in our each moment, but that we might attend to them more closely and understand the mystery contained within, a little more deeply.

The Contemplative Eucharist graces us with an opportunity in this time of preparation for the coming of the light, of Christmas, to engage with more presence in the practice of contemplation, seeking to enrich our understanding of that Divine transformation which we celebrate, the coming of a change herebefore unknown on earth, that which is the celebration of the birth of Christ, in the Christmas feast. 

Service – 6:30pm
The service this Sunday will be the "Contemplative Liturgy", written by our very own Reverend Tim Mansfield. The service alternates engagement and stillness, provoking a meditative attitude and the cultivation of deeper perceptions. The service features prayer and contemplative practice, including a period of silent meditation, as well as sharing of the Body and the Blood, in the form of bread and wine.

We follow the service with some conversation, hot drinks and snacks. Pleas come along and join the discussions, sharing in fellowship and hospitality.