MYSTCS OF LIGHT & DARKNESS 2022

If the event is listed as "Sold Out" please contact us for real-time availability and waiting list.

MYSTICS OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS: The Christian Paths of Apophatic and Kataphatic Prayer 

Friday, December 9 – Sunday, December 11, 2022

In this workshop we will study the interrelationship between the traditional Christian contemplative paths of apophatic (imageless, simple, "dazzling dark") prayer and kataphatic (image-filled, complex,"bright") prayer. We will reflect on these two "ways" in the writings of their principal exponents, including Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius the Areopagite, and Gregory Palamas. 

Fr. Luke Dysinger has been a monk of Valyermo since 1976. He is a priest and a physician who writes and teaches in the fields of mystical theology and biomedical ethics. He received a D.Phil. in patristics at Oxford University and is professor of church history and moral theology at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, CA. 

St. Andrew's Abbey Retreat Office

Phone: (661) 944-2178

Email: retreats@valyermo.com

Office hours:

8:30am-5:00pm

(Closed for Mass and lunch 11:45am-1:30pm)