*Retreat is for Clergy (Priests & Deacons) only*
The day includes divine services according to the monastery schedule, two, 1.5 hour sessions with Fr. David Alexander, & breakfast, lunch & dinner provided. Please see below for a description of the retreat! Please contact Christopher Messenger if you have any questions at: manager@stmpress.com
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1. The “Hypostatic Interchange” as a Foundation for Pastoral Work
2. The Development of Hypostatic Interchange within the Three Stages of Spiritual
Life
3. The Second Stage as “Hypostatic Arena” for the Shepherd and the Flock
4. The Awakening of “the Two-Fold Vision” in the Hypostatic Mode
5. The Parallel Tasks of “Turning” and “Supporting the Turn” in the Hypostatic Mode
6. “Leaping into the Hands of God”: a Central Hypostatic Vision for the Shepherd
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Awakening, Turning and Leaping is a retreat for clergy centered on the dynamics of
shepherding in the Hypostatic Mode. Drawing from the spiritual vision of Saint Sophrony and some of his spiritual children, the retreat explores pastoral work as a continuous parallel encounter of “self-offering” and “other-reception” between Christ-as-Great-Shepherd, Clergymen-as-Shepherds, and the Sheep of the Faithful, cycling and ever-transforming throughout the Stages of Spiritual Life.
Together, participants will reflect on the “Hypostatic Interchange” as a foundation for
shepherding, the development of Personhood through the Three Stages of Spiritual
Life, and the unique challenges and possibilities of the Second Stage as a shared
“Hypostatic Arena” for both shepherd and flock. Special attention will be given to the
awakening of the “Two-Fold Vision” in pastoral life and the parallel work of “turning” and “supporting the turn” within adversity and spiritual struggle. The retreat culminates in reflecting on a central vision for the shepherd: the continuous
and climactic call for both he and those under his care to “Leap into the Hands of God.”
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Father David Alexander is an Archpriest of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. He is a graduate of Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary and holds a Ph.D. in Refugee Care from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. At Essex he studied under Professor Renos Papadopoulos and Hieromonk Nikolai Sakharov.
