Women's struggle to enjoy full voice and respect within the churches continues despite the remarkable contributions of women's scholarship and contemplative gifts. Women encounter resistance to their theological, liturgical, ministerial and contemplative gifts. In our time together, we will drink deeply from the well of the women's mystical tradition discovering their strategies for securing the authority to teach and minister to the people of God. We will explore their historical contexts, their key teachings and experiment with some of their mystical practices. The women we will learn from are: Gertrude the Great of Helfta, Julian of Norwich, Hadewijch of Brabant and Dorothee Soelle.

Location: Maryknoll, NY

Program Instructor: Janet K. Ruffing, RSM
Janet K. Ruffing, RSM, is Professor of the Practice of Spirituality and Ministerial Leadership at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, CT, and Professor Emerita in Spirituality and Spiritual Direction at Fordham University (1986-2009). She is the author of more than ninety articles and of five books, most recently To Tell the Sacred Tale: Spiritual Direction and Narrative (Paulist, 2011). She lectures and gives workshops internationally.

http://www.maryknollsisters.org/maryknoll-mission-institute