Presented by Br. Mark D’Alessio
Mary Oliver’s poetry has been a source of inspiration for many on the spiritual path. Join us for quiet day where we will contemplatively spend time exploring Oliver’s invitations to poetry as spiritual practice. Using Devotions: The Selected Poems, we will pray and meditate, journal, and practice lectio and visio divina with some of her most essential poems. Join Br. Mark to explore the mystery, grace and sacred wholeness we share in common as Oliver’s poetry invites us into a space that one of her poems calls “the doorway/into thanks, and a silence in which/another voice may speak.” In what is perhaps her most famous poem, Oliver encourages us with “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Discover the relevance of Oliver’s poetry to see the world in a simpler and more thoughtful way, leading us to find a sense of the world’s wonders and mysteries as gifts to be inspired by and savored.
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The Rt. Rev. Br. Mark D’Alessio is a Franciscan friar in the new religious society of the Companions of Francis and Clare. He’s also a interspiritual Christian bishop and priest, spiritual director, chaplain, retreat leader, author, and past President and Executive Director of the Psychotherapy & Spirituality Institute which draws together the inspiration of the church with the wisdom of psychological care.
As a Franciscan, he’s committed to serving those who are sidelined, most vulnerable and at risk. Last year, the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless awarded him with their “Unsung Hero” Award for his ministry as a crisis counselor and program coordinator at a shelter for men and women who are homeless and as a chaplain at a residential treatment center and school for children with learning and emotional disabilities.
A long-time seeker and practitioner of spiritual wisdom, he’s initiated into multiple spiritual lineages, both East (Buddhist) and West (Christian); does his best to affirm the Christian Wisdom tradition within a wider inter-spiritual framework; and, looks to God’s science and spiritual heroes (such as Thích Nhat Hanh and Francis and Clare of Assisi) as sources of inspiration and hope.
Br. Mark is a graduate of the Guild for Spiritual Guidance, founded by Henri Nouwen and Madeline L’Engle, where he is currently a faculty member and community leader. He's also a faculty member at All Faiths Seminary International for the training of interfaith ministers.