Opening people to encounter and experience the Divine in everyday life through workshops, communities, facilitation, teaching, spiritual direction/companioning, supervision and other resources. Focused on seekers pursuing the path of Christian Contemplative Spirituality.
In addition to the resources available at this site, In Via Lumen offers services to groups and to individuals on their spiritual journey. You can find out more about these services on the Assistance and Contact page.
In addition to the resources available at this site, In Via Lumen offers services to groups and to individuals on their spiritual journey. You can find out more about these services on the Assistance and Contact page.
Current Highlights: - updated on 9/2/2024
View our latest email announcement!
We're updating our list of programs for the upcoming season, continue to watch this space for additional listings!
View our latest email announcement!
We're updating our list of programs for the upcoming season, continue to watch this space for additional listings!
Here's a current list of programs for summer and early fall:
September 2024:
September 17, 24, October 1, 8, 2024 Spiritual Growth and Healing with BioSpiritual Focusing with Nancy Benben and Mike Smoolca, Thursdays 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. (Online via Zoom)
Saturday, September 21, 2024: Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop with Frank Pendola or Mike Smoolca, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107 and via Zoom
Saturday, September 21, 2024: Contemplating Our Sacred Story – Merton and Me, A Living Trinity, Performance, Dinner and Spiritual Desserts! with Douglas Hertler, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107 (in-person only). This program is presented in cooperation with the North Central CT Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society.
October 2024:
October 4-6, 2024: Coming Full Circle: A Contemplative Enneagram Soul Journey with Reverend Nhien Vuong, J.D., M.Div, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107
Saturday, October 12, 2024: Abide in Me: Christian Mysticism and the Divine Indwelling with Fr. Justin Lanier and Noel Terranova, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107 and via Zoom
Saturday, October 26, 2024: BioSpiritual Focusing: Day of Presence with BioSpiritual Focusing Leadership Team, Genesis Spiritual Life Center, 53 Mill Street, Westfield, MA 01085
November 2024:
Saturday, November 23, 2024:Beyond Theology: the Interspiritual Wisdom of Roshis, Rebbes, and Holy Rascals with Rabbi Rami Shapiro and Fr. Michael K Holleran, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107 and via Zoom
December 2024:
Saturday, December 7, 2024: Encountering and Deepening into God’s Inspiration: A Lectio-inspired Advent Day of Retreat and Practice with Frank Pendola and Mike Smoolca, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107 and via Zoom
January 2025:
Saturday, January 25, 2025: The Body’s Bridge to the experience of Living in God – Exploring BioSpiritual Focusing in context of BioSpirituality with Donna OConnor and Mike Smoolca, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107 and via Zoom
Our Featured Events list continues to be updated to reflect those events in which In Via Lumen, LLC is involved. More events may be added as time goes on.
September 2024:
September 17, 24, October 1, 8, 2024 Spiritual Growth and Healing with BioSpiritual Focusing with Nancy Benben and Mike Smoolca, Thursdays 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. (Online via Zoom)
Saturday, September 21, 2024: Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop with Frank Pendola or Mike Smoolca, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107 and via Zoom
Saturday, September 21, 2024: Contemplating Our Sacred Story – Merton and Me, A Living Trinity, Performance, Dinner and Spiritual Desserts! with Douglas Hertler, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107 (in-person only). This program is presented in cooperation with the North Central CT Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society.
October 2024:
October 4-6, 2024: Coming Full Circle: A Contemplative Enneagram Soul Journey with Reverend Nhien Vuong, J.D., M.Div, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107
Saturday, October 12, 2024: Abide in Me: Christian Mysticism and the Divine Indwelling with Fr. Justin Lanier and Noel Terranova, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107 and via Zoom
Saturday, October 26, 2024: BioSpiritual Focusing: Day of Presence with BioSpiritual Focusing Leadership Team, Genesis Spiritual Life Center, 53 Mill Street, Westfield, MA 01085
November 2024:
Saturday, November 23, 2024:Beyond Theology: the Interspiritual Wisdom of Roshis, Rebbes, and Holy Rascals with Rabbi Rami Shapiro and Fr. Michael K Holleran, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107 and via Zoom
December 2024:
Saturday, December 7, 2024: Encountering and Deepening into God’s Inspiration: A Lectio-inspired Advent Day of Retreat and Practice with Frank Pendola and Mike Smoolca, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107 and via Zoom
January 2025:
Saturday, January 25, 2025: The Body’s Bridge to the experience of Living in God – Exploring BioSpiritual Focusing in context of BioSpirituality with Donna OConnor and Mike Smoolca, Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT 06107 and via Zoom
Our Featured Events list continues to be updated to reflect those events in which In Via Lumen, LLC is involved. More events may be added as time goes on.
A BioSpiritual Focusing Approach to Supervision for Spiritual Direction
Using BioSpiritual Focusing during spiritual companionship can open the door to new insights and deep noticings of the movement of the Spirit. Using it in the context of peer supervision can be equally powerful. If you are familiar with BioSpiritual Focus and would like to hone your skills within the supportive peer supervision circle, please join facilitators Nancy Benben and Mike Smoolca on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm to 8:00pm, beginning September 10, 2024.
Click here for further information and to request to join the fall group!
Using BioSpiritual Focusing during spiritual companionship can open the door to new insights and deep noticings of the movement of the Spirit. Using it in the context of peer supervision can be equally powerful. If you are familiar with BioSpiritual Focus and would like to hone your skills within the supportive peer supervision circle, please join facilitators Nancy Benben and Mike Smoolca on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm to 8:00pm, beginning September 10, 2024.
Click here for further information and to request to join the fall group!
The two Contemplative study and sharing groups being offered this fall are currently at capacity!
Monday mornings - 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ET - Zoom. A contemplative book study and sharing group focused on Richard Rohr's the wisdom pattern; Order| Disorder | Reorder.
This Contemplative sharing group will explore Richard Rohr's book on the universal cycle found in all aspects of life, including spirituality. This pattern is:
Monday evenings - 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. ET - Zoom. A contemplative study and sharing group on Living Yeshua's Parables.
Using the Jesus seminar as a guide to identify which Canonical and Gospel of Thomas parables are the most likely to be authentic for our consideration, the group will seek their deeper, inner meaning. Using a well-practiced Lectio-process we will share our individual understandings in a group and then reflect and share diverse sources of Commentaries to enhance what we discover about their meaning. Our objective is to become open to seeing from Yeshua's level of Consciousness so we can begin living from it.
These groups will meet on the following Mondays:
Monday mornings - 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ET - Zoom. A contemplative book study and sharing group focused on Richard Rohr's the wisdom pattern; Order| Disorder | Reorder.
This Contemplative sharing group will explore Richard Rohr's book on the universal cycle found in all aspects of life, including spirituality. This pattern is:
- Order: This phase represents stability, structure, and predictability. It’s the familiar state where things make sense and follow established patterns.
- Disorder: In this stage, chaos, disruption, and uncertainty emerge. It challenges our existing beliefs and systems, leading to discomfort and growth.
- Reorder: After navigating disorder, a new order emerges. It’s not a return to the old, but a transformed way of being—a deeper understanding, compassion, and alignment with truth.
Monday evenings - 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. ET - Zoom. A contemplative study and sharing group on Living Yeshua's Parables.
Using the Jesus seminar as a guide to identify which Canonical and Gospel of Thomas parables are the most likely to be authentic for our consideration, the group will seek their deeper, inner meaning. Using a well-practiced Lectio-process we will share our individual understandings in a group and then reflect and share diverse sources of Commentaries to enhance what we discover about their meaning. Our objective is to become open to seeing from Yeshua's level of Consciousness so we can begin living from it.
These groups will meet on the following Mondays:
- September 23, 30
- October 7, 14, 28
- November 4, 11, 18, 25
- December 2
Mike Smoolca continues to offer Thursday evening online Contemplative Prayer meetings on Zoom. These sessions run from 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. and will use the following format:
Participants are encouraged to join the Zoom meeting at 6:45 p.m so that any issues can be resolved in advance and so that the group is able to start on time. Please contact Mike Smoolca via email ([email protected]) directly if you're interested in participating in these sessions!
Please visit the Contemplative Outreach of Connecticut Chapter web site!
I will continue revising the In Via Lumen, LLC web site to stay current with the inspirations of my developing spirituality and areas I'm actively engaged in. -- Mike Smoolca
- Body Scan into Welcoming Prayer
- Video/Audio teaching with Sharing.
- 20 minutes of Centering Prayer
- Scholastic Lectio Divina Practice on an excerpt from the upcoming Sunday Gospel
Participants are encouraged to join the Zoom meeting at 6:45 p.m so that any issues can be resolved in advance and so that the group is able to start on time. Please contact Mike Smoolca via email ([email protected]) directly if you're interested in participating in these sessions!
Please visit the Contemplative Outreach of Connecticut Chapter web site!
I will continue revising the In Via Lumen, LLC web site to stay current with the inspirations of my developing spirituality and areas I'm actively engaged in. -- Mike Smoolca
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Featured Programs
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Thomas Merton
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Of Lasting Interest:
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In the fall of 2021, Mike Smoolca was interviewed by Dr. Kevin Reese for his Inner Peace Podcast. Our conversation just came out and I invite you to listen to it. You can find Kevin's other podcasts here:https://linktr.ee/inner.peace.pod |
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Please visit the web page for the newly forming Farmington Valley League of Light Multifaith Community. This community is a wonderful means of Multifaith solidarity. I'd like to draw your attention to the Contemplative Dialogue page.
I'm keep a running history of the pages I've changed below until the site has been updated to my satisfaction:
Latest Blog Entry finalized on 9/25/2016.
Here's a link to the archived recording of my recent radio interview on: WESU's Reasonably Catholic Radio show.
The Day of Christian Contemplative Reflection on June 11, 2016 sponsored by the Christian Contemplative Prayer groups of Northern CT and being hosted by Holy Family was a wonderfully enriching Contemplative experience exploring the Spirituality of Thomas Merton.
We've completed two years (2014-2015, 2015-2016) of the Contemplative Outreach, Contemplative Formation Program in Central CT. Here are the Community pages for both years:
Community Page for Living Flame 1 Experience
Community Page for Living Flame 2 Experience
In the Summer of 2015 Contemplative Outreach Boston sponsored Contemplative Outreach Centering Prayer Presenter Training offered in the greater Hartford Area. Seven folks were trained over two weekends, since then, 2 of the 7 have become Commissioned Presenters of Centering Prayer.
Here are the final updates on the Second Annual Day of Prayer held on June 6, 2015.
I'm keep a running history of the pages I've changed below until the site has been updated to my satisfaction:
- Reflections (7/7/2018)
Latest Blog Entry finalized on 9/25/2016.
Here's a link to the archived recording of my recent radio interview on: WESU's Reasonably Catholic Radio show.
The Day of Christian Contemplative Reflection on June 11, 2016 sponsored by the Christian Contemplative Prayer groups of Northern CT and being hosted by Holy Family was a wonderfully enriching Contemplative experience exploring the Spirituality of Thomas Merton.
We've completed two years (2014-2015, 2015-2016) of the Contemplative Outreach, Contemplative Formation Program in Central CT. Here are the Community pages for both years:
Community Page for Living Flame 1 Experience
Community Page for Living Flame 2 Experience
In the Summer of 2015 Contemplative Outreach Boston sponsored Contemplative Outreach Centering Prayer Presenter Training offered in the greater Hartford Area. Seven folks were trained over two weekends, since then, 2 of the 7 have become Commissioned Presenters of Centering Prayer.
Here are the final updates on the Second Annual Day of Prayer held on June 6, 2015.