"I would never have believed that by doing nothing I could feel so intensely a supporting ground. "I was irritated and at the same time fascinated by the fact that there were almost no guidelines or hints. I was free" - Voices during the evaluation of the contemplative practice days at the church of the Jesuits Saint Peter in the centre of Cologne. During the last week of each summer holiday, this parish church, which is special because of its consistently contemporary profile, takes spiritual time out during the day: Five days of meditation from 9 to 17 o'clock. The practice is to do nothing, think nothing, let go and let yourself fall in time in order to be present in the present.

The paradoxically formulated call for "Retreat from the City in the City - retreat from the city in the city" brings together a dozen men and women, who trace the silence in the church space, which has been spiritually shaped for more than 1000 years. Participants are by no means limited to the circle of the congregation: a woman with two growing children, who consciously allows herself an experience of silence and, thanks to the holidays, only takes time for her family in the evening. Or the administrative employee who uses his first week of holiday to take a break to find out what life has in store for him. Some want to pray more intensively, others want to explore their relationship with the church in the face of the crises. All are united by a sense that there is a depth dimension to everyday life in the city, with its demands and deadlines, which is seldom found in the hectic pace of everyday life. Distance from the hustle and bustle often helps to get a better idea of this hidden foundation. But not everyone can go to a different place or even to a conference or retreat centre. That is why the Saint Peter Art Station offers such days of contemplation. They stand in the tradition of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius "as easy exercises in everyday life". Right in the heart of Cologne they want to set an accent as a combination of retreats in everyday life or on the street.

At a deliberate distance from the so-called normal life of the cities with their speed, these days of contemplation without telephone and internet are a time of mere existence. The largely empty church room, in its openness, offers the place for seven mediation sessions in silence, each lasting 40 minutes, and 20 minutes of relaxation while walking. At midday a simple meal is nourished, prepared as part of the exercise. Physical exercises and accompanying conversation are also included. In the evening, there is an invitation to a simple Eucharistic celebration.

This kind of retreat from the city in the middle of the city is not an escape from the challenges of reality. Being in the now allows us to perceive reality as it is in an intense way. In the silence I learn to perceive both more attentively, the basic melody of my life and the background noise of the city's hustle and bustle. The place of the retreat is not on a greenfield site, but within walking distance of one of Germany's busiest shopping streets, and in the courtyard by the church there is a mobile drug counselling centre. When I approach these places in the basic attitude of quiet collection and presence and let the realities come to me, they move. In all this I sense a reason that carries and lasts. Patient existence in the present enables the practitioner to touch holy ground and to feel the secret of the divine name in the present: "I am who I am here".

Stephan Kessler S.J.