Spirit Center Retreats

Spirit Center facilitated group retreat offerings.

Journaling: The Sanctuary of the Heart

With Cheryl Johnson and Tim Oberholzer

May 19 - 23, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
The Center for Benedictine Life at the Monastery of St. Gertrude welcomes the monastery of your heart.  Here, the quest within and the world without join hands.  Prompts of the Spirit and their counterparts in key moments, find a voice in the sanctuary of your journal, the sanctuary of the heart.  Journaling, Joan Chittister says, is an “x-ray of your soul.”  It gets beneath our facades to the bone, blood, tissue, and the spiritual depths they house.  Journals are intimate explorings of the pain and beauty hidden in our exterior and interior landscapes.

Come to the Quiet

With Spirituality Ministry Team

May 30 - June 6, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude

Come away for a silent, individually directed retreat with optional faith sharing, creative expression, body prayer, and ritual. Relax in God's presence, surrounded by natural beauty and supported by a praying community.

Mappa Divina

With Heather Berndt

June 20 - 22, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
Mappa Divina© offers a creative and contemplative process to help you reconnect with your soul’s path as you navigate the threshold of life’s second half.

The Gift of Nature

With Sr. Carlotta Fontes, OSB

June 26 - 29, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
The vast expanse of the Monastery grounds and hills offer an opportunity to savor the beauty of God's creation and to learn about the many plants that can be used for medicinal purposes.

Not Your Grandma's Bible Study: Creative Approaches to Scripture

With Sr. Teresa Jackson, OSB

July 11 - 13, 2025
Spirit center
We will approach Scripture through reflection, and imagination, with our heart and a willingness to be stretched while taking it seriously as the Word of God.  There are many ways to engage with this life-changing book and we’ll try several.  Come and experience the Bible like you never have before.  No experience needed.

A Sip of Silence

With Spirituality Ministry Team

July 25 - 27, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude

For those unsure about drinking a full cup of silence or not able to schedule a longer time, this retreat provides a shorter version of our "Come to the Quiet" retreats. A dipper of silence may deepen your thirst for more.

Yoga as a Tool to Invite Ourselves Into the Gifts of Summer

With Kay Totten

July 25 - 27, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude

We will explore the unique gifts of summer (light, growth, arrival, flow, and balance) through the practice of yoga.  Yoga is a form of body prayer rich with possibilities that are far beyond the physical realm.  All levels welcome.

Hope-Filled in a Wounded and Polarized World

With Sr. Betty Schumacher

August 8 - 10, 2025
Spirit Center
"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness."  Desmond Tutu How do we live with hope in a world that is wounded, broken, chaotic and polarized?  Our culture and society continue to tell stories to justify the sufferings and injustice that many are experiencing today. We have an opportunity to re-tell the stories from another perspective that offers hope to our world.

Emotional Healing Through Forgiveness

With Terese Luikens

August 22 - 24, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude's
Has a person or an event emotionally shattered you?  A liberal dose of forgiveness is what our wounds need.  Where there is forgiveness, there is healing.  In truth, when someone hurts you, forgiveness helps you to heal.

Living as a Monk in Everyday Life: A Benedictine Spirituality Cohort

With Sr. Teresa Jackson, OSB

August 25 - 31, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude

Many people today are discovering a deep hunger for God at their core.  The ancient Benedictine monastic tradition is a way of life designed to help people live a life focused on God. In this nine-month program, we will focus on how ordinary people can integrate Benedictine monastic prayer, values and structures into their lives […]

Introduction to Centering Prayer

With Donna Kreiensieck and Marti Taylor

September 5 - 7, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
This retreat will provide the background and fundamentals of Centering Prayer and teach how to develop a continuing practice.

A Watercolor Journey II

With Pearl Maxner

September 23 - 25, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude

Take the next step toward becoming a confident watercolorist. Revisit the techniques learned in "A Watercolor Journey" and move forward to new skills. Any beginner class will serve as a prerequisite for this retreat. All materials provided.

Introduction to Centering Prayer

With Donna Kreiensieck and Marti Taylor

September 26 - 28, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude

Experience a contemplative prayer form that has the potential to transform your spiritual life. This introductory retreat will provide the background and fundamentals of Centering Prayer and teach how to develop a continuing practice.

Iconography II

With Kara Gillette

September 26 - October 2, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude

Redefining Retirement: A Spiritual Practice

With Sr. Barbara Jean Glodowski, OSB

October 21 - 23, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude

Whether already retired or preparing for retirement, you can redefine the way you live into the second half of your life through an examination of the wisdom of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Richard Johnson and the values of Benedictine spirituality. Explore the challenge with others on the journey.

An Attitude of Gratitude Yoga Retreat

With Kay Totten

November 7 - 9, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude

November is a month when we naturally think of GRATITUDE as we near the time of Thanksgiving and the culmination of our summer and fall season activities.  This Yoga retreat will focus on our deep inner need to begin each day with an ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE using the key themes of:  LIGHT, WARMTH, ENDINGS, RESILIENCE, […]