Spirit Center Retreats
Spirit Center facilitated group retreat offerings.
Discovering Your Soul Potential: A Retreat on the Breakthrough Enneagram
With Sr. Barbara Jean Glodowski, OSB
April 21 - 23, 2026
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
The Enneagram is a spiritual wisdom tradition that was widely used by the desert Elders of the Christian church along with mystics and theologians who lived during the first five centuries AD.
The Hurley/Dobson Breakthrough Enneagram Retreat is a refreshingly new and easy way to learn the Enneagram. It presents the Enneagram in the simple language of thinking, feeling, and doing, which are the three centers of intelligence we use every day. It answers the age-old question, “why do people do what they do?”
It accomplishes this goal by describing nine personality styles. It also reveals what a person can do to overcome the limitations of the type, making the system positive, hopeful, and immediately applicable to daily life. It is a tool to help you on the path of Spiritual Transformation.
Deepening Our Spirituality with Mindfulness
With Gail Stearns
May 8 - 10, 2026
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
Ancient spiritual wisdom and current science are showing we can actually shift the way our brains work, to experience less reactivity toward greater calm and purpose. When we combine mindfulness tools with spiritual, contemplative practice, we can experience this transformation in a beautiful way.
Using our Yoga Practice to Celebrate the Joys of Summer
With Kay Totten
June 12 - 14, 2026
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
We will explore the themes of purity, contentment, self-discipline, self-study, and devotion to our spiritual journey during the retreat weekend. I’m excited to announce that I will be joined by 2 amazing yoga teachers who will now be part of the “team” that will provide you with a safe and yet challenging space to rest, […]
Exploring Nature's Gifts 2026
With Sr. Carlotta Fontes, OSB
June 25 - 28, 2026
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
“Our backyard is an abundant source of God’s gift of healing plants to us.” Discover what ancient herbal wisdom has to show us today. Learn how to identify and harvest herbs in order to make herbal teas, salves, and more. The retreat activities will take participants onto the Monastery of St. Gertrude hillside for hands-on experience.
Come to the Quiet
With Retreat Team
July 17 - 24, 2026
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
Relax in God's presence, surrounded by natural beauty and supported by a praying community. Experience a week of silence for your heart, soul, mind, and body. Let go and listen deeply. Come To The Quiet retreatants stay in a private room with a private bathroom, receive three meals a day, and access all of Spirit […]
Experiencing Creation as CREATION
With Mary Litch
August 9 - 14, 2026
Spirit Center
This outdoor-focused retreat aims to give participants the experience of God’s presence in the
natural world. The retreat journey starts by introducing Franciscan (Catholic) theology, which
emphasizes God’s immanence in the world. From there, we use a variety of indoor and outdoor
exercises to build an attitude of gratitude for and mindfulness of the natural world, culminating
in an outdoor exercise that leads participants to “step into Creation.” On the final retreat day,
we use exercises based on Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si, to
examine the implications of God’s immanence in Creation on our actions.
The Letter : An Intimate Pilgrimage
With Cheryl Johnson and Tim Oberholzer
October 27 - 31, 2026
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
On this pilgrimage we will accompany each other on this personal road to Emmaus. We will begin by finding one “person” (family member, friend, colleague, Saint, God, pet, tree, animal, house, strangers within and without, etc) with whom we will explore on pilgrimage. We will address our letters to this person. By the end of our pilgrimage, each retreatant will leave with a stack of letters. Perhaps, ready for mailing or for storing or for continuing the journey. Each day we will explore a variety of ways to write these letters--expressing gratitude, forgiveness, discord, healing—whatever surfaces and asks for attention.