Spirit Center Retreats

Spirit Center facilitated group retreat offerings.

The Passion of the Earth: An Eco-Spiritual Retreat

With Wendy Weiger

May 3 - 5, 2024
Spirit Center
We humans are part of a vast web of creation that sustains all life. But we’re unraveling the web. We are standing on a cusp. The choices we make will determine the course of our planet for thousands—even millions—of years to come. What will we choose? Will we join in God’s dance of hope, healing, and new creation? Or will we continue down our current path of destruction? We will consider these questions through the lens of the Passion of the Earth, a project of artwork and poetry that integrates scientific and Biblical understanding of the story of our universe. And on the springtime grounds of the monastery, we will rejoice in the miracles of nature that surround us, practicing mindfulness techniques that engage all our senses, deepening our personal connection with the Earth.

Living as a Monk in Everyday Life: Final

May 6 - 12, 2024

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 […]

Contemplative Photography

With Julie Ferraro, Obl.S.B.

May 24 - 26, 2024
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude

With modern cell phones able to take photos, anyone can snap pictures. What, though, do we see in those photos? This retreat will offer participants an opportunity to see – and photograph – the natural surroundings at the monastery and other sights, while contemplating the purpose of those efforts, the results, and how the spiritual […]

Rooted

With Sr. Elisa Martinez, OSB

May 31 - June 2, 2024
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
Benedictine stability is a vow to live in a particular place and with particular people for life. It is a commitment to meet challenging times with courage and steadfastness. In truth, we are all called to an "emotional stability which is the attitude of the heart that brings us to learn from life, rather than bolt from its strings" (Joan Chittister). When we rush from place to place, job to job, relationship to relationship we remain forever on the surface of life. When we put down roots we find time. We learn about ourselves and others. We grow emotionally, spiritually, and communally.

Come to the Quiet

With Spirituality Ministry Team

June 7 - 14, 2024
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 […]

Exploring Nature's Gifts

With Sr. Carlotta Fontes, OSB

June 27 - 30, 2024
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.

Forgiveness

With Terese Luikens

July 9 - 11, 2024
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
Has a person or an event of the past shattered your hope for the future? In the aftermath of a traumatic event, emotional stability is challenging. Ignoring trauma or loss never makes the pain go away. Silence only adds to the pain. Recovering from such an event may include coming to terms with one’s own anger, blame, and resentment. A liberal dose of forgiveness is what our wounds cry out for. Where there is forgiveness, there is healing. In truth, when someone hurts you, forgiving them helps YOU heal.

Faithful

With Sr. Meg Sass, OSB

July 12 - 14, 2024
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
We must remain faithful to a goal. To THE goal. In this retreat, we will explore why fidelity is important and what fidelity means when circumstances change. We will explore how we have experienced difficulties and where we might find blessings in those difficulties. We will notice when we have been faithful and when we have not. We will listen for where we are called to be faithful now and in the future. We will learn what it means to be an adult Christian.

Journaling: The Sanctuary of the Heart

With Cheryl Johnson and Tim Oberholzer

July 15 - 19, 2024
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude

What is sacred space?  How do you enter it?  What are you being invited into?  How will you greet the Divine shining through this transparent world? 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 […]

A Sip of Silence

With Spirituality Ministry Team

July 26 - 28, 2024
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.

Body Prayer

With Julie Ann Horras and Meredith Robbins

August 16 - 18, 2024
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
Body Prayer retreat will satisfy your need for peaceful solitude at the beautiful Center for Benedictine Life and give opportunity to experience a fulfilling way to pray with your whole BEING!

Redefining Retirement: A Spiritual Practice

With Sr. Barbara Jean Glodowski, OSB

October 22 - 24, 2024
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 5 - 7, 2024
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, […]

Don't Tell Me What To Do

With Tim Oberholzer

November 15 - 17, 2024
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
People often share that they would be a good fit for monastic life, "if it wasn't for that obedience thing." What is "that obedience thing?" Why is obedience considered onerous? What about "blind obedience?" Isn't that equally problematic? Where is the virtue in obedience? Let's find out together. For St. Benedict, obedience is much more than “doing what someone tells you to do.” We will consider Benedictine obedience as listening, gift, and spontaneity. We will also look at the motivations for (or against) obedience. In the Rule, Benedict offers fear, desire, love, and conversion as motives for obedience.

Come to the Quiet

With Spirituality Ministry Team

June 13 - 20, 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.

Exploring Nature's Gifts

With Sr. Carlotta Fontes, OSB

June 26 - 29, 2025
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.

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.

Spirituality and The Arts - Placeholder

August 8 - 10, 2025

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 […]

Iconography II

September 11 - 17, 2025
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
"Holy icons direct us toward the Divine." Fr. Damian Higgins is an iconographer whose works are featured around the world. Don't miss this encounter with sacred Christian art using traditional egg tempera. Materials provided; no experience is necessary.

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.

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 11 - 13, 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, […]