Retreats - Any Suggestions?

[Quaere_Verum]

What retreats are recommended for someone for is looking for an internal spiritual experience, not necessarilly an external feel good experience? Are there some retreats based on the spirituality of St. Ignatius or some silence retreats? Others?

 

[daughterofmary]

Maybe you could find something here that interests you: mileschristi.org/en/activities/

If you are female maybe a retreat with the Sisters of Bethlehem?
phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=56995&hl=retreat

Here is a list of retreat centers that may be of interest to you. Some are just for females, but there are some others that are for guys and gals. Check it out. phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=63681&hl=retreat

And if you are a female then I really suggest the desert experience offered by the Visitation nuns in Mobile, Alabama. I will be doing a silent retreat with them next month and they are amazing visitationmonasterymobile.org/HTMLcode/Desert.htm

I said a prayer for you that you find a good place to go! God bless you!

EDIT: I believe the Visitation nuns though do have like a retreat center or something on the property that is offered for men and women. The desert experience is unique though because one stays in the cloister with the nuns.

 

[KCT]

If there are any Legionaries near you, they offer Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. It’s a deep, challenging weekend.
—KCT

 

[Ricardothere]

I would bring a bible, a rosary and this book…

stpauls.com.au/publications/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=SEVLESPRA&PHPSESSID=6edca456b6cb2bb3996f9f5ec1f4d4ad

   JMJ,

      Ricardo

 

[daughterofmary]

Reading back over it I did not make it clear. All of those retreats I mentioned are silent retreats except the activities offered by Miles Christi. They offer a lot of things based on the spirituality of St. Ignatius.

 

[anon49823460]

Give www.findthedivine.com a look

 

[CapaxDei]

If you are female maybe a retreat with the Sisters of Bethlehem?
phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=56995&hl=retreat

The Monastic Family of Bethlehem of the Assumption of the Virgin and of St. Bruno is composed of communities of both men and women. You do not need to be a woman to go on retreat at one of their monasteries.

At the beginning of this month I completed a six-day silent, eremitic retreat at their monastery in the Catskills (Livingston Manor, New York, Archdiocese of New York).

In fact, when I was there, most of the other retreatants were middle-aged men. One was a priest.

If anyone wants contact details, PM me.

 

[PhilotheaZ]

For a good directed retreat, there are several to choose from at Casa Maria in Birmingham, AL (not far from EWTN). Their website is at casamaria.org/ .

For a private retreat, I would recommend the Passionist nuns in Whitesville, KY: passionistnuns.org/ . You can attend daily Mass and Liturgy of the Hours with the nuns, and one of the sisters is experienced with spiritual direction. Their chaplain is available for confession on request. A beautiful, peaceful place.

Both these retreat houses are trustworthy — you won’t find any questionable, New Age practices.

 

[daughterofmary]

The Monastic Family of Bethlehem of the Assumption of the Virgin and of St. Bruno is composed of communities of both men and women. You do not need to be a woman to go on retreat at one of their monasteries.

At the beginning of this month I completed a six-day silent, eremitic retreat at their monastery in the Catskills (Livingston Manor, New York, Archdiocese of New York).

In fact, when I was there, most of the other retreatants were middle-aged men. One was a priest.

If anyone wants contact details, PM me.

Thank you. I wasn’t aware. I heard the retreats were WONDERFUL though. It is great I was wrong. Men and women can go on them.

 

[Quaere_Verum]

All of these sound like wonderful spiritually deep experiences. What do you know of the ACTS retreat which seems to be the most popular where I’m at?

 

[daughterofmary]

I have never heard of them, but I googled them and found this:

saintclare-houston.org/ACTS/acts_faq.pdf

actsrf.org/ : official website, I believe.

It explains a bit about what they are.

I think it would all depend on who the group is who is holding the retreat. If you know them to be orthodox men/women then I am sure the retreat would be a wonderful experience seeing as they are the ones giving the talks and leading the entire thing. It doesn’t seem as though you will get a lot of alone time though. I have never been on one and this is the first time I have heard of it. Perhaps I am wrong, but it does seem from the websites that the retreat focuses a lot on community. I went on a retreat much like the one mentioned above with talks and adoration. It was a good and blessed experience. It focused a lot on bringing people together and bringing them closer to Christ. It was pretty much a “give your life to Christ” retreat. Wonderful, yes. I think it all depends on who the group of people are who are offering it. In my case, the group was led by a guy who was very orthodox. He gave some nice talks and he understood the importance of silence. For about an hour or so everyone was silent and he gave all a chance to be alone with God. It was nice. The point is though, if you have someone like that running the retreat it could be an awesome experience. If not, it may not be that great. Just see if you can get to know the person running it before you go. It will probably give you a better idea as to if you want to go or not.

It could be a great experience for you.

If you are looking for a silent retreat in your area but can’t seem to find one try contacting a local monastery if there is one and if you haven’t already. They may be able to help you.

 

[baltobetsy]

An Opus Dei retreat is reliably orthodox, mostly silent - a wonderful experience. Find one near you by clicking on “contact us” at the Opus Dei website. Send them an email with your location and they will reply with the nearest retreat center to you.

Betsy

 

[Barzillai]

Here is a list of lists of spiritual retreat centers. Some of the links have been given above as well.

Many monasteries welcome guests and/or have retreat programs.

Welcoming visitors as Christ is part of the Rule of St. Benedict (Chapter 53). The person responsible for 1) guests and 2) retreats is often called the Guestmaster at Benedictine monasteries.

I have had experience with only one monastery, but I think that many monasteries have flexible and accommodating approaches to being a guest or attending a retreat.

Fall is here, it’s a great time for a guest visit or retreat at a monastery.

You might find a place right near you in the following list of lists.

1. Benedictine Retreat Centers

2. Catholiclinks.org

3. Order of Saint Benedict Retreat Centers

4. RetreatFinder.com — List of Benedictine Retreats

1. Lists of religious orders. You might also find more — out of the way — retreats by finding a monastery or group near where you live by using this alternate list:

Order of St. Benedict Confederation, or
Anglican Benedictines, or
Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona, or
The Carthusians (hermits), or
The Cistercians and Trappists, or
The Friends of St. Benedict, or
The Lay Community of Saint Benedict, or
Orthodox Monasteries and Monasticism

1. The wider circle of spiritual retreats. If your circle of interests extends beyond the Catholic or religious, you might find a spiritual retreat at “Find the Divine” which has a large list of other forms of spiritual retreats as well. My wife and I can trace our path to becoming Benedictine oblates through some private retreats we planned on our own at nonreligious places of tranquility.