Learn By Doing
Our retreats and programs go beyond good teaching. When you join us, you will be invited to enter into experiences to discover or deepen your spiritual practice—and bring it into your daily life.
Registration is now open
Journey Through Lent
Come join us during Holy Week as we explore the Passion of Jesus. This is the holiest week in the Christian year. It is a time to ponder who this Jesus is and why this tragic ending to his life. Through the use of a variety of different prayer styles we will walk with Jesus from his experience of the Last Supper to his being laid in the tomb. Who were the people who stood by him? Would you have been one of them?
Facilitated by: Pat Lawlor
Date: 2 identical sessions to choose from: Monday April 3, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. or Wednesday April 5, 2:00 - 4:00 pm.
Cost: $20
Follow up Session:
Journey Through Easter: The Paschal Mystery
Join us as we enter into the Easter Season through an exploration of the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Through art, storytelling, reflection and prayer we will enter into the mystery of God’s continual involvement in this world through his Son. What are the challenges for humanity today when we profess that Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again? Where do we find this reality in our own lives and in the world today?
Facilitated by: Pat Lawlor
Date: 2 identical sessions to choose from: Monday April 24, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. or Wednesday April 26, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $20
Walking in Their Footsteps: The Journey to Sainthood
Each session of this monthly program will take a more in-depth look at the life and work of one of these holy role models. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about a lesser recognized saint, or a different perspective on someone you thought you knew. Every month will be enlightening. More information on the subject of the month will be featured as each session approaches.
March:
Saints of Mercy and Justice -- This session in the series will draw on the church’s teaching on the Communion of Saints. Through prayer, presentation, reflection and sharing those participating will learn more about some 20th and 21st century Saints and saints of the Americas. Participants will also be invited to reflect on a special saint in her/his life who reflects/reflected the virtues of mercy and justice.
Facilitated by: Giovina Caroscio
April:
St. Hildegard of Bingen
St. Hildegard of Bingen was one of the most remarkable women of the Middle Ages. She has been called “a herald of the divine feminine, a church reformer, a green prophet, a critic of patriarchy.” She is a doctor of the Roman Catholic Church, a mystic, a writer, a composer, a healer and more. Come learn more about this Benedictine nun and abbess, hear her music and see the artwork of her visions.
Facilitated by: Jane Sutter Brandt
May
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta
A woman of and for our time. 'Mother' was her religious title, but as she ascended to the world stage, it became her role for the world - to be like a mother to all, no matter their origins. She was accepting and welcoming towards all people, not only toward the good or the like-minded. Teresa continues to serve as an inspiration to people of all walks of life and all creeds. Where the world was blind to poverty and misery, Mother Teresa led the path to love.
Facilitated: by P.J. Ryan
Date: Second Tuesday of each month in 2023
Time: 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Location: Mercy Spirituality Center
Fee: $240 for the series; $25 per individual session
Day To Call Your Own
Come and enjoy a day to yourself in your own, private, comfortable room at Mercy Spirituality Center. You will be able to pray, contemplate, read and relax without being disturbed. Soup is included for lunch. Morning prayer is optional.
Facilitator: Sr. Gert Erb, RSM
Dates: 2nd Thursday of each month:
March 9
April 13
May 11
Saturday Options:
June 3
October 14
Time: 9:00 am-4 pm
9:30 am: Morning Prayer (optional)
Fee: $25
“Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics” by Mirabai Starr
Our world has long suffered the toxicity of unbalanced masculine rule, but the feminine is rising. Starr shares the subversive wisdom and fierce compassion of feminine mystics. From saints and sages such as Mother Mary and the Sufi poet Rabia, to goddesses and archetypal energies including Kuan Yin and Gaia, to inspiring contemporary teachers and seekers, you’ll meet women who blazed a path that will illuminate your own.
March 22, 2023 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST via Zoom
A God For All Seasons
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven,” says the author of Ecclesiastes. God is revealed in scripture as fire, wind, rock, tree, bird, water, and all manner of creation. And Fr. Thomas Merton reminds us, “Nothing has ever been said about God that hasn’t already been said better by the wind in the pine trees.” This year, we invite you to join us as we engage God in each season of Creation. Through discussion, prayer, scripture, and contemplative practices, we will explore the unique lessons the Creator reveals through each season, as we transition between Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, and pause to embrace the holiness of God in each of them.
Facilitated by: Br. Kevin Hershey
Dates:
Spring – March 18
Summer - June 10
Autumn - September 23
Winter - December 16
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Fee: $40 per individual session; $120 for the series
Creative Meditation in Color
This 4-week session will start with a meditation on passages from the Bible or other spiritual writings. To extend your meditation we will use Lectio Divina, Visio Divina, and different forms of art media to open your mind to God’s Word.
No art skills are needed! Just bring an open mind, heart and a childlike spirit. We will go back to those childlike days when your coloring and drawing were all beautiful. Back to that free time to create and think without worries!
Dates: March 21, 28, April 4, 11
Time: 10:30 p.m.-12:00 p.m.
Via ZOOM
Cost: $100
"Woman Between the Worlds: A call to your ancestral and indigenous wisdom" by Apela Colorado
"Woman Between the Worlds: A Call to Your Ancestral and Indigenous Wisdom" by Apela Colorado.
Apela shares her lifelong journey of connecting with the essence of indigenous spirituality and culture in her work around the world. With gentle grace and generous insight, this book lovingly teaches us to honor the power, beauty, and potential of indigenous wisdom, and explores how it continues to resonate in modern life. Virginia Fifield, who is Mohawk from Akwesausne and Turtle clan, will lead the discussion.
May 17, 2023 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST via Zoom
Ignatian Spirituality
Exercises of St. Ignatius In All Of It's Forms
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in all of its forms, create an awareness of God in all things—all people, all creation, every human experience, and especially in the person of Jesus. We offer a model of the Spiritual Exercises designed by St. Ignatius for use in daily life which takes place over 30 weeks, rather than 30 days. This program is currently being offered virtually.