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BENEDICTINE RETREAT & CONFERENCE CENTER
Retreats with Others
opportunities to explore spiritual questions
and find renewal with others on the journey
For more information or to register
Email the Benedictine Center or call 651.777.7251
Registering last minute?
While we welcome walk-ins, it is always wise to call 651.777.8181
to insure that an event has not been filled or cancelled.
Customized Group Retreats
Retreats for your parish or faith group can be scheduled at the Benedictine Center or at your site. Members of our staff can offer days of prayer and renewal, including instruction in centering prayer and lectio divina. Costs negotiated.
A Day Away
Parish staffs are invited to take advantage of our meeting spaces, which can accommodate small and large groups, for a day of reflection, planning, and prayer. The cost includes conference room, audio visual equipment, use of facilities and meals as listed. See Rates. Private rooms are available for overnight retreats. Expert consultation for planning and/or facilitating meetings is available as well at $50 per hour.
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Pottery Immersion Retreat
S. Virginia Matter OSB $85
Sat., Jul. 26, 9:30a-3p
Spend the day learning how attentive working with clay can be a way to become more meditative and alert to God’s movement in life and creation. Register online.
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iLLUMINARE Ministry Renewal Day
Jackie Witter $30 includes lunch
Fri., Aug. 1, 9:30a-3p
(also Oct. 17, Dec. 4, Mar. 26, Jun. 11)
iLLUMINARE Ministry Renewal Days are days of reflection for full-time and volunteer ministers. We provide the time and space for rest and renewal in the welcoming and prayerful environment of The Benedictine Center of St. Paul’s Monastery. Drawing on Scripture and the wisdom of our tradition, participants reflect on themes related to ministry. There are times for quiet personal prayer and reflection, a presentation or two, theological reflection, and conversation with other ministers. Lunch and refreshments are provided.
Learn more about iLLUMINARE
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Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina Retreat
S. Virginia Matter $260 includes lodging and meals
Fri., Aug. 1, 7p thru Wed., Aug. 6, 1p
A time for profound silence and praying with the Scriptures. Register online.
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Teaching with Fire: A Retreat for Teachers
Vic Klimoski $65
Fri., Aug. 15, 7p thru Sat., Aug. 16, 1p
This retreat invites participants to explore how their commitment to teaching can be a source of energy and renewal from the first day of school until the last. Register online.
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Deep Change: A Retreat for Men
Staff $40 per person includes lunch
Sat., Aug. 23, 9a-3p
Through guided meditation, silence, prayer, and discussion, this retreat gathers men around the challenges they encounter as they seek to live out of their deepest values. Register online.
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Living a Balanced Life
a series of retreats
with S. Mary Forman OSB
 Living A Balanced Life is a series aimed at deepening an understanding of Christian discipleship. Master teacher S. Mary Forman OSB leads participants in a study of the Rule of St. Benedict and engages them in spiritual practices that incorporate its key principles. Living A Balanced Life offers a unique opportunity to "listen with the ear of one’s heart.”
Individual sessions
$165 including lodging and meals; $135 commuters
All three sessions for $450 overnight; $350 commuters
Session I: Prayer
Fri., Sept. 12, 7p thru Sat., Sept. 13, 4p
Benedict states, "First of all, every time you begin a good work, you must pray to [God] most earnestly to bring it to perfection," [RB Prologue 4, RB-1980]. Prayer expresses our relationship with God, who constantly draws us near that we, as Jesus did, might do God's will and trust in the Spirit to guide us. We will explore the differing meanings of prayer from the Benedictine tradition, our own personal history of prayer, and the ways in which prayer can help us set priorities for living a Christian life. Register online.
Session II: Work
Fri., Feb. 6, 7p thru Sat., Feb. 7, 4p
The word "work" conjures up many images, from manual labor to professional careers, from drudgery to the fine arts, from 9-5 and 24/7 to engagement in the creative activity of God, in which humans participate. We will explore the varied attitudes, types, and ways of working that are both death-dealing and life-giving. Register online.
Session III: Study/Leisure
Fri., Apr. 3, 7p thru Sat., Apr. 4, 4p
Benedict envisioned a balanced life as one in which prayer, work , study, and leisure help us know that God is with us in all we are and do. We will explore the meaning of leisure as a kind of Sabbath for body, mind, and soul and how a regular practice of study invites us to deeper prayer and living from our center. Register online.
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Learning the Way of St. Benedict
a series with S. Meg Funk OSB
The Benedictine Center of St. Paul's Monastery is pleased to welcome S. Meg Funk OSB to the Twin Cities. Attend any or all of her events to connect ancient monastic wisdom and everyday life.
S. Mary Margaret (Meg) Funk OSB is a member and former prioress of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove, Indiana, who served as Executive Director of the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue. She is author of three books on Benedictine spiritual practices and numerous other articles. Learn more
Thoughts Matter: A Professional Day
Tues., Oct. 21, 8:30a-1:30p
$65 includes lunch
The life of the mind is a powerful force in shaping one's view of the world, self, others, and God. In this day designed for teachers, counselors, lay and ordained ministers, spiritual directors, and students of Benedictine spirituality, S. Meg explores the deep insights of ancient spiritual masters about how thoughts can interfere with one's knowledge of God. "A mind at peace..." she writes, "is of major value for those of us who confront chaos, confusion, noise, and numbness as we move into the third millennium." Register online.
Benedict's Counter-Cultural Challenge to the World
Wed., Oct. 22, 7-9p
$25
Benedict does not call Christians out of the world to hide from its temptations and woes. Rather, he challenges
Christians to live in a more intentional way that proclaims to those around them the grace of God and brings them inner peace in the midst of what the world demands of each. Register online.
Benedict's Tools for Living Spiritually
S. Meg Funk OSB
Fri., Oct. 24, 7p thru Sun., Oct. 26, 10a
$200 includes lodging and meals; $135 commuters
Benedict did not simply exhort people to live faithful lives. He offered brilliant, practical, and Christ-centered tools that help make that possible. Designed for contemplative seekers, this weekend with a Benedictine scholar will weave together prayer, presentation, and conversation to explore today's application of these time-tested tools. Register online.
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Living Daily Life Well: A Retreat for Men
David Sagula $100 includes lodging and meals
Fri., Oct. 31, 7p thru Sat., Nov. 1, 12p
You are not alone in trying to integrate contemplative life as an everyday guy living an everyday life. Participants in this retreat do not have to be spiritual athletes, just willing to show up. There will be times of conversation, prayer, and quiet. Register online.
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A Time to Remember: A Retreat for Women Whose Mothers Have Died
S. Joanne Dehmer SSND $185 includes lodging and meals; $135 commuters
by Loyola at the Benedictine Center
Fri., Nov. 7, 6:30p thru Sat., Nov. 8, 4p
Whether your mother died this year or 30 years ago, you will continue to grieve. You may grieve for what you once had in that relationship, or for what you never had. This retreat gives you an opportunity to explore the significance of mother loss. Space is limited. Offered in cooperation with Loyola Spirituality Center at the Benedictine Center. Call Loyola at 651.641.0008 for details and registration before Oct. 27.
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Mothers' Retreat
Mary Boespflug $25
Sat., Nov. 15, 9:30a-12p
Mothers are faced with many challenges in daily life and family is their primary focus. Take time this morning to listen to God’s presence within you, your children, your relationships and how that presence is calling you to live the sacredness of family life. Register online.
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Fathers’ Retreat
Sam Rahberg
Sat., Nov. 15, 1-3:30p
$25
Being ‘Dad’ is a spiritual discipline. Take a break, for your sake and the kids’, to connect with a few men in the same boat and to reconnect with the man God is calling you to be. Register online.
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Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina Retreat
S. Virginia Matter OSB $150 includes 3 days lodging and meals; $260 5 day
Fri., Nov. 21, 7p thru Wed., Nov. 23, 1p
(also Mar. 27-29 and Aug. 7-12)
A time for profound silence and praying with the Scriptures. Register online.
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Crossing the Threshold
S. Carol Rennie OSB and Mary Martin $85 includes lodging and meals
Wed., Dec. 31, 4p thru Thurs., Jan. 1, 10a
This annual event provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity to note the transition from one year to the next. With a combination of presentation, conversation, reflection, and prayer, participants create a new framework for welcoming the start of 2009. Register online.
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Building a Just World Retreat
Bernie Evans $160
Fri., Jan. 23, 7p thru Sat., Jan. 24, 4p
This retreat explores social justice as a vision for the world and a call to personal conversion of heart. This time of reflection, discussion, and prayer creates a deeper appreciation for the Church’s assertion that justice is constitutive of all Christian life.
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Here I Am, Send Me: Discerning My Life's Meaning and Purpose
Jackie Witter $125 includes lodging and meals
Fri., Jan. 30, 7p thru Sat., Jan. 31, 12p
This retreat is for anyone who is wondering about their path in life. What should they be doing? Where are they going? How will they find meaning? Under Jackie Witter’s wise leadership, participants enter into a time of discerning how they are being called to express their gifts and talents.
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Transforming the Heart of the World:
Living as a Contemplative Today
a public event with Fr. Thomas Keating
Fri., Feb. 27, 7-9p
$40 per person
Hosted by the Benedictine Center of St. Paul's Monastery
at Transfiguration Catholic Church
6133 15th Street North
Oakdale, MN 55128
View map
Fr. Thomas Keating, himself a master and teacher of the contemplative journey, is world renowned for his work reviving contemplative practice from within the Christian tradition. He is the co-founder of the Centering Prayer movement and works tirelessly to help people “tune into a fuller level of reality that is always present.” Plan now to attend this rare opportunity with one of the spiritual giants of our time. He writes:
The modern world lies under a pervasive sense of anguish, of being abandoned, or at least experiencing God as absent. Yet events that seem to turn our lives upside down and inside out are part of God's redemptive plan, not only for us, but for the world in which we live. God may be preparing a great awakening for the world, if God can find enough people to cooperate in this mysterious plan.
Register online.
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Triduum Retreat
S. Mary White OSB $160 includes lodging and meals
Thurs., Apr. 9, 6p thru Sat., Apr. 11, 9p
Join our Benedictine Community in celebrating these most holy days of the Christian year and deepen your appreciation of the narratives, symbols, and lived experience of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The schedule includes worship, lectures, rest and free time. You will be home again for Easter Sunday.
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Directed Retreat
S. Carol Rennie OSB and S. Virginia Matter OSB $360 includes lodging and meals
Fri., Jun. 5, 7p thru Wed., Jun. 10, 1p
In this classical approach to retreat, participants meet individually each day with a spiritual director for conversations that explore the questions, concerns, hopes, and worries that each heart carries. Daily prayer and Eucharist with the monastic community.
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Eye in the Storm: Shaping a Paschal Heart in a Real World
Jim Smith $150 includes lodging and meals
Fri., Jun. 26, 7p thru Sat., Jun. 27, 4p
This retreat offers a passionate and transformative reflection on the memorial acclamation that is proclaimed at the heart of the Eucharist, and proclaimed from the heart of the fully conscious Christian life: Christ Has Died. Christ Is Risen. Christ Will Come Again.
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Teachers' Retreat
Bill Hudson $75 includes lodging and meals
Fri., Jul. 31, 7p thru Sat., Aug. 1, 12p
An annual event inviting teachers into a time of reflection and prayer as they prepare for another year of forming the young for the future.
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Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina Retreat
S. Virginia Matter OSB $300 includes lodging and meals
Fri., Aug. 7, 7p thru Wed., Aug. 12, 1p
A time for profound silence and praying with the Scriptures. Register online.
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For more information or to register
Email the Benedictine Center or call 651.777.7251
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