Welcome to the Bon Secours Retreat & Conference Center’s blog! This blog will extend our retreat ministry by bringing prayers and reflections into your home ‘retreat’. Many of our presenters and staff share their homilies, favorite prayers and reflections through this medium. We encourage you to comment, pass it along to friends or simply take a moment to pray with us. We hope that this will serve as a moment during your day when you can ‘retreat with us’.
Mary DeTurris Poust, author and retreat presenter, shares today's blog with us. She always inspires with her Lenten reflections! If you'd like to attend a retreat with Mary, she'll be at our Center this fall and you can read more about that retreat here. Does this reflection resonate with you? Have your goals for Lent evolved too? Share your thoughts with us in the comments. This Lent, let God set the course Back when I was younger, I would approach…
At the Retreat & Conference Center today, we are welcoming guests for our Ash Wednesday retreat as we usher in the season of Lent. How are you marking the beginning of this sacred time? May you feel God's Presence during this special sacred season. Let us pray... Gracious God, today begins a period of inner reflection and examination. The days stretch before me and invite me inward to that silent, holy space that holds your Spirit. This special time beckons…
Have you been following our series about spiritual wellness from retreat presenter and spiritual director Fr. Michael Schleupner? In today's post, he reaffirms the importance of gratitude. You can browse through our blog at any time to review the other six posts in this series too. Let's read Fr. Michael's recommendations and tips to be thankful today so that we can strive for complete spiritual wellness in our lives! Spiritual Wellness - 7Be Thankful Dear Friends,Being thankful is essential for…
In recognition of Black History Month, we offer this beautiful prayer by Howard Thurman today. If you would like to learn more about this inspiring mystic, teacher and prophet, we encourage you to check out the powerful retreat by Rev. Joan Crawford at our Center on Monday, May 15. Click here to read more. Let's take a few quiet moments to pray for an open spirit as we strive to respect and bring equality to our world of many colors.…
Continuing in the spirit of Valentine's Day, we offer this beautiful prayer that reminds us to depend on and to be comforted by unending love from the ultimate Source! A Prayer for Resting in God's Love God of Goodness, I come into your presence so aware of my human frailty and yet overwhelmed by your love for me. I thank you that there is no human experience that I might walk through where your love cannot reach me. If…
Valentine's Day is just a few days away. It's a special day to celebrate love and share it with others. Named after the many myths surrounding St. Valentine, the common theme is one of love and devotion. Many now refer to the day as a "Hallmark Holiday" yet why not use it as an excuse to share your appreciation for loved ones? Here are a few quotes, poems and a prayer that you may want to share with someone. Love…
Retreat presenter, Fr. Michael Schleupner, offers today's post and he continues his series on 'Spiritual Wellness'. Let's take a few quiet moments to read his thoughts about the importance of how we care for others and that relationship with our own spiritual wellness. Spiritual Wellness - 6 Look Beyond Yourself Dear Friends, We can say that we are to look beyond ourselves because that is what God has told us to do. We can say that we are to be…
The guests of our retreats are not the only ones who are blessed by the care and wisdom of our presenters. Working with these presenters, the staff of our Center often receive unexpected blessings from these spiritual guides too. Sr. Ann Belmonte is always so intentional about her gratitude for being able to guide our of directed retreats. She left a beautiful scroll with this blessing on it for a few of our staff members after her Winter Directed Retreat.…
Fr. Michael Schleupner offers another post in his spiritual wellness series today. Seeing ourselves just as we are can be tough, but he urges us to value the importance for our journey to spiritual wellness. Let's take a few moments to prayerfully consider his insights. Spiritual Wellness - 5 See Yourself as You Are Dear Friends, An essential ingredient of spiritual wellness is that we see ourselves as we really are. I am thinking about two dimensions of this. First,…
Wednesday, February 1st, was the Feast Day of Saint Brigid of Kildare. She is the patroness saint of Ireland and of poetry, learning, healing, protection, blacksmithing, livestock and dairy production. Traditionally, it is a day of weaving Brigid's crosses to honor her. Learn more about St. Brigid by clicking here. We can learn so much from the her example! Please pray with us. Brigid You were a woman of peace. You brought harmony where there was conflict. You brought light…
