New in 2026: The 8-Day Ignatian Silent Directed Retreat will be the only group in-house at the Retreat Center during these dates!
The Ignatian Directed Retreat will be privileged time for you to deepen your relationship with God. You will be assigned a trained spiritual director with whom you will meet briefly each day to discern the movements of God in your life as revealed through your prayer.
The “direction” of directed retreats is that of discovering and exploring your own journey in faith and life and what path better helps you go in the direction you seek and Jesus invites. Embedded in the tradition of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, your retreat is made with a retreat director who supports, listens, and has made the journey before. For those who are able, daily walks with Ignatian teachings will also be available. Aside from these daily conversations and the time you set aside for your own personal prayer, your retreat time is unstructured. Mass will be available throughout the week.
This is a silent retreat. Check-in begins at 4pm, and the retreat will begin with an orientation session at 5pm. The retreat will end after lunch on Saturday.
Please indicate your preference for a spiritual director in the “Special Needs” part of the online registration form.
Joy Aker, MA is a spiritual director, labyrinth facilitator, and a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. She has a master’s degree in Spirituality from St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore. She was also trained in Ignatian Spirituality and the Ignatian Exercises at Ignatius Jesuit Center in Guelph, Ontario. Her focus is on helping others to develop a holistic spirituality which looks to wholeness in body, mind, and spirit. Joy also has a great interest in assisting others as they deepen their relationship with God through individual spiritual direction and group retreats.
Nancy Bickel has served as a hospice nurse and as a nurse in psychiatry. She has a master’s in Pastoral Care and Spirituality, has studied Ignatian Spirituality, and is a certified spiritual director. She has been serving as a spiritual director since 2004. Nancy is a member of the Secular Carmelite Order and is a wife, mother to three daughters, and grandmother to three teenagers. She enjoys living on a small farm in Maryland.
Fr. Patrick Bergquist, M.Div. spent nearly 20 years as a missionary along the Yukon River in Northern Alaska, but now explores a wilderness far less chartered — that of the human spirit and soul. A diocesan priest of Fairbanks, he holds a Master of Divinity degree from St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore and Certificates in Spiritual Direction from the Heychia School in Tucson, Arizona and the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University in Chicago, where he specialized in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Additionally, he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Literary Arts from the University of Alaska Anchorage. He’s a poet, a spiritual memoirist, and the author of The Long Dark Winter’s Night: Reflections of a Priest in a Time of Pain and Privilege, as well as various articles in publications such as Spiritual Life and American Magazine.
Paul Gallagher, D.Min. is a longtime faith formation leader in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and is currently the Director of Faith Formation at Sacred Heart Parish in Glyndon. He received his doctorate at Catholic University of America, focusing on the positive effects Ignatian Spirituality can have on a person’s health and well-being. His blog, makingallthingsnew.com, has been viewed by thousands of people all over the world. Through his retreats, blog posts, and spiritual direction, he looks to help people transform their lives by integrating Ignatian practices into their daily routines. Paul used the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius to get his own health back on track and looks forward to helping you with your transformation.
Elaine Ireland, MA is a spiritual director, retreat leader, and writer with over 20 years in Christian ministry. She has a Master of Arts in Spiritual and Pastoral Care from Loyola University and has led numerous people through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in Everyday Life, as well as companioning others on their spiritual journeys. She writes weekly scripture reflections; for the past 17 years, she has written Come and See in ordinary time and Provisions for the Journey during Advent and Lent, both of which can be found on a Dominican website called Preacher (PreacherExchange.com/comeandsee.htm). She is passionate about world and indigenous faith practices, inspirational poetry and music, and how we are to live Christ’s calling in the 21st century.
Dee Papania, D.Min. began her career in professional ministry over 23 years ago and continues to serve at St. Alphonsus Rodriguez Church in Woodstock, Maryland. Previously filling roles as Pastoral Associate, Director of Faith Formation, Director of the Center for Ignatian Spirituality, and coordinator for the parish’s Retreat Directors Team, in September 2018 she was appointed Parish Life Director by Archbishop Lori. Her academic accomplishments include a bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies, master’s degrees in Theology and Church Management, and a Doctor of Ministry degree. She is a trained Spiritual Director in the tradition of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. She has completed formation through the Jesuit/Lay Collaborative (now called the Office of Ignatian Spirituality) and has taught in the Archdiocesan Equip for Ministry Program.
The Reverend Stephen Wade is a friend of Bon Secours of nearly twenty-five years, as well a retired parish priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. During Steve’s tenure as Rector of Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill in Alexandria (1995 to 2006), a special interest in Ignatian spirituality arose out of the daily responsibilities of parish ministry. One outcome from that early Ignatian interest was to join Martha Campbell at Bon Secours to form a retreat team focused entirely on Ignatian prayer. Connections from that team led Steve to engage with staff at Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation (Bethesda, MD), the Loyola House/Ignatian Jesuit Center (Guelph, Ontario), and Loyola Retreat House (Faulkner, MD). From that first Bon Secours team, Marilyn Merikangus introduced Steve to the Ignatian Retreat Team at Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, where he continues to serve. On retiring from parish ministry in 2006, Steve accepted an invitation from Bishop Peter Lee of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia to help form, and then to lead, a program on “Discernment for Leadership — Lay and Ordained” in the Episcopal Diocese. A native of St. Louis, Steve has served parishes in the Dioceses of New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Chicago, and Virginia. He trained in the work of spiritual direction and retreat leadership at the Weston School of Theology (Cambridge, MA) and Loyola House/Ignatian Jesuit Center (Guelph, Ontario). Steve completed a 30-day retreat with Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises at the Eastern Point Retreat House (Gloucester, MA) in 1999. He looks forward to returning to Bon Secours for the Ignatian Directed Retreat in July 2026.
Cathy Whitaker, MS, MSN, RN, is a student of Ignatian Spirituality and a trained Spiritual Director with strong listening and collaboration skills, relevant experience, and a deep sense of compassion. She is committed to accompanying individuals as they develop and deepen their relationship with the Lord. Cathy earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Gwynedd Mercy University and her Master of Science in Nursing from Villanova University, in addition to a Masters of Applied Behavioral Science from Johns Hopkins University. Her interests include traveling, gardening, cooking, and spending time with her children and grandchildren.
Biographies for 3 additional directors will be added soon.