An individually directed retreat focuses on the way God is active in the individual’s life, and each retreat follows a uniquely personal path. Retreatants meet with a spiritual director once a day to reflect on God’s presence and movement in their life as revealed in prayer, the events and relationships in their life, and the response to God that is being made. The spiritual director may make suggestions (prayer forms, Scripture, reading materials, etc.) to support and deepen the retreatant’s awareness of and response to God. Aside from the introductory session and daily spiritual direction meetings, retreatants are on their own to experience a week of quiet, peace, and personal reflection in the Retreat Center and around our beautiful grounds. Mass will be available throughout the week.
NOT IN BRIDGES CATALOG, BUT JUST ADDED: FR. PHIL COVER will join the team of Spiritual Directors for the June 2026 Directed Retreat.
This is a silent retreat. Check-in begins at 4pm, and the retreat will begin with an orientation session at 5pm. Silence will begin after dinner. The retreat ends after lunch on Saturday.
Please indicate your preference for a spiritual director in the “Special Needs” part of the online registration form.
Sr. Bernadette Claps, MSW is a Sister of Bon Secours and provides spiritual direction and spiritual companionship at the Bon Secours Retreat & Conference Center. She holds graduate certificates in Spiritual Direction, Spirituality, and Aging. She has done graduate studies in theology and received a Master of Social Work from New York University.
Fr. Phillip Cover is an experienced retreat leader, spiritual director, pilgrimage leader, and author. He has led retreats at Bon Secours for most of the past thirty years. He previously served at the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) in Washington, DC and as an adjunct staff member for the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. He is co-author of Journey with Purpose, Through Exile into the Heart of God and The Inner Work of Lent.
Fr. Patrick Bergquist, M.Div., MFA., MATW — after nearly twenty years as a missionary priest along the Yukon River of Northern Alaska — has turned to look into a wilderness far less charted, but far more wondrous — that of the human heart and soul. Now a retired priest of the Missionary Diocese of Northern Alaska, Fairbanks, he spends his time as a spiritual and retreat director. He holds master’s degrees in Divinity, Creative Writing, and Theopoetics, as well as two certificates in spiritual direction, including the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. As a writer, a poet, and a priest, he’s written for publications such as Spiritual Life and America Magazine, as well as authoring a book, The Long Dark Winter’s Night: Reflections of a Priest in a Time of Pain and Privilege. He is currently working on a spiritual memoir called Springtime Beneath the Snows: Confessions of a Priest-Turn-Poet.
Joanne Cahoon, D.Min. holds a bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies, master’s degree in Religion/Pastoral Ministry, graduate certificates in spiritual direction and in spirituality studies, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where her specialization was spirituality and practical theology. Along the way, Joanne has taught in elementary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate school settings. She has also served as youth minister, high school campus minister, consultant, writer, national trainer, diocesan staff member, staff member of a graduate school, spiritual director, facilitator of retreats, and professional coach. Joanne has welcomed and worked with many individuals and groups, serving them as they listen for God’s invitations in their personal and corporate lives. She finds it a privilege to be involved in spiritual and human formation — bringing deep listening, presence, creativity, and a commitment to her own ongoing formation to her work.
Amy Sorensen Kulesa, OFS, M.Div., MSW is a spiritual director, retreat leader and certified Introspective Breathwork™ facilitator. She earned a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Master of Social Work from Rutgers University. She is a graduate of the Epiphany Academy of Formative Spirituality, the Bon Secours Spiritual Direction Institute, and One Breath Institute. Immersed in both the Bon Secours and Franciscan charisms, Amy enjoys facilitating retreats in which participants have the opportunity to discern the narrative of their own lives within the larger story of God’s abundant healing, grace, and mercy.
Ginny Novak, MA is an experienced spiritual director and retreat leader with a strong background in Ignatian spirituality. She is specifically trained in guiding the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises. Ginny has directed several retreats at the Bon Secours Retreat Center and leads annual summer retreats at Loyola on the Potomac in Southern Maryland. She also serves as a Spiritual Reflector with the Ignatian Volunteer Corps and as a Spiritual Advisor for the Cursillo Movement in Washington, DC. A widow, mother, and grandmother, Ginny brings a deep reverence for God’s presence in each person’s life, offering support, active listening, and quiet companionship to those she accompanies on retreat.