Here is a list of monasteries and convents in the United States that receive retreatants. Each of the monasteries has a website that provides information about the availability of retreats. Retreat houses do vary, but most offer both private and directed retreats year-round, as guest rooms are available. On a directed retreat, you will meet regularly with a spiritual director.
Most retreat houses are open to men and women of all faiths and invite retreatants to join their communities for public monastic prayer and to attend the Eucharist daily.
1. Santa Rita Abbey (Sonoita, Arizona)
Founded by the Wrentham nuns in 1972, this small monastery sits in the foothills of the Santa Rita mountains, near the town of Sonoita, 35 miles southeast of Tucson.
2. New Clairvaux Abbey (Vina, California)
In 1995, Gethsemani made its fifth foundation in the valley of the Sacramento River, one hundred miles north of Sacramento. New Clairvaux, in turn, has two daughter houses, Our Lady of Joy in Hong Kong, and Holy Mother of God in Taiwan.
3. Redwoods Monastery (Whitethorn, California)
Founded in 1962 by four Trappistine nuns from Belgium, this small community in the redwood forests of California is near the Pacific coast, one hundred miles south of Cape Mendocino.
4. St. Benedict’s Abbey (Snowmass, Colorado)
In 1956 monks from St. Joseph’s Abbey founded St. Benedict’s at Snowmass, in the Rocky Mountains near Aspen.
5. Monastery of the Holy Spirit (Conyers, Georgia)
In 1944 the monks from Gethsemani Abbey made this, their first foundation, on an old cotton plantation called Honey Creek, near Conyers, 40 miles from Atlanta.
6. Our Lady of the Mississippi Valley (Dubuque, Iowa)
Founded in `964 by the Wrentham community, the convent overlooks the Mississippi River, south of Dubuque. The community has its own daughter house in Norway.
7. New Melleray Abbey (Peosta, Iowa)
In 1849 Irish monks from Mount Melleray founded this monastery in the rich farmland of Iowa, near Dubuque.
8. Abbey of Gethsemani (Trappist, Kentucky)
Founded in 1848 by monks from Melleray Abbey in France, the monastery sits among the rolling hills of Kentucky, south of Louisville, near Bardstown.
9. St. Joseph’s Abbey (Spencer, Massachusetts)
In 1925 French monks from La Trappe founded Petit Clairvaux in Nova Scotia. After a devastating fire, the monks built Abbey of Our Lady of the Valley in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1950, after another fire, the monks moved to St. Joseph’s Abbey in Massachusetts, ten miles from Worcester.
10. Mount St. Mary’s Abbey (Wrentham, Massachusetts)
This is the oldest Trappistine convent in the U.S., founded in 1949 by nuns from St. Mary’s Abbey in Glencairn, Ireland. It is located near the 300-year-old town of Wrentham, Massachusetts.
11. Assumption Abbey (Ava, Missouri)
In 1950 monks from New Melleray made their first foundation in the Ozark Mountains in south-central Missouri, near Springfield.
12. Genesee Abbey (Piffard, New York)
In 1951 Gethsemani formed its fourth foundation in the Genesee River valley of New York state, 30 miles south of Rochester.
13. Guadalupe Abbey Lafayette, Oregon)
In 1948 Our Lady of the Valley made its first foundation at Pecos, New Mexico. In 1955 the monks relocated to Lafayette, Oregon, and named their new monastery Abbey of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
14. Mepkin Abbey (Moncks Corner, South Carolina)
In 1949 Gethsemani founded this monastery on land donated by Henry and Clare Boothe Luce. It overlooks the Cooper River, 20 miles from Charleston, South Carolina.
15. Abbey of the Holy Trinity (Huntsville, Utah)
In 1947 monks from Gethsemani established this monastery in a fertile basin of the Wasatch range of the rocky mountains, near Salt Lake City, Utah.
16. Holy Cross Abbey (Berryville, Virginia)
In 1950, shortly before Our Lady of the Vallye moved to St. Joseph’s Abbey, 30 monks traveled to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to establish Holy Cross Abbey on the Shenandoah River, 60 miles west of Washington, D.C.
| Find Dianne Aprile’s book at Amazon.com: |
I love anything and everything related to food (growing food, eating food, learning about food)....I think you would LOVE my sister's book (1st place winner of 2012 Gourmand Magazine award in the Fund Raising, Charity and Community division for a USA
If you keep rereading the last chapter, you will never get to the next one..get on with your life.
Do not hide your light so that others won't feel insecure around you. And as you let your light shine, you unconsciously give others the right to do the same.
Organic coconut oil. I was introduced to it by a VN sister a while back. It makes my skin SO smooth and it is great for my thick, curly hair! It has a hundred uses (just look it up online) and it costs so little.
A spiritual retreat does not have to be at a place that his holy. Sometimes God has an excuse for getting people together in order to find Him. Sometimes he has a special agent that facilitates the trip. I take hundreds of people spiritually centered on cruises. God smiles when his children enjoy His world and discover each other along the way. I can organize a cruise for your followers that will be a trip no one will ever forget!
Snow@sobercelebrations.com
http://www.sobercelebrations.com
I am surprised a this blog post. It is certainly one persons opinion on the top 16 spiritual retreats. All of them in Roman Catholic specific places. So why would you say The Top 16 locations for Spiritual Retreats? Frankly I am amazed at this. I could think of a 100 places I’d rather go.
Hi NanaCatherine. You’re absolutely correct that this list is one member’s list of her favorite retreat houses. Dianne Aprile also mentions in her introduction that most of the retreat houses she listed are open to men and women of all faiths.
All Vibrant Nation members are welcome to submit their own love it! and live it! lists. It sounds like you may have a great list of your own to share. We hope you will!
There are Unitarian retreats that are not so religiously focused. More of a social interaction and social action. Check it out on Google.