Skip to site content
group travel leader select traveler small market meetings

Peace and Perspective at Faith-Based Venues

Holy Wisdom Monastery

Middleton, Wisconsin

The Rule of Benedict states, “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ.” At Holy Wisdom Monastery, home of the Benedictine Women of Madison, the motto is “All are welcome” — regardless of ethnicity, gender or religion.

“One of the most important aspects of the Holy Wisdom Monastery are the Benedictine values we work and live by while we’re here,” said Amanda Conway, guest services coordinator.

Those values include hospitality, community, stewardship and service, among others. The monastery sits on 130 acres in Middleton, Wisconsin, directly across Lake Mendota from Madison. There, the sisters have worked to restore prairie land, dredged a lake to create wildlife habitat and built nature trails — they have four ranging from 0.2 miles to two miles. And they will add more trails in 2018 to provide more access to the property’s wooded areas.

Two main buildings are available to guests. When the monastery was completed in 2009, it was the greenest building in the nation; it is completely powered by solar energy. The Retreat and Guest House is a converted former women’s school dormitory that can now accommodate 25 overnight guests.

The two buildings have a variety of meeting rooms and event spaces, the largest of which is the monastery’s 4,400-square-foot light-filled assembly room for up to 300 people; in addition, the guest dining room can seat 150. The retreat house’s 1,480-square-foot Garden Room is connected to a private garden area for attendees to use. The monastery also provides meals, and the sisters can arrange both spiritual and environmental programs for visiting groups.

www.benedictinewomen.org

Mercy Center

Burlingame, California

Last spring, Pope Francis surprised many Catholics by announcing a Holy Year of Mercy, saying at the time, “Mercy is the beating heart of the Gospel.” The jubilee started in December and will end November 16 this year on the Feast of Christ the King.

The Year of Mercy has special significance for the Sisters of Mercy in Burlingame, California, just 15 miles south of San Francisco, because mercy is their core mission. The Sisters of Mercy run the 40-acre Mercy Center, where visitors will find a chapel, a conference and retreat center, a bookstore and gift shop, and a labyrinth and meditation garden.

The center has 11 meeting rooms for groups ranging in size from four to 250 people in the 2,500-square-foot Sequoia Room. Groups that want to arrange overnight stays and multiday retreats may use the 90 private, single-occupancy bedrooms, although the center can help make arrangements with local hotels for larger groups.

Part of the Sisters’ mission is to live environmentally and ecologically conscious lives, and their food reflects that. The center uses seasonal local produce from area growers and vendors. Meals are served three times a day, and the main guest dining room can seat 130 people.

Visitors can wander paths that wind through the wooded grounds as well as walk the labyrinth, which is open during the day for those seeking meditation and contemplation. The jagged stone at the center is meant to remind visitors of the stone pillar Jacob erected at the spot where he dreamed of heaven. Every other month, Mercy Center’s rotating art exhibit features regional artists and their original works that showcase their spiritual engagement.

www.mercy-center.org

Abbey of Gethsemani

Bardstown, Kentucky

The Abbey of Gethsemani, about 12 miles south of Bardstown, Kentucky, is the oldest monastery still operating in the United States. As such, it’s considered the mother of all the nation’s monasteries belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, better known as the Trappists. The abbey has received guests since its founding in 1848 and continues to do so today.

At the Welcome Center, visitors can watch a film and explore an exhibit about Gethsemani’s monastic life. There’s also a shop where guests can buy gifts, books and a selection of products made by the monks at the abbey, including a variety of fudges, fruitcakes, jellies and preserves.

Because the monks live a cloistered life, many areas are closed to the public to maintain the monks’ separation from the world, and no tours are provided of the monastery or the grounds. However, about 1,200 acres are open to the public for walks and hikes, and visitors can get maps of the nature trails at the Welcome Center.

In addition to private rooms at the main retreat house, some rooms in the monastery are available to male guests year-round. Reservations are restricted to women during two weekday and two weekend retreats a month.

www.monks.org