Retreats

Perhaps you're interested in learning how Scripture, prayer, Benedictine wisdom or art can enhance your spirituality.

Saint Meinrad offers a variety of monk-led retreats during the year - on these and other topics at our Guest House and Retreat Center in southern Indiana.

Three-day retreats are held on weekends (Friday evening through Sunday noon) or during the week (Tuesday evening through Thursday noon).

Check-in time for retreats is 2-5 p.m. Vespers in the Archabbey Church is at 5 p.m. followed by supper. The opening conference typically begins at 6:30 or 7:30 p.m. The retreat concludes with lunch on the last day of the program. A complete schedule is provided at registration.

To register online, begin by clicking on the title of the retreat that interests you.

A St. Paul Sampler - 139214

Friday, June 16, 2023 - Sunday, June 18, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

This retreat will consider basic questions people ask about St. Paul and his letters: Who was St. Paul? Did he know Jesus of Nazareth? Why and to whom did he write letters? Was he a success or a fa...


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A Step 11 Retreat for Recovering Alcoholics and Alanons - 139696

Friday, July 14, 2023 - Sunday, July 16, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

Join us as we reflect on and share with each other the meaning of and practical ways to improve our conscious contact, as directed in Step 11. We are not a “glum lot” – so, expect joy and good humo...


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Christian Hospitality: Welcoming One Another as Christ - 139246

Friday, July 21, 2023 - Sunday, July 23, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

Christian hospitality is not a “soft” virtue; it is hard! St. Paul believes Christians are called to demonstrate a ready openness to others (whom Jesus calls “neighbor”) and to welcome the neighbor...


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Summer Chant Workshop: Praying with Chant - 147042

Monday, August 7, 2023 - Friday, August 11, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

This workshop is designed for directors of liturgical music and singers in parish liturgies. In addition to covering some of the fundamentals of chant, the focus of the week will be on the spiritua...


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Contributing to a Depolarized World: A Benedictine Project - 160374

Saturday, August 12, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

Extreme polarization can lead to deep divisions in our country, our Church, and even our families. Join Br. John Mark as he explores how the main tenets of Benedictine spirituality provide many of ...


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Bible Bootcamp - 139309

Friday, August 18, 2023 - Sunday, August 20, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

When discussing the Bible, it is common to hear people, even Christians, admit to not knowing much about it. This retreat is an opportunity to spend a weekend becoming familiar with the Bible as pr...


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Experience of Prayer in the Bible - 139341

Friday, August 25, 2023 - Sunday, August 27, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

This retreat will highlight a wide variety of people at prayer in the Bible. The challenge will be to see how diverse their praying is and what we can learn from their experiences. Among those we w...


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Contemplative Christianity: God’s Call to Holiness - 139374

Friday, September 1, 2023 - Sunday, September 3, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

All prayer has a contemplative dimension, the experience of God’s presence grounding and supporting our prayer. Retreat conferences explore prayer as the basis of a conscientious life of service by...


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Benedictine Spirituality as Lived in Marriage - 139896

Friday, September 8, 2023 - Sunday, September 10, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

(Married Couples Only) This retreat explores the Benedictine vows of obedience, stability, and conversion as they can be applied in marriage, with humility as the thread that binds these three vows...


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The Miracle of Chartres - 139406

Friday, September 15, 2023 - Sunday, September 17, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

A close look at a gorgeous Gothic cathedral and the mysteries behind it. Most Gothic cathedrals took centuries to design and build. Chartres is a great exception – built in only 25 years. Its maste...


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National Native American Day – Saint Meinrad and Blue Cloud Abbey 157396

Friday, September 22, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

Saint Meinrad’s first abbot, Martin Marty, became interested in missionary work, particularly to the Native Americans. In the 1880s, the monks of Saint Meinrad became intensely involved with the Si...


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The Eucharist: What Did Jesus Have in Mind? - 139438

Friday, September 29, 2023 - Sunday, October 1, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

What do the scriptures (both Old and New Testaments) contain that can help us to understand what was in the mind of Christ as He celebrated the Last Supper? How do these scriptures give insight to ...


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Revisiting the Rosary - 139502

Friday, October 6, 2023 - Sunday, October 8, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

Offered during Mary’s month of October, this retreat is designed to introduce the rosary to beginners and to help others deepen their existing prayer practice.


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Leadership for Catholic Laity - 161944

Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

The laity are instructed in Lumen Gentium to contribute to the sanctification of the world through the witness of their lives. We are called to use our gifts and expertise to transform our...


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Christian Hospitality: Welcoming One Another as Christ - 139536

Friday, October 20, 2023 - Sunday, October 22, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

Christian hospitality is not a “soft” virtue; it is hard! St. Paul believes Christians are called to demonstrate a ready openness to others (whom Jesus calls “neighbor”) and to welcome the neighbor...


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The Sermon on the Mount: Matthew’s Handbook for Living in the Kingdom of Heaven - 139568

Monday, October 23, 2023 - Friday, October 27, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

(Priests Retreat) This retreat will examine Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, highlighting challenges for priestly spirituality.


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The Art of Michelangelo: Sculptor, Painter, Poet - 139625

Friday, November 3, 2023 - Sunday, November 5, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

In the history of art, the Renaissance person sought to explore the marvel of the human. Returning to classical Greek and Roman roots, the artists of this age explored the marvel of the human. This...


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Hymns to the Mother of God - 139664

Friday, November 17, 2023 - Sunday, November 19, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

This retreat will consider five hymns/antiphons that honor Mary. We will listen to the chant versions and then elaborate further our understanding of what the Church’s faith proclaims about Mary.
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Advent Workshop: “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!” - 161945

Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

Sessions will cover the following topics: the Scriptures of Advent, Advent is not Lent, and Keeping Advent surrounded by Christmas (9 a.m.-3 p.m. Central Time, $55 per guest)


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Organ Workshop and Concert - 157403

Saturday, December 16, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

This one-day workshop for organists will focus on preparing for the Christmas season. The day will include demonstrations, handouts, discussions, and tours of the Archabbey Church and organ and the...


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Christmas Celebration at Saint Meinrad Archabbey 163603

Sunday, December 24, 2023 - Tuesday, December 26, 2023
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

This “celebration,” not “retreat,” will be an opportunity to immerse oneself in the richness of the tradition that we celebrate at Saint Meinrad. Your visit will include opportunities to join the m...


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Winter Chant Workshop: Chant Notation and Interpretation - 146977

Monday, January 22, 2024 - Friday, January 26, 2024
Saint Meinrad Archabbey

This workshop is designed for directors of liturgical music and singers in parish liturgies who have some background in music. Sessions during the week will focus on how to read the earliest source...


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Women of the Word 146500

Tuesday, February 27, 2024 - Thursday, February 29, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

(Midweek Retreat) This retreat explores and reflects on the role of women in the story of salvation as told in sacred scripture. Participants do not need a background in scripture studies, but they...


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Created in the Image of God: A Woman’s Day of Reflection 166207

Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

Come spend the day reflecting on the meaning of the imago Dei (image of God) for you, your relationships with God and others, and your life in the world. The day will include a blend of pr...


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Unpacking the Vocation of Marriage through Scripture and Married Saints 146558

Friday, March 8, 2024 - Sunday, March 10, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

(Married Couples Only) With all the distractions of the world, children, jobs, volunteering, etc., the vocation aspect of marriage can fall to the wayside. This retreat will provide inspirational e...


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Sleeper Awake! 146586

Friday, March 15, 2024 - Sunday, March 17, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

St. Paul wants us to “wake up” to the truth of who we are as those baptized into Christ. During this retreat, we’ll reflect on the basic elements of our baptismal character as foundational to our C...


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Living the Liturgy of the Triduum 146618

Wednesday, March 27, 2024 - Sunday, March 31, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

(Holy Week Retreat) This retreat will help participants take part in the monastic community’s celebration of the Triduum and the ongoing experience of the Paschal Mystery.


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Forgiving as We Have Been Forgiven 159643

Friday, April 12, 2024 - Sunday, April 14, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

This retreat will reflect on the divine call for mercy on the part of all Christians.


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The Gospel of Mark: Lessons in Rejection 146649

Monday, April 22, 2024 - Friday, April 26, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

(Priests Retreat) Mark’s Gospel can be understood as being structured around four major rejections experienced by Jesus. This retreat will consider Mark’s Gospel through the lens of these four majo...


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Benedictine Spirituality 101 146691

Friday, May 17, 2024 - Sunday, May 19, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

St. Benedict of Nursia did not “invent” Christian monastic life. It had been around for a few centuries by the time he wrote his Rule for Monks in the early sixth century. What he did was ...


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In Sickness and in Health: Prayer, Covenant, and Healing 146758

Friday, June 14, 2024 - Sunday, June 16, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

Most of us need healing – physically or spiritually. Drawing on his own experience of health difficulties and the Church’s rich theology of prayer, Fr. Lorenzo’s conferences will focus on our coven...


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A Step 11 Retreat for Recovering Alcoholics and Alanons – Conscious Contact 146822

Friday, July 12, 2024 - Sunday, July 14, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

This retreat will lead you to a broader understanding of Step 11 and “conscious contact.” There will be time to explore “conscious contact” in prayer, meditation, and in mindful living. While engag...


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Summer Chant Workshop: Singing and Conducting Chant - 147121

Monday, July 29, 2024 - Friday, August 2, 2024
Saint Meinrad Archabbey

This workshop is designed for directors of liturgical music and singers in parish liturgies. In addition to covering some of the fundamentals of chant, the focus of the week will be on vocal pedago...


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Discipleship According to the Gospel of Mark 147154

Friday, August 23, 2024 - Sunday, August 25, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

This retreat will focus on the way Mark’s Gospel presents the disciples. They struggle to understand who Jesus really is. What can Mark’s Gospel teach us about our own discipleship?


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Advanced Patterns of Christian Prayer 147186

Friday, September 6, 2024 - Sunday, September 8, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

Has your prayer life plateaued? Has prayer become dry and “boring” to you? This retreat will explore the contemplative dimensions of prayer coming out of the Christian tradition from as far back as...


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Letting Holy Leisure Be Our Way 147252

Friday, September 13, 2024 - Sunday, September 15, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

(Retreat for young adults 20-40 years old) – The late 20th-century philosopher Josef Piper described that our world is heading toward “total work.” We are being subsumed into work, and the world’s ...


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Navigating Difference: Serving in Multicultural Communities 147285

Friday, September 20, 2024 - Sunday, September 22, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

What are the different assumptions we make about others based on their race and cultural background and, more importantly, why do we make them? How do these assumptions affect our behavior? How doe...


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A Rosary Retreat 147316

Friday, October 11, 2024 - Sunday, October 13, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

This retreat will examine the history and practice of the rosary in the Christian life. Participants may wish to attend the rosary devotion at our Monte Cassino Shrine after the retreat on Sunday, ...


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The Gospel of Mark: Lessons in Rejection 147348

Monday, October 14, 2024 - Friday, October 18, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

(Priests Retreat) Mark’s Gospel can be understood as being structured around four major rejections experienced by Jesus. This retreat will consider Mark’s Gospel through the lens of these four majo...


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Integrating Catholic Faith and Patient Care in Today’s World 163960

Friday, November 1, 2024 - Sunday, November 3, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

The aim of this retreat is to increase the knowledge and comfort level of physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, and other healthcare professionals in applying Catholic faith and spiritua...


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Photography Basics: Camera, Composition and Technique 166219

Saturday, November 2, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

Photography techniques, terminology and equipment can seem complicated and intimidating at first. This hands-on workshop is designed for beginner photographers who want to increase basic photograph...


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Spiritual Poverty and the “Magisterium of Frailty” 147380

Friday, November 8, 2024 - Sunday, November 10, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

In the summer of 2022, Pope Francis spoke about the need for Christians to take better care of those impoverished by physical and mental diminishment. Too often the sick, the very elderly, the home...


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The Passion Narrative of Mark’s Gospel 147412

Friday, November 15, 2024 - Sunday, November 17, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

The most important section of Mark’s Gospel is the Passion Narrative. It comes last in the story, but it was probably written first. It is a model followed by all the other gospels. This retreat wi...


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Benedictine Spirituality as Lived in Marriage 159675

Friday, December 13, 2024 - Sunday, December 15, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

(Married Couples Only) This retreat explores the Benedictine vows of obedience, stability, and conversion as they can be applied in marriage, with humility as the thread that binds these three vows...


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Christmas Celebration at Saint Meinrad Archabbey 162038

Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - Thursday, December 26, 2024
Archabbey Guest House and Retreat Center

This “celebration,” not “retreat,” will be an opportunity to immerse oneself in the richness of the tradition that we celebrate at Saint Meinrad. Your visit will include opportunities to join the m...


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