Spiritual Exercises
St Benedict tells his monks that all guests who come to the monastery must be received as Christ Himself (Rule, ch. 53). In his day, hospitality was needed to provide mainly for the material necessities of travelers.
Today, especially in the western world, people are in need of finding spiritual resources to help them discover the meaning of their existence and save their souls. For us, the principal means of extending, in an atmosphere of silence and recollectedness, the legendary Benedictine hospitality, is to offer retreats in the form of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius.
When, please God, our community has built for itself a monastery with a guest house, these exercises, as well as other forms of retreat, will be offered also in the context of the monastic life.
Each day of the retreat involves Holy Mass, a series of conferences to prepare you for the meditations proposed in the Spiritual Exercises, devotions and certain hours of the monastic Divine Office. There are plenty of opportunities to see a priest for spiritual direction and the Sacrament of Penance.
