How to Make a Private Retreat at Our Monastery

A private retreat at Mother of the Redeemer Monastery is an opportunity to step away from ordinary demands and place your attention before God. In Plaisance, Louisiana, the quiet of an Olivetan Benedictine community can provide space for prayer, Scripture, worship, spiritual reading, and honest reflection.

A retreat does not need to be complicated to be fruitful. You may come for a brief period of silent prayer, participate in the monastery’s liturgical life, or arrange a longer stay when circumstances allow. The essential purpose is to become attentive: to God, to your own interior life, and to the grace present in the Church’s daily prayer.

Because arrangements, accommodations, and visitor access can vary, contact the monastery before making firm plans. Ask about available retreat opportunities, prayer times, places for quiet reflection, and any practical requirements for your visit. A little preparation allows you to arrive peacefully rather than trying to organize everything after you get there.

Prepare Your Heart And Schedule

Begin by identifying why you are seeking a retreat. You may need clarity about a decision, renewal after a demanding season, deeper repentance, or simply a few hours away from noise. Write your intention in one or two sentences. This gives your retreat direction without turning it into a project that must produce immediate answers.

Set aside a realistic amount of time. A half-day can be meaningful when it is protected from interruptions, while a full day or longer period gives you room to settle into silence. If you are arranging an overnight retreat, confirm the details with the monastery well in advance rather than assuming that lodging or meals are automatically available.

Bring a spirit of receptivity. A private retreat is not a spiritual performance, and you do not need to fill every moment with reading or activity. The monastery’s prayer-centered life may invite you to slow down, listen, and allow God to work through a simpler rhythm than the one you usually follow.

Arrange Practical Details

Before arriving, ask where visitors should go, when the grounds are open, and whether you may attend particular liturgies or times of communal prayer. Clarify whether a retreat director, confessor, or monk may be available. Such conversations help you respect the community’s enclosure, schedule, and responsibilities while making your visit more peaceful.

Pack lightly and bring items that support recollection: a Bible, prayer book, journal, pen, water, and clothing suitable for church and walking outdoors. Keep your phone available for necessary communication, but decide beforehand when it will be switched off or left in your bag. A retreat becomes more spacious when news, social media, and habitual browsing are placed aside.

You may also wish to learn about the monastery’s history and spiritual identity before you arrive. Knowing that the community follows the Benedictine tradition, with its emphasis on prayer, stability, work, hospitality, and ordered daily life, can help you understand the setting. Visitors who feel drawn to a continuing relationship with the community can learn about the oblates and their connection with the monastery.

Let The Monastic Day Guide You

When possible, allow the monastery’s liturgical schedule to shape your retreat. Participation in Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, or another public prayer period can anchor the day in worship rather than private self-analysis. Even when you do not understand every part of a service, the steady pattern of psalms, Scripture, silence, and communal prayer can become a form of spiritual guidance.

Arrive early enough to become quiet before prayer begins. During the liturgy, resist the urge to evaluate the experience. Listen to the readings, attend to the words being prayed, and let moments of silence remain undisturbed. The value of a retreat often appears gradually, through repeated attention rather than dramatic emotion.

Outside communal prayer, observe the monastery respectfully. You may see monks engaged in work, study, hospitality, or ordinary duties. This can be a helpful reminder that holiness is lived through faithful repetition. The retreat is not an escape from reality; it is a chance to see daily life with a more ordered heart.

Shape A Simple Retreat Rhythm

A gentle pattern can keep the day from becoming either scattered or overly demanding. Begin with prayer and Scripture, leave time for quiet walking or sitting, return to a passage that speaks to your circumstances, and end by recording what you have received. Rest is also appropriate. Silence becomes tiring when you treat it as another task to complete.

The following rhythm is flexible. Adjust it according to the length of your visit, the monastery’s schedule, and your physical needs.

Part of the retreat Possible practice Purpose
Arrival Put away distractions and offer a brief prayer Become present
Early prayer Attend communal prayer or read a Psalm slowly Receive the day as gift
Quiet period Sit, walk, or practice lectio divina Listen without forcing answers
Midday Eat simply and rest Restore attention
Afternoon Journal, read spiritual material, or seek conversation if arranged Discern and reflect
Evening prayer Join the community when possible Return personal concerns to God
Departure Note one grace and one faithful next step Carry the retreat into daily life

Choose a small amount of reading rather than bringing an entire library. A Gospel passage, a Psalm, the Rule of Saint Benedict, or a trusted spiritual work may be enough. Read slowly, pause often, and write down words or images that remain with you. The purpose is prayerful attention, not collecting information.

Receive Silence As Prayer

Silence can reveal how quickly the mind reaches for entertainment, reassurance, or control. When distractions arise, do not treat them as failure. Notice them, make a simple act of offering, and return to a short prayer such as “Speak, Lord,” “Jesus, have mercy,” or “Your will be done.” Repetition can steady the mind without demanding elaborate thoughts.

You may experience peace, restlessness, sadness, gratitude, or no strong feeling at all. None of these responses by itself proves whether the retreat is fruitful. Bring your actual interior state before God. If a serious concern surfaces, write it down and consider discussing it with a priest or spiritual director rather than trying to resolve everything alone.

The physical setting can support this attentiveness. Walk quietly, notice the changing light, and receive ordinary details without turning them into distractions. A monastery’s peace is not created by perfect circumstances; it grows through a willingness to remain present within the circumstances God has allowed.

Carry The Grace Into Daily Life

Before leaving, spend time reviewing the retreat. What prayer, Scripture passage, or realization seemed most important? What habit or relationship needs renewed attention? Identify one concrete practice you can continue at home, such as morning prayer, weekly participation in Mass, a period without devices, or regular spiritual reading.

Do not make an impractical list of resolutions. A retreat should lead to fidelity, not temporary enthusiasm followed by discouragement. One small promise kept consistently may bear more fruit than several ambitious plans. You might also write a short prayer that expresses the grace you hope to remember.

A private retreat can become the beginning of a deeper relationship with the monastery. Return for prayer when possible, follow community news, and support the monks according to your circumstances. Those who wish to help sustain the monastery and its planned chapel expansion can learn about ways to give, allowing their generosity to participate in the community’s continuing work.

Practices To Keep Your Retreat Focused

Contact Mother of the Redeemer Monastery to discuss a prayerful visit and determine how a private retreat may fit the community’s schedule. Come with humility, patience, and an open heart, ready to receive the quiet gifts of prayer, worship, and reflection in this Benedictine setting.