About the Saint Joseph Abbey Retreat Center
“Let all guests who arrive be received as Christ.”
For more than 50 years, the Saint Joseph Abbey Retreat Center has offered men and women the opportunity to step back from their busy lives and find quiet time for reflection and prayer on the beautiful 1,100 acres of Saint Joseph Abbey. The grounds are perfect for those who seek the peace and solitude of a monastic setting to develop their spirituality, as the surrounding grounds and pine forests offer opportunities for quiet and reflective leisure to all.
Abbey Retreats are open to all (18 and older), with a variety of programs available for men and women, married couples, and mixed groups. Abbey-hosted retreats include conferences presented by the monks of Saint Joseph Abbey, common prayer, and reconciliation. All Abbey Retreats are silent.
Outside groups also host retreats at the facility, including the Willwoods Community, which regularly hosts retreats for married couples. The Saint Joseph Abbey Retreat Center is a unique and quiet setting for your company meeting, parish retreat, or school event, and various organizations also use the facility on a regular basis.
More recently, the Retreat Center began hosting small funerals as well as post-funeral receptions. For gatherings of up to 60 people, the funeral Mass can take place in the Retreat Center Chapel and the post funeral meal/reception can be accommodated in the Retreat Center Refectory and the St. Thomas Aquinas Room. Rooms may also be available for overnight guests. Of course, this is dependent on availability.
The Retreat Center includes 30 guest rooms, which can accommodate up to 60 guests (double occupancy), a chapel, conference rooms, and a dining room. Meal service options are available in our onsite kitchen. With two separate conference rooms, the Retreat Center is ideal for outside organizations looking for meeting space. Our larger conference room can accommodate 70 guests, while smaller groups can fit comfortably in our second meeting room. Wifi is accessible throughout the Retreat Center, and audio-visual equipment is also available upon request. Overnight stays are not required for outside groups.
In 2017, the Retreat Center reopened after undergoing a $3.5 million overhaul. Improvements included new, larger bedrooms, each with a queen-size bed and pullout sleeper sofa, a larger private bathroom and an independent air conditioning/heating thermostat. All of the windows in the Retreat Center were upgraded to double-insulated glass, and the building maintained the original roof design in order to qualify for historic tax credits.
The Retreat Center is a member of the Association of Benedictine Retreat Centers.
Want to learn more? Call (985) 892-3473 or e-mail us at abbeyretreat@sjasc.edu.
Registration for all retreats is available by clicking the individual retreat category links, located on the upper left hand side of this page.
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Take a look at the photo carousel below and see the beautiful Retreat Center facility for yourself!
(Photos by Michael Palumbo)