Workshops & Classes
Monthly Book Talk
Free • 3rd Saturday • 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
The group currently meets in person. Contact Sr. Dorothy Jean to join. Click here for a complete book list with meeting dates.
May 18, 2024 @ 9:30 a.m. Agatha Hall
Dream Group: Language of the Soul
$20 • 3rd Saturday • 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Listening to dreams in a group can help us pay attention to God's presence in image and word in our awakened life. Presenter is Clara Jean Dawson.
May 18, 2024 @ 10:00 a.m. Dining Room
Please Note
Vaccination and social distancing
required (Mask are optional). for all attending retreats and workshops in-person at Queen of Angels Monastery. We greatly appreciate your help and support in keeping the sisters and guests safe.
Prayer of the Heart
Free • 3rd Tuesday • 3:30 - 4:30 pm
All are welcome to join this contemplative prayer group. Meetings take place in the Chapel, located on the second floor of the Hospitality Center.
May 21, 2024 @ 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
The Creative-Spiritual Life Circle via Zoom
Free • 3rd Saturday • 1:15 - 2:30 pm • Zoom
A Benedictine-centered discussion group whose concept is simple: people who gather together on a regular to share, without interruptions, whatever is gratifying us or amazing us or troubling us or puzzling us about the intersection of creativity and spirituality. September through May.
Click here to learn more and to register.
May 18, 2024 @ 1:15 p.m. via Zoom
Ongoing Formation for Spiritual Companions
2nd Friday • 9:30 - 11:30 am
All spiritual directors are welcome to attend the monthly meetings for on-going formation and education featuring lively discussions of pertinent spirituality topics, prayer and skills of the ministry. Meetings taking place via Zoom.
May 10, 2024 @ 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. via Zoom
Retreats & Events
April 27, 2024
1:00 - 4:00 pm
Chapter Room
$25
Snacks and Beverages Provided
Children of War - Reflection, Prayer, Response
presented by Susan Black & Mary Blankenship
Join us for an interactive experience of reflection, prayer, awareness and response about the reality of war’s impact on the children of the world. We will open ourselves to the horror of that reality ... acknowledge the helplessness that it can engender in us ... but most importantly, focus on concrete steps we can take as individuals to nurture hope for the entire world. “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me."
Our time together will be guided by Susan Black and Mary Blankenship, Oblates of Queen of Angels Monastery and experienced Shalom at the Monastery retreat leaders.
To register, call 503 845-2556 or send a check payable to Benedictine Sisters, Attn: Sister Dorothy Jean, 840 S. Main St., Mt. Angel, OR 97362, three days before the retreat.
May 4, 2024
2:00pm
Outdoor Labyrinth, West End of Shalom Building
FREE
World Labyrinth Day: Take Steps Together for Peace
The Benedictine Sisters at Shalom at the Monastery invite you to walk with them their outdoor labyrinth on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at 2 p.m. Please gather at the labyrinth at the west end of the Shalom building.
At 1:45 p.m., there will be a brief explanation of the Peace Walk on the labyrinth. We will then walk the 20-minute Silent Peace Walk, using the format of Benedictines For Peace. Following the walk, refreshments will be served in the Benedictine Sisters' dining room. All are welcome!
To register, call Sister Dorothy Jean Beyer, (503) 845-2556 or email her here.
June 22, 2024
9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Chapter Room
$50
Snacks/Beverages Provided,
Bring Your Own Lunch
Aging: The Open Door to the Rest of Your Life guided by Susan Black
“The Lord opened a door of opportunity for me.”
2 Corinthians 2:12
“When one door closes, another opens;
but we often look so long and so regretfully
upon the closed door
that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”
Alexander Graham Bell
Are you standing in the liminal space between the closed door of a known past and the open door to an unknown future?
This retreat is designed to help you see the opportunity presented by the open door of aging. If you regard aging as an integral part of God’s gift of life, you can be confident about stepping through that door. How can you support and sustain that confidence? By creating your own Credo of Aging -- a statement of beliefs and approaches that will help you flourish in a new and meaningful stage of life.
This retreat will be a time of personal discovery. Using a variety of creative and spiritual tools, you will review what has brought you to this time of transition. You will design your Credo, an approach to the future that is uniquely yours, because it will be based on your own history and your own aspirations.
Aging is an experience that is both universal and unique. As part of the mortal human community, we all take a journey from birth through life until death. As unique individuals, we take this journey in ways that no one else ever has, or ever will. And along the way, we encounter challenge and opportunity, success and failure, joy and sorrow, clarity and deep mystery. Doors close, doors open, paths unfurl ahead of us and detours and crossroads abound. Always -- if we are paying attention -- there are questions about the meaning of life, and how to fulfill it, how to honor what God has freely given us. Whenever these questions come upon us, that is the time to begin engaging with them. This retreat may be your time.
The retreat will be guided by Susan Black, who has led our monthly Zoom-based discussion group, the Creative/Spiritual Life Circle, since 2021. In 2023, she conducted three well-received retreats: “Enter the New Year with Joy”, “The Virtue of Holy Surprise” and “Finding Treasure in Ancient Practices: Walking the Labyrinth and Making Mandalas”. Susan is an Oblate, an artist and a writer; to learn more about her, go to the website www.BlackStarStudio.me.
To register, call 503 845-2556 or send a check payable to Benedictine Sisters, Attn: Sister Dorothy Jean, 840 S. Main St., Mt. Angel, OR 97362, three days before the retreat.
August 16-18, 2024
3:00 pm Friday - 1:00 pm Sunday
Chapter Room or by Zoom
$95 Zoom, $99 Commuter
Scholarships Available
Love Was His Meaning: The Spirituality of Julian Norwich presented by Stephen Coffey, OSB Cam
This retreat will explore major themes from Julian of Norwich's spiritual masterpiece Revelations of Divine Love. Julian was a 14th-century English anchoress living in seclusion in her native Norwich. She experienced a series of 16 revelations of Christ Crucified while on her sickbed and spent the next decades of her life reflecting on their meaning. She is known for her profound saying: "Indeed all manner of thing shall be very well!" The retreat will provide time for Lectio Divina on selections of her text as well as time for personal prayer and reflection.
Stephen Coffey, OSB Cam, is an ordained monk of the Camaldolese community of California. He is engaged in extensive retreat ministry as well as spiritual direction for priests, religious, and laity. He has given many well-received retreats at Shalom at the Monastery.
To register, call Benedictine Sisters, 503 845-2556 or send a check payable to Benedictine Sisters, Attention: Sister Dorothy Jean, 840 S. Main St., Mt. Angel, OR 97362, three days before the retreat.
September 14, 2024
9:30 am - 3:30 pm
Chapter Room
$50
Bring Your Own Lunch
Benedictine Monastic Spirituality & Ecological Wisdom presented by Nancy Hendricks
Benedictine Monastic Spirituality & Ecological Wisdom: The ways that living according to the Rule of Benedict can guide us in our care for the earth.
Benedictine monastic wisdom and spirituality to guide us as we explore ways to care for God's great gift to us: Earth and all of creation. Scripture, The Rule of St. Benedict, and the long monastic tradition will guide us in ways to live in harmony.
Presenter: Nancy Hendricks, MA from University of Portland, Oblate of Queen of Angels Monastery, and retreat presenter is creating a 2-acre peace garden with her husband.
To register, call 503 845-2556 or send a check payable to Benedictine Sisters, Attn: Sister Dorothy Jean, 840 S. Main St., Mt. Angel, OR 97362, three days before the retreat.
October 5, 2024
9:30 am - 3:30 pm
Chapter Room
$50
Includes Supplies, Bring Your Own Lunch
Scholarships Available
Finding Treasure in Ancient Practices: Walking the Labyrinth and Making Mandalas presented by Susan Black
What treasure do we seek in our lives, and where can it be found?
As people of faith, we seek God, the ultimate treasure. And our faith tells us that God can always be found, anywhere and everywhere, including within ourselves. “Seek and you shall find,” the Gospel assures us. The search can be daunting! We often shy away from the kind of deep introspection that can lead to true self-knowledge and reveal God’s intimate presence. But remember that the Gospel also assures us: “Do not be afraid.”
In this retreat, first offered last December, you will learn about two time-honored practices known for their ability to bring us closer to God. You will discover how to fold these meditative practices into your lives, gently and easily. You will enjoy time spent walking the Monastery’s labyrinth (accessible alternatives available), making your own mandalas (all materials supplied) and sharing new experiences with others also seeking to find the treasure that is God.
Your time with these ancient but ever-fresh practices will be facilitated by Susan Black, who also leads our monthly Zoom-based discussion group, the Creative/Spiritual Life Circle. An Oblate, an artist and a writer, Susan frequently presents retreats at Shalom. To learn more about her, go to the website www.BlackStarStudio.me.
To register, call 503 845-2556 or send a check payable to Benedictine Sisters, Attn:
Sister Dorothy Jean, 840 S. Main St., Mt. Angel, OR 97362, three days before the
retreat.
November 9, 2024
1:00 - 4:00 pm
Chapter Room
$25
Snacks Provided
The Spirituality of Dorothy Day presented by Nancy Hendricks
Dorothy's Catholic Worker movement applied the teachings of the Gospel to daily living. Dorothy's love of Scripture, particularly the Psalms, kept her fed during her passionately lived life. We will explore this modern-day prophet and her continuing influence in our world.
Presenter: Nancy Nendricks, MA from University of Portland, Oblate of Queen of Angels Monastery, and retreat presenter is creating a 2-acre peace garden with her husband.
To register, call 503 845-2556 or send a check payable to Benedictine Sisters, Attn: Sister Dorothy Jean, 840 S. Main St., Mt. Angel, OR 97362, three days before the retreat.
January 11, 2025
9:30 am - 2:30 pm
Chapter Room
$40
Snacks Provided, Bring Your Own Lunch
Scholarships Available
The Way of the Cross - A Prayer for All Seasons guided by Susan Black
Though tied by tradition to the season of Lent, the ancient prayer practice of the Way of the
Cross offers rich spiritual opportunities at any time of the year. The Cross is the symbol of the
redemptive power of Jesus. The Cross is the means by which the joy of our salvation is
achieved. Through the Way, we have the opportunity to consider what we pray at Mass: “Save
us, Savior of the world, for by Your Cross and Resurrection, you have set us free.”
This retreat will offer a fresh experience of being with Jesus -- walking, reflecting and praying
with Him as He is condemned to death, as He makes His tortured way through Jerusalem to
Golgotha, as He consoles His Mother, as He encounters the kindness of Veronica and the grief of
the women of Jerusalem, as He weakens, stumbles and falls, as He is crucified, dies and is buried. Our faith tells us that death is not the end, that it is the necessary door to eternal life, that
the Resurrection belongs to Jesus and to us. Facing the reality of Jesus’s death helps deepen our
belief in this mystery.
Participants will be able to follow the Way using the Monastery’s own unique installations: the
outdoor version (on the path to the Benedictine Sisters Cemetery) and the wall plaques designed for indoor display. These meditative art resources were reverently crafted by Sister Angela Meister, OSB. She followed in the footsteps of many artists who, over the centuries, were inspired to convey the sufferings of Jesus. Examples of such interpretations will be presented as an additional prayerful approach to bringing the Way of the Cross into our daily lives.
This retreat, a version of which was offered last Lent, will be guided by Susan Black, an Oblate
who frequently leads retreats and discussions through Shalom at the Monastery retreat ministry.
To register, call 503 845-2556 or send a check payable to Benedictine Sisters, Attn: Sister Dorothy Jean, 840 S. Main St., Mt. Angel, OR 97362, three days before the retreat.