Group Retreats at the Monastery
Offering Solitude, Silence & Reflection
Sponsored Retreats available for guests who have been fully vaccinated.
A monastery is a perfect place for solitude, silence, reflection, and spiritual renewal. We invite you to come walk the grounds around Queen of Angels, in Mt. Angel, Oregon. Come, seek peace, pray, be still, reflect on your life and your journey with God. Take time to read, pray in one of our lovely gardens. We look forward to welcoming you in the Benedictine tradition, that all guests are received as Christ. We welcome people of all faiths, seeking God and peace.
Group Retreats
Shalom at the Monastery Sponsored Retreats
The Benedictine Sisters sponsor a number of retreats throughout the year. Below is the calendar of all upcoming workshops and sponsored retreats.
Workshops & Classes
Monthly Book Talk
Free • Monastery Dining Room • 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 16, 2026
June 20, 2026
Prayer of the Heart
Free • Chapel • 3:00 - 4:00 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 18, 2026
Ongoing Formation for Spiritual Companions
2nd Friday • Zoom • 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 8, 2026
The Creative-Spiritual Life Circle via Zoom
Free • Zoom • 1:15 - 2:30 pm
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 16, 2026
Retreats & Events
June 20, 2026
9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Hybrid, Zoom or Chapter Room
$45 in person / $25 via Zoom
Bring Your Own Lunch, Beverages and Snacks Provided
Accepting the Call To Be a Messenger of Hope Led by Susan Black
Through our witness, may hope spread to all those who anxiously seek it.
May the way we live our lives say to them in so many words:
“Hope in the Lord!
Hold firm, take heart and hope in the Lord!” (Ps. 27:14)
These are challenging words from our late beloved Pope Francis. They invite us to embrace the responsibility and the opportunity to carry the God's powerful message of hope to everyone we encounter, in every part of our lives. Doing so will make a difference, may make all the difference, in a world that is suffering in so many ways.
Accepting the call to be messengers of hope means taking on a vocation ... turning our belief in God’s promise of salvation into concrete actions ... bringing enthusiasm to the here-and-now of daily life ... using our gifts and talents for others as God intends: to convey love, to foster growth and to serve ... looking forward to eternity with confidence.
Accepting any call, any vocation, takes discernment and discipline. Today’s challenges heighten the demands on those who choose hope as their focus, and ongoing nurturing is necessary. This retreat will inspire and empower participants to live up to the task, knowing that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
Presenter: Susan Black is a writer and artist, and an Oblate of Queen of Angels Monastery. Through Shalom, she leads the monthly Creative/Spiritual Life Circle discussion group (now in its fifth year) and frequently designs and offers retreats.
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. Please include your email address.
Saturdays: June 27,
Oct. 10, Nov. 28, 2026
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Chapter Room
$20 per Saturday
Service of the Seasons presented by Gay Gomez, Ph.D
Rituals, religious and secular, punctuate the flow of life’s cycles and seasons, reminding us of our connections to the Divine, to each other, and to the gifts of Creation. They invite us to step away from our everyday routines, to slow down, and to contemplate these meaningful connections in memorable ways.
This retreat series, which consists of the four seasons, offers participants both prayerful indoor time and an opportunity for guided nature observation and quiet reflection on the monastery grounds. Each session will celebrate the arrival of the new season with a brief “service” of Scripture readings, prayers and thoughtful commentary from God’s Good Earth: Praise and Prayer for Creation. After the outdoor time, we will reconvene briefly to reflect on our experience. Please join us for one, several, or all of our gatherings, which will be held rain or shine.
Presenter: Gay Gomez, Ph.D., is a retired professor of geography, an occasional retreat presenter and naturalist guide, and oblate inquirer of Queen of Angels Monastery, Mount Angel.
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. Please include your email address.
August 15, 2026
9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Chapter Room
$45
Scholarships Available
Monastic Women: Finding and Using Our Voice presented by Susan Black
Who are “monastic women”? Quite simply, women applying the attributes of the
monastic life -- prayer and contemplation, service to God and God’s people, truth,
a dedicated way of individual and community life -- to their own search for God
and to their own circumstances.
Monastic women have always existed, whether as professed religious or lay
women in any walk of life. They dwell on a continuum of spiritual life that began
in early antiquity and developed in a rich number of forms throughout history,
leading to the breadth of possibilities that exist in the present day. One of those
forms, introduced by Saints Benedict and Scholastica early in the 6 th century,
thence to spread throughout the world, has flowed with special vigor through
Queen of Angels since its founding some 140 years ago.
Monastic women, like all women, have always had voice. Attempts to silence or
minimize that voice -- all those voices, as each woman’s is unique and distinct -- is
an improper use of God-given human energy. In contrast, identifying, developing
and amplifying monastic women’s voices is a prophetic endeavor, one that this
retreat invites you to embrace.
Presenter: Oblate Susan Black, leader of Shalom retreats and the monthly
Creative/Spiritual Life Circle discussion group. Susan is 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. Please include your email address. Bring your own lunch. Beverages/snacks provided.
October 24, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Chapter Room
$50
Noticing Awe and Wonder: A Contemplative Art & Prayer Retreat presented by Val Hornburg
Join us for a day of prayerful contemplation and creativity, celebrating and delighting in the beauty of the fall season.
We will use the sacred art of creating no-fail collaged Prayer cards (personal icon-like cards that draw deep wisdom from our hearts and souls) and quiet visual prayer practices, to listen deeply to the whispers of our loving God.
All supplies provided.
Please bring a sack lunch.
Val Hornburg is a Spiritual Director, retreat leader, SoulCollage® and Labyrinth facilitator specializing in Creative Prayer and Expression. valzhornburg@gmail.com
Val lives with her husband Bill Zuelke in Portland, OR. Together they host an annual "Doorways to Your Soul" retreat at Mt. Angel Abbey Guesthouse.
November 14, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Chapter Room
$25
Hospitality as Sacred Art presented by Nancy Hendricks
Hospitality is the foundation of Benedictine spirituality. Opening our hearts to others as St. Benedict wisely taught is the path of hospitality. We start with hospitality towards ourselves, then comes the deep listening and companionship with others. We will explore the many aspects of Hospitality as a Sacred Art, learning from those who have demonstrated this art throughout history.
Presenter: Nancy Hendricks, MA, OblSB, received her master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry from the University of Portland. She now spends time presenting retreats, being active with the QAM oblate community as its coordinator, creating a 2-acre peace garden with her husband, and spending time with her family.
To register and/or more information, call 503 845-2556 or send a check payable to Benedictine Sisters, Attn. Sister Dorothy Jean Beyer, 840 S. Main St., Mount Angel, OR 97362, or email dorothyjeanb7@gmail.com. Please register 3 days before the retreat. Include your email and phone number.
January 9, 2027
9:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Chapter Room
$45
Behold Your Mother: a Retreat on Mary
presented by Susan Black & Sr. Dorothy Jean Beyer, OSB
More details coming soon...
April 24, 2027
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Chapter Room
$25
Eco-spirituality,a path to our relationship with God presented by Nancy Hendricks
Eco-spirituality, or spiritual ecology, is the recognition that all life is imbued with a universal Spirit, that which we call Christ. Eco-spirituality recognizes that all creation is sacred. As Pope Francis said in Laudato Si, we are all connected. This includes microcosms to the vast cosmos and everything in between. We recognize the presence of God in all places. How do we engage with the natural world and what practices can we adapt to nurture our relationship with creation, and by extension, our relationship with God?
Presenter: Nancy Hendricks, MA, OblSB, received her master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry from the University of Portland. She now spends time presenting retreats, being active with the QAM oblate community as its coordinator, creating a 2-acre peace garden with her husband, and spending time with her family.
To register and/or more information, call 503 845-2556 or send a check payable to Benedictine Sisters, Attn. Sister Dorothy Jean Beyer, 840 S. Main St., Mount Angel, OR 97362, or email dorothyjeanb7@gmail.com. Please register 3 days before the retreat. Include your email and phone number.