Please Note

Vaccination, masks and social distancing
required 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.

Monthly Book Talk via Zoom

Free • 3rd Saturday • 9:30 am - 12:00 pm

Dream Group: Language of the Soul via Zoom

$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.

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.

Taizé Prayer Service

Free • 3rd Sunday • 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Join us for our monthly Taizé Prayer Service in the Chapel.  This special service features sung and chanted prayers, meditation and personal reflection.  All are welcome!

A Time To Journal

A Time to Journal (the Second Saturday of the month) and the Progoff Journal Workshops:  Please contact Evelyn Wemhoff if you would like to participate. Call 503-845-9847 or email her here.

Supervision for Spiritual Directors via Zoom

$20 • 2nd Friday • 9:30 - 11:30 am

All spiritual directors are welcome to attend the monthly supervision 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.

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 regularly scheduled basis to share -- without interruptions or cross-talk -- whatever is gratifying us or amazing us or troubling us or puzzling us about the intersection of creativity and spirituality.

Click here to learn more and to register.

December 4, 2021
9:30am - 3:30pm
On-Site or Zoom, TBD
$50
Scholarships Available

"The Story of Ruth and the Season of Advent" presented by Nancy Hendricks

Advent is a time to prayerfully direct our minds and hearts to Christ’s coming at the end of time and to Christ’s presence in our everyday lives. During this retreat, we will spend time with the Book of Ruth, meditating on how to live under the impulse of the Spirit and how to participate in God’s creative power. We will use Joan Chittister’s book The Story of Ruth: Twelve Moments in Every Woman’s Life. Sister Joan describes those moments as: Loss, Change, Transformation, Aging, Independence, Respect, Recognition, Insight, Empowerment, Self-Definition, Invisibility and Fulfillment. Ruth is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.

About the Presenter
After a career farming vegetables and berries for over thirty years, Nancy Hendricks discerned to shift from feeding people’s bodies with food to journeying with people on their spiritual paths by leading retreats. Nancy received her Master’s in Pastoral Ministry in 2020 from the University of Portland. Nancy has been attending retreats at Shalom since the 1980s and is happy now to be able to lead retreats on a variety of topics.  
Note: This retreat is in memory of Janet Alsever, a friend of the Benedictine Sisters’ retreat ministry.

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 by Wednesday, December 1, 2021.

January 8, 2022
9:30am - 3:30pm
Chapter Room
$65 includes lunch and materials
Scholarships Available

"The Spirituality of Pope Francis and Its Implication on Our Lives" presented by Owen Cummings

This retreat will focus on the spirituality of Pope Francis, and especially his understanding of “accompaniment.” To achieve this purpose, we will present a biographical context for the Pope, and some understanding of his key encyclical letters. The Catholic blogosphere shows some criticism of the Holy Father and even at times some outright hostility. The retreat will attempt in charity to understand such positions also. By the end of the retreat day the hope is that all participants will embrace Pope Francis as the Catholic leader needed for our times.

Presenter: Deacon Owen Cummings, the Regent's Chair of Theology at Mount Angel Seminary in Saint Benedict, Oregon, is a native of Glasgow, Scotland.  Author of numerous spirituality/theology books, he received a doctor of divinity degree during the course of his studies in theology in Dublin, Ireland.

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To register and/or more information email us or call (503) 845-2556.  Send a check payable to Benedictine Sisters, Attn: Sr. Dorothy Jean, 840 S Main St., Mt. Angel, OR 97362.  Please register by January 4, 2022.

February 12, 2022
9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Chapter Room
$70
Includes Colvin's new book, materials and lunch
Scholarships Available

Making Contemplative Prayer Your Own Practice
presented by Geoff Colvin, Ph.D.

Contemplative prayer is a unique form of meditation, dating back many centuries, that focuses on an inward journey in silence to rest in the presence and action of God already dwelling within us.  Information and training will be presented on practical details for developing a personal practice with special emphasis on how contemplative prayer is to be lived throughout the day even for busy people. 

Presenter: Geoff Colvin, Ph.D., is a retired research associate and instructor from the University of Oregon in the Department of Education.  He now devotes his time to spiritual writing, conducting retreats, leading gatherings on contemplative prayer, and enjoying retirement.

Note:  Please bring materials for note taking.

To register, call 503 845-2556 or send a check payable to Benedictine Sisters, 840 S. Main St., Mount Angel, OR 97362, Attn: Sister Dorothy Jean Beyer, by February 7, 2022.

April 23, 2022
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Agatha Hall
$30 includes lunch
Scholarships Available

Seeing the Environment Through the Lens of Spirituality

The Benedictine Sisters are pleased to announce an upcoming all day symposium on the environment and spirituality to be held in Agatha Hall.  Starting at 9:00 a.m., staff members from Shalom at the Monastery will present their appreciation of nature’s ability to enrich and empower their spirituality.  In the afternoon, responders working within the environmental resources will discuss the bountiful gifts that their work safeguards.  Participants will be invited to dialogue within the topic.

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To register or for more information, email us or call (503) 845-2556 by April 15, 2022.

April 29 – May 1, 2022

3:30 p.m. Friday – 1:00 p.m. Sunday

Via Zoom

$99

Scholarships Available

“Teilhard de Chardin’s Mass on the World’ presented by Stephen Coffey, OSB Cam via Zoom

This weekend retreat will focus on Teilhard’s celebrated text Mass on the World.  We will explore each of the five sections of this prayer in separate conferences.  We will consider how the whole of this prayer emerges from the 5 themes of Teilhard’s mysticism, and how it prepares the reader for his later masterpiece The Divine Milieu.  Ample time for lectio divina and contemplation of the text will be provided.

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 formerly served on the staff of Shalom Prayer Center and together with Sister Antoinette Traeger, OSB, began the formation program in spiritual direction.

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To register or for more information, email us or call (503) 845-2556 by April 26, 2022.

May 6, 2022
1:00pm
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 Friday, May 6, 2022 at 1 p.m.  Please gather at the labyrinth at the west end of the Shalom building.

At 12:45 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.

May 7, 2022 (Spring) & October 8, 2022 (Autumn)

9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Outdoors / Chapter Room

$50 per session, includes lunch / Scholarships Available

“Exploring the Willamette Valley at Queen of Angels Monastery” presented by Gay Gomez, PhD.

This outdoor retreat will provide a guided bird hike in the morning and a tree/flower hike in the afternoon on the grounds of Queen of Angels Monastery situated in the Willamette Valley. Retreatants will enjoy discussions about the birds, trees and flowers that inhabit the monastery grounds as well as the ecosystem and geology of the monastery environs.

Presenter: Gay Gomez, PhD, is a retired professor of Geography, naturalist guide and author of two books on coastal wetlands.  She now devotes her time to nature study in western Oregon, gardening and sampling craft beers.

Note:  Please bring materials for note taking.  Binoculars are welcome but not required. Limited to 12 participants.  The retreat will be held rain or shine.

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To register or for more information, email us or call (503) 845-2556 by May 4, 2022.

August 12 – 14, 2022

3:30 p.m. Friday – 1:00 p.m. Sunday

Via Zoom

$99

Scholarships Available

“The Blue Sapphire of the Mind: Notes for a Contemplative Ecology” presented by Stephen Coffey, OSB Cam via Zoom

This retreat will focus on chapter 7 of Douglas E. Christie’s The Blue Sapphire of the Mind: Notes for a Contemplative Ecology.  We will consider the theme of Eros as it occurs in the classical Christian spirituality of the ancient Church.  We will explore the major sub-themes of exchange, intimacy and reciprocity from both psychological and spiritual perspectives and how this exploration contributes to a contemplative ecology.  Quotations from this chapter will be provided for 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 formerly served on the staff of Shalom Prayer Center and together with Sister Antoinette Traeger, OSB, began the formation program in spiritual direction.

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To register or for more information, email us or call (503) 845-2556 by August 9, 2022.