You don't have to be a priest or nun to attend a retreat--you don't even have to be Catholic. I'm a lay person and I've become a kind of retreat groupie in recent years. I've taken many retreats, in Pennsylvania, upstate New York, and West Virginia, and want to urge you to give it a try. It's an affordable and nourishing way to spend time off.
Every one of my retreats has offered mini-miracles. One of the most recent took place at St. Emma's Benedictine Monastery in Greensburg, PA. Before my retreat, I had been thinking a lot about career and life direction and had told friends that I might be interested in a life coach. I encountered a woman standing by a window at the retreat center. When we spoke, she right away told me she was a coach. It also turned out that she lived in my neighborhood and attended my parish. We've quickly developed a delightful friendship and recently I assisted her in offering a professional retreat at the guesthouse where we met. I've now visited St. Emmas in fall, winter, and spring. My favorite was probably fall, because Mother Mary Ann was so kind to let me take home to my coworkers the unsprayed apples and pears from the orchard among the Stations of the Cross on the grounds. Other retreat centers I would recommend include: the beautiful nature-surrounded Paul VI Pastoral Center in Wheeling, W.Va (I love their tagline: Come to the Mountain...a place for ordinary people seeking simple access to God.) One of the brothers selects and performs really lovely music for the religious services. The Abbey of the Genesee in New York state is also an amazing natural spot, located adjacent to a sunflower farm. The psalms sung by the brothers there several times a day will resonate in your heart for a long time after leaving (their famous bread will, too).
Retreat centers vary, but you will generally be sleeping alone in a simple little room. The experience is not exceptionally social in the typical manner of extended small talk, nor is it exceptionally luxurious. Rules at also vary according to the particular center and program, but generally they boil down to: no mobile phones, computers, and the like. Honoring these rules, and your deep human need to unplug, will allow you to find the deep peace and sense of connection we all deserve and seek.
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