2025 Retreats and Programs
SILENT RETREATS:
3-Day Silent Retreats:
January 21-23
March 11-13
April 8-10
June 3-5
September 30-October 2
November 4-6
$395 pp, private room
Includes home-cooked meals, spiritual direction
4-Day Silent Retreat:
February 20-23, "Women's Winter Weekend Retreat"
$495 pp, private room
Includes home-cooked meals, spiritual direction
Spiritual Directors Yvonne Prowse, Jane McDonell
6-Day Silent Retreats:
July 8-13
July 17-22
October 21-26
$895 Ensuite, $800 Standard private rooms
Includes home-cooked meals, spiritual direction
8-Day Silent Retreat:
July 25-August 1
$1195 Ensuite, $1085 Standard private rooms
Includes home-cooked meals, spiritual direction
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THEMED RETREATS:
Yoga Retreat:
March 7-9
$495 private, $400 shared, $325 commuter
Includes home-cooked meals
Facilitator Vivian Palin
Come to a weekend of gentle, embodied prayer. Just as Earth (here in the north) begins to emerge from winter sleep, in this guided retreat, we will gently listen to our awakening energies. Vivian approaches yoga as prayer, and will lead slow-paced, yin yoga sessions infused with some prayerful readings guiding us to listen more deeply to the Spirit. If the weather is suitable a guided meditative walk in the natural beauty outdoors may be possible. Vivian is a gentle, grounded guide, attentive to all participants in our homey setting. You will have ample free time between sessions to enjoy the beautiful land and lake, rest by the fireplace, read, nap, and re-connect with you deeper self and Spring awakening within you.
This is a contemplative retreat with periods of silence. No yoga experience is needed, and this is fully acceptable for people of all ages and people with injuries. Note: space is limited, so register soon for this rare treat.
Vivian Palin is a widely experienced gentle-flow Yogini (yoga master) also trained in restorative yoga. An Anglican who also belongs to an ashram, Vivian brings a depth of spirituality to her yoga practice, and a unique ability to bridge the gifts of East and West. She has taught in varied settings from fitness center to private homes to retreat center to her own yoga studio. She leads with joy and deep grounding in the Spirit.
Jesus Died For My Sins...?
Lenten Retreat:
March 21-23
$495 private, $400 shared, $325 commuter
Includes home-cooked meals
Facilitator Cynthia Crysdale
What does it mean to believe that the death of Jesus brings new life?
The concept is central to the Christian gospel. It is a deeply freeing and grounding belief for many, literally the source of Easter joy. Unfortunately, an emphasis on punishment and suffering has at times yielded a spirituality that is oppressive or even at times harmful. A few key points of theology can help us shed the punitive and oppressive sides of this teaching and grow into a more transformative and healing life in the Spirit.
In this silent, guided retreat, we will break open the mystery of this core belief of Jesus’ death and new life. We will reflect on a few key teachings and consider our own personal stories and journeys… as we seek to live into a generative and healing view of Christ’s work years ago and the Spirit’s transformation in us today.
Dr. Cynthia Crysdale is a theologian, teacher and spiritual director. She has authored books and articles on this topic dear to her heart, including: Embracing Travail: Retrieving the Cross Today (Continuum, 1999), Transformed Lives: Making Sense of Atonement Today (Church Publishing, 2016). She co-authored Creator God Evolving World (Fortress, 2013) with Neil Ormerod. She is Professor Emerita of Christian Ethics and Theology at the School of Theology at the University of the South, in Tennessee, where she first began her practice of spiritual direction. Cindy is also a mother and grandmother residing in Ontario.
Celebrating Earth Day with Awe and Wonder:
April 22
4:30-7:00pm
Meet in the Sensory Garden across from Edgar House
$20 per person
Includes a simple home-cooked supper
Facilitator Heidi Matthews
As children we were filled with awe and wonder at creation, able to find delight in the smallest of beings – a bug, a stick, a dandelion. As adults though, we often forget that we were graced with that awe and wonder, and in our busy lives the gift sits on the shelf - unused much of the time. Come join us at Loretto Maryholme on Earth Day to celebrate creation as part of a global collective. In our time together, you will be guided in walking the land, pausing here and there to reflect and pray in silence with various aspects of creation and its Creator. This meditative walk will be followed by a simple supper lovingly prepared by one of our local chefs.
Heidi Matthews is a spiritual director, trained in Ignatian and eco-spirituality. She has directed silent retreats at Loyola House in Guelph and Villa St Martin in Montreal and has co-facilitated themed/guided retreats. Heidi also trained and worked in agriculture and continues to support small, local farms as an "eater". Her combined love of Spirit and the Earth is evident in the labyrinth she built in her front yard. She is especially drawn to nurturing awe and wonder as a way of deepening one’s relationship with Holy Mystery.
Celtic Spirituality Retreat:
May 1-4
$595 private, $495 shared, $395 commuter
Includes home-cooked meals
Awe, Wonder, New Life
- A Retreat Welcoming Spring
May 6-8, 2025
Arrival from 3pm for Opening Gathering at 5:30pm
Departure 1pm after lunch
$495 private, $400 shared, $325 commuter
Facilitator Yvonne Prowse
Spring: a time of waking, regeneration, seeds breaking open, new life, new light and longer days, resurrection. So much to celebrate. Here at Maryholme we will see newborn kit foxes; bees will pollinate apple blossoms; cardinals will sing their hearts out; the lake waters will warm and enliven many inhabitants. All of these give us pause as they engender awe in us. Experiences of awe and wonder in the natural world have been scientifically proven to benefit our physical and mental health. The ancient Eastern practice of Forest Bathing, and common relationships with pets are both known to enhance our well-being. We are built for intimate relationship with Creation.
In this silent, guided retreat we will contemplatively explore and savour the wonders of Spring in Maryholme’s beautiful setting. We will reflect on teachings from spiritual traditions and science as we seek the wisdom embedded in Creation and its healing – and joy – for ourselves, for our world. We will consider our own personal journeys of relationship with nature and ask what Spring may be bringing forth in us.
Bountiful Earth! A Harvest Retreat:
September 19-23
Arrival from 3pm for Opening Gathering 5:30pm, Departure 1pm after lunch
$685 private, $545 shared, $465 commuter
Includes home-cooked meals and workshop supplies
Facilitator Yvonne Prowse
Autumn: abundant life comes forth from Earth; a feast of beautiful foods, while fall coloursadorn the trees. Some of us love Autumn for this fecundity and beauty; others find the waning light touches on loss. Humans have celebrated the harvest throughout time – giving thanks and also claiming hope in another Spring to come.
In this retreat we will actively contemplate the gifts of the Earth while we harvest apples fromour heritage trees and preserve them. We’ll take some guidance from the monastic rhythm, gently moving between prayer, reflection, time in the orchard and kitchen. And rest… lots of rest… all to steep ourselves in the beauty and wisdom of Earth. Our reflection will include teachings from spiritual traditions and science that enlighten the wisdom embedded in Creation. We will also turn to our own experience and consider our own personal journeys of relationship with nature, listening for what Autumn is offering each of us.
Silence will ground this retreat, with communication as needed for activities. With a contemplative stance, our chef will guide us in preserving the apples (…well, those we don’t eat along the way) using other local ingredients. Think apple cider vinegar, applesauce, cake, crisp…. Retreatants will go home with some of those treats, along with refreshed spirits and a renewed sense of gratitude for all the gifts Autumn bestows upon us.
Celtic Spirituality Retreat:
October 30-November 2
$595 private, $495 shared, $395 commuter
Includes home-cooked meals
Spiritual Memoir Retreat:
November 18-20
$495 private, $400 shared, $325 commuter
Includes home-cooked meals
Advent Retreat:
December 5-7
$495 private, $400 shared, $325 commuter
Includes home-cooked meals
Facilitator Yvonne Prowse
More retreats & events to be added to our website soon - stay tuned!
To register please email [email protected]
Resources for a Winter Pilgrim...
Here at Loretto Maryholme we are beginning to lean into the slowing down pace that nature invites us to at this time of year. In this space of restoration and dreaming and waiting on Mystery it is good to have life giving companions dwell with us. In the Maryholme tradition of inviting you into sacred places of rest and renewal we would like to offer these links to some of the resources we have found helpful as we all learn to live into this new way of being.
We pray it might be food for journey....
