Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, West Hartford, CT: Lectio Divina

Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, West Hartford, CT: Lectio Divina

Pillars & Foundations documents an exploration of communities, as well as faith through religious institutions. My intent is to share experiences, and spread the positivity that I observe. 

Campus Description

Holy Family Retreat Center is located in a bucolic suburb of Hartford Connecticut. Still decidedly urban the monastery and an expansive, mostly wooded grounds is seated amongst an idyllic upper middle class neighborhood. Forty-eight acres of grounds offer a refuge from the bustle to visitors as well as the people in the community, to which it is open. Trails meander through the forest, and visitors can appreciate thoughtful landscaping and features that include the stations of the cross, grottos and various statues of saints and Christ. One particularly striking feature on the property is a large landscaped labyrinth located on a clearing in the forest. I found it covered in snow on my visit, and I still chose to mindfully follow the path to its center, taking in the winter serenity.

The campus is home to several organizations beyond the Passionist Retreat Center. These include the Copper Beech Institute offers mindfulness workshops and retreats. The Monastery Gallery of Art provides an interfaith art gallery with changing exhibits. The Spiritual Life Center is a group that allows people of diverse faith backgrounds to organize and pursue deeper meaning through exploration of spirituality.






History of Holy Family Monastery & Retreat Center


Holy Family has been operated by the Passionists since 1951 as a place where people can (courtesy of website) "quiet their minds, nourish their spirits, and explore their relationship with God." The Passionists are an organization of priests, brothers, Passionist women and lay people that perform charitable work throughout the world. The Passionists were founded in 1720 by St. Paul of the Cross in order to teach people how to pray. I suppose the activities on this campus today are an ideal derivative of that original purpose.

Lectio Divina


 I attended a day workshop on the practice of Lectio Divina at Holy Family Retreat. This workshop was performed in association with the Contemplative Outreach organization based out of New Jersey which offers various Contemplative Christianity activities and provides resources and networking opportunities to those with interests or who practice. The workshop guided participants through four approaches to the practice of Lectio Divina, according to renowned Contemplative, Fr. Thomas Keating. Lectio Divina means Divine Reading. Contemplative Outreach information provided as part of the workshop states that this method of prayer owes origins to Haggadah which is an interactive interpretation of the scripture according to Hebrew tradition. In brief the practice is a meditative procession described as "reading, reflecting, responding, and resting" in God. The course also detailed how this meditative practice could also be applied to non scripture related life events.

 The course was interactive with participants, set in a warm inviting setting where people shared thoughts and questions in a circle. It was divided with a delicious meal which came as part of the reasonable cost of the workshop. The meal was all vegetarian, and as someone who typically eats meat I was not all disappointed. Several in the class were those who practice meditation of the eastern tradition, which often correlates to vegetarianism, and so it is logical that the retreat chooses to only serve vegetarian dishes.

 I'd certainly attend another workshop activity here as I found it relaxing, informative, intellectual, and very enjoyable.







Text and photographs by George Parks
Sources are embedded in links


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