As you walk around the pond, birds chirp and the brisk spring air blows through your hair. You share in delicious meals, and you have the chance to reflect and meditate on your life and grow closer to God. This is a typical scene at Arnold Hall, a conference center run by Opus Dei. Many older high school students have visited Arnold Hall for the Sophomore Symposium. Throughout the year, Arnold Hall holds retreats, workshops and lectures for enrichment. High school girls can attend specific retreats as well. They go from 8pm on Friday to 2pm on Sunday. The next retreat is April 28-30. Typically, the retreat weekend is full of different lectures, meditations (times of prayer led by the chaplain) and classes.

I attended a retreat in the fall, and it was a really enriching experience. Not only was I able to have a relaxing weekend and learn things from the classes and meditations, but also I was able to meet people from all over the east coast. For me, it was a great weekend to grow in my faith, learn new things, and make new friends. I went on this retreat with Regina Crevier ‘18, Veronica Salvaggio ‘19, and Cece Whitlock ‘19. We bonded together during the weekend, and met other people.

The retreat was also a great time to grow closer to God through prayer, reflection and lecture. At Montrose, we are occupied with school work and after school activities, making it sometimes difficult to find time to pray and reflect on our own. Going on this retreat gave us an opportunity to be away from all the awesome craziness that comes with being a Montrosian, and really focus on ourselves and our personal relationship with God.

Regina Crevier ‘18 said, “I loved being in silence during times at adoration or meditations. You could really feel the peace and had the time to think or pray about anything. It really contrasted with the times at lunch or dinner or the talks at night where we were all talking and sharing stories. It’s hard to decide to go away for a weekend because many people would rather be doing other things and might not have time. I was thinking that too, but by the end of the weekend I was really grateful I could go, create goals for myself in the future, and have the time to get away from stress and anxiety and relax and focus on myself and God.”  

I really recommend taking the time to go on a retreat. At first, I was not very excited; I did not want to waste my weekend, because as we know, time on the weekend is precious. But the retreat turned out to be a really enriching experience that I still benefit from today. If you are interested in going on April 28-30, you can register on the Arnold Hall website, arnoldhall.com. If you have any questions about the retreat, don’t hesitate to ask me or one of the girls who went on it with me.