Popularity of retreats rising in U.S.

On the Net: www.findthedivine.com

By staff and wire reports

There are no CDs and no caffeine, only contemplation when youth from Immaculate Conception parish in Jackson go on a retreat.

The youth will spend three days next weekend near Lesterville, Mo., in a time of work, play and prayer.

"We try to give them a balance," said Kim Sellers, youth minister.

The youth will complete a service project during the weekend, spend time in recreation and games and in prayer. They've just come back from a youth conference with 2,000 people. The retreat includes just 10 from the parish.

The retreat helps them put their lives in perspective, Sellers said. "They're beginning to understand the gist of it. Most adults don't get it."

People all across the country are going on spiritual retreats, according to directors of monasteries, convents and other retreat centers. Getting away to get in touch, they are flocking to such places to spend two to 10 days in reflection, meditation and prayer.

The retreats are made by adherents of many different denominations as well as those with no religious affiliation. Some are people in transition -- recently divorced or widowed. Some are facing major decisions. Some are marking a milestone birthday.

But the biggest draw, it seems, is savoring the increasingly elusive experience of silence.

"Part of finding your God is finding yourself," said Phil Stone, 60, a Great Falls real estate consultant who has made regular retreats for a dozen years. "And one way of finding yourself is in peace and quiet. It's not necessarily where you go, but that you are alone and in quiet."

That's why Sellers doesn't let the youth bring along CDs and headphone sets or any caffeine. They spend the weekend alone "with themselves and with Jesus and with others," she said.

The retreat center isn't far from Johnson Shut-Ins, but "it's so pristine and clean it's like your in God's country," Sellers said.

To help people find retreat centers, Stone started a Web site, www.findthedivine.com, a little over two years ago. "This thing has really exploded," he said of his site, which lists more than 1,200 places across the country and got 300,000 hits in May.

In addition, an updated version of Marcia and Jack Kelly's "Sanctuaries: A Guide to Lodgings in Monasteries, Abbeys and Retreats," first published in the early 1990s, is about to be reissued because of interest in the retreat experience. "People who 10 years ago brushed it off," said Marcia Kelly, "are now beginning to say, you know, this makes sense."

Stephens said that retreats are appealing for both practical and spiritual reasons. "People find their lives are noisy, hectic, scattered and they want a break, they want a little peace," he said. More important, the Jesuit priest said, "people are looking for answers to ultimate issues: life, death, why am I here, what should I be doing? How should I make an important decision in my life? ... They want a chance to listen to their heart."

Most retreat centers have a "suggested donation" for a stay, which generally includes the cost of meals, but most do not turn people away if they cannot afford the donation. An eight-day retreat at Loyola, for example, costs $360 and a weekend retreat at Dominican is $230.

A large number of retreat centers are Catholic, partly because of the denomination's extensive network of convents and monasteries and partly because of its long-established retreat tradition. But non-Catholics are welcome in most places. "It's not something we inquire about," said Brother Benedict Simmonds at Holy Cross Abbey in Berryville, Va., a monastery of 25 Trappist monks. "We welcome people of all faiths and of no faith."

Features editor Laura Johnston and the Washington Post wire service contributed to this report.