Cars creep slowly along as drivers peer at the street signs. Surely, the sylvan retreat center they’re searching for can’t be here–in the middle of a bustling, upscale subdivision. Finally, at the end of yet another winding lane, wedged between two mini-mansions with twin basketball hoops in the driveway, the iron gates of Loretto Conference Center come into view.
Peace, at last.
The scene plays out daily in Stonehedge, on the western edge of Wheaton. Most people find the leafy Loretto complex before giving up hope. They’re anxious, even aching, to get there. A few hours or days of rest and reflection sound so sweet. Even lifesaving.
Each year, thousands of people flock to retreat centers across the Chicago suburbs. They come to pray, to study, to paint, to sit quietly in the shade. Sometimes all they want is a chance to be alone.
The stomach-churning stress of modern life dissolves beside the glimmering ponds that roll down the hill from Resurrection Center in Woodstock. Wide lawns melt into woods. A large prayer labyrinth made of bricks peeks through the grass.
Tense, pinched faces are nothing new to Jim Ivers, the director of Resurrection. He’s been watching them loosen up at the spiritual haven for 25 years. Ivers coordinates a constant flow of groups and individuals looking for inspiration in a setting away from the normal, daily buzz.
“We knew from the start we had to maximize use of the place,” Ivers said. At Resurrection, 9,000 people–4,000 of them childrenpass through every year.
Renewal is the name of the game. To Ivers, an engaging man with a piercing sincerity about his work, the mission of the center is no less than “the resurrection of society. We’re about transformation.” Pain and brokenness get a thorough airing here, as do hope and joy. “Hope persists and sustains” is Ivers’ mantra.
Ivers traded his job as a religion teacher at Gordon Tech, a Catholic high school in Chicago, to become youth retreat director at Resurrection. Built in 1960 as a novitiate house for the Congregation of the Resurrection, an order of Catholic priests and brothers who worked with Polish immigrants in Chicago, the center later stood vacant before it was reborn as a retreat site.
“The themes of the Resurrectionists are hope, holiness and hospitality. That’s what we’re all about,” Ivers said.
Resurrection is best known for its youth retreats. The day after Labor Day, students from Catholic schools across northern Illinois start streaming in. Rev. Ken Bratko, who coordinates the confirmation program at St. Matthew’s parish, Schaumburg, has brought teens and adults to the center for years. It’s an ideal place to draw closer to God, he said. Bratko spent time at Resurrection before entering seminary, and he likes the idea of retreats.
“You need time away from what you normally do, in a setting that’s conducive to prayer and reflection,” he said. “We live in a very geared-up society. We need to step outside the realm of our overloaded plates. A retreat is refreshing. It’s good for our physical, mental and spiritual health. It’s like filling up the water bottle because it’s all drained out.”
Ivers sees lots of people drained to the bottom. At Resurrection they can rest and reconnect–start living again.
“We don’t frequently have an opportunity to share what’s going on in our lives,” he said. “With greater mobility, people are not as close to family. We try to create a space where someone can tell their story.” Younger retreatants often “reveal things they never told anyone; even tragic things. The kids minister to one another. There’s a tremendous healing that can take place.”
One troubled teen sticks in Ivers’ mind.
On the second day of an overnight retreat, the youth spoke to his small group.
“He told them how poorly he had felt about himself and how little meaning he found in his life,” Ivers said. “But he went on to say that he had found some reason to hope for himself through the sharing on the retreat. As he talked, he removed a small necklace with a noose on the end. He told the group he would no longer need, nor find meaning in, that image.”
Resurrection, Ivers likes to say, creates “pathways for hope.” All retreatants have to do is be open to change, open to God. “You carry all the medicine you need within you.”
Most retreats allow time for silence. Guests are urged to stroll the 86 acres. They can be spotted perched on benches or cross-legged in the grass, scribbling in a journal. A priest celebrates mass “two or three times a week” in the chapel, Ivers said. Protestant groups do their own services. People of all faiths are welcome.
Most retreatants come with a group, but Resurrection also hosts families and individuals. The honey-brick main building can house more than 100. Holy Ground, a tiny cabin in the woods, is set aside for private retreats. Meals are served cafeteria-style. Retreatants fan out each day for lectures, classes and discussion groups. They poke around a small gift shop. Pastoral counseling and spiritual direction are available.
The average retreat lasts one to three days, Ivers said.
Ivers also serves on the board at Bellarmine House, a smaller Jesuit retreat center in Barrington. The center, with its trickling fountains and formal garden, was once a private estate. Bellarmine focuses on silent retreats, mostly for clergy, but a fund drive is under way to pay for expansion and updating. Rev. John Dillon, retreat director, is especially grateful for the new air-conditioning system. More offices, meeting rooms and a multipurpose conference room will be built.
Loretto Conference Center is also expanding, as well as changing its spiritual stripes.
Sister Arlene Ashack took over as director in January with ambitious plans to transform the convent and retreat house into Loretto Open Circle, an art center and spiritual haven primarily for women.
“I’m an art teacher from way back and I always wanted to do this,” she said. Renovations were already under way to update meeting facilities, “and it was the obvious time to restructure,” Ashack said.
Overnight retreats are suspended until late 2001 to allow for construction. Day programs continue as the staff works up a new roster of art classes, workshops and shows. Open Circle will help women reach for their full potential. Creativity is key, Ashack said: “People are yearning to bring spirituality back to their lives through art, and this is a great setting.”
Loretto has a theater seating 110. An art studio will open on the lower level. Ashack plans to teach oil painting. She envisions public art shows on the lawn, perhaps featuring the work of homeless women. Concerts and lectures are planned, plus counseling and spiritual direction. A bookstore and large preschool are in the works.
“There’s just unlimited opportunity,” development director Julie Seely said.
Away from it all
Here are some major retreat centers in the Chicago area:
Bellarmine Hall Jesuit Retreat House, 175 W. County Line Rd., Barrington 60010; 847-381-1261. 65 rooms.
Cabrini Retreat Center, 9430 Golf Rd., Des Plaines 60016; 847-297-6530. 70 rooms.
Carmelite Spiritual Center, 8433 Bailey Rd., Darien 60561; 630-969-3376. 30 rooms.
Cenacle Retreat House & Spirituality Center, 29W012 Batavia Rd., Warrenville 60555; 630-393-1231. 71 rooms.
Divine Word International, 2001 Waukegan Rd., Techny 60082; 847-272-1100. 67 rooms.
Dominican Conference Center, 7200 W. Division St., River Forest 60305; 708-771-3030. 50 rooms.
Loretto Conference Center, 1600 Somerset Lane, Wheaton 60189; 630-653-7918. 16 rooms. (Overnights suspended until late 2001)
Marytown Retreat & Conference Center, 1600 W. Park Ave., Libertyville 60048; 847-367-7800. 34 rooms.
Mayslake Marmion Ministries, 4831 Main St., Downers Grove 60515; 630-719-1620.
Resurrection Center, 2710 S. Country Club Rd., Woodstock, 60098; 815-338-1032; 54 rooms. Away from it all
