2018, Current Use Report, Giving News

Catholic Retreat Program

 April 12, 2018
Chapel of St. Ignatius at the Calcagnini Contemplative Center
Chapel of St. Ignatius of Loyola at Georgetown’s Calcagnini Contemplative Center in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Weekends inspired by the life and values of St. Ignatius

  • Programs tailored to each class year

  • Time for quiet reflection and spiritual discussion

  • Meeting a growing need at the university

Georgetown offers a comprehensive retreat program for students, serving a variety of faith tradi­tions almost every weekend of the academic year. To meet the growing demand for Catholic retreats and to help students with issues they face in each of their four years, Catholic Campus Ministry added four retreats thanks to the generosity of anonymous donors.

Supported by current-use and endowment philanthropy, these year-specific retreats were rebranded using milestones in the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola:

  • Inspired by St. Ignatius’s story of meeting his best friends in college, the Loyola retreat wel­comes all first-year students who want to deepen their friendships and grow in their faith.
  • The Benedictine shrine of Montserrat was one of Ignatius’s first stops in his pilgrimage of faith, and so it is an apt name for a Catholic weekend retreat designed to help sophomores reflect more deeply on who they are and who they want to be.
  • Manresa is a small town in Spain where St. Ignatius spent 10 months of his life praying and working at a hospice. Inspired by this part of St. Ignatius’s story, the Manresa retreat helps sophomores and juniors deepen their habits of prayer.
  • In 1537, St. Ignatius received a vision at La Storta that led him to form the Society of Jesus. Georgetown’s La Storta retreat is designed to help seniors reflect on their own lives: where they have been, where they are now, and where they are going.

“The principal benefit is that each retreat is customized for each class, creating a four-year arc of faith and spirituality,” explains Jim Wickman, Georgetown’s director of Music, Liturgy, and Catholic Life.

“We are thrilled to see how popular they have become and increased our gift so that even more stu­dents could participate in the spring semester,” shares one of the anonymous donors.