Seeking Happiness...Did You Miss It?

Father Pius Pietrzyk, O.P. of the Province of Saint Joseph.

On Saturday, October 13th, a group of young women from around the Bay Area (and beyond) gathered here at the monastery for our second Janua Caeli Retreat Day. Father Pius Pietrzyk, OP of the Province of Saint Joseph spoke on our quest for happiness and how we can truly find happiness as we live a life of prayer and virtue, and how to go about it with the demands of life today.

Mass, praying the Divine Office with the nuns and times for silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament filled out the day, as well as opportunities for confession and short one-on-one conferences.

Sister Joseph Marie, O.P. welcoming the Janua Caeli retreatants and introducing Father Pius Pietrzyk, O.P.

As a fun break after lunch, some of the novitiate sisters spent recreation with the retreatants creating a little art and talking.

A big thank you to Father Pius and for our retreatants, and for those that prayed for these young women and all involved in providing the retreat day. May God richly bless you with abundant graces!

If you missed this retreat day, don’t miss the next one! Visit our Retreats at the Monastery page to learn more about our next Janua Caeli and Come-and-See Days, or contact Sister Joseph Marie, O.P.

Before the rush of the holidays, take a retreat day!

It’s already October and the holiday season is right around the corner - what better way to prepare than by taking a day of retreat! Janua Caeli are days of retreat for single Catholic women between the ages of 18-38 who desire to live more faithfully as Catholic women in today’s culture. Our next Janua Caeli Retreat Day is Saturday, October 13th and our retreat master is Father Pius Pietrzyk, OP. The day of retreat will include talks, Eucharistic Adoration, Mass and the Divine Office prayed with the Dominican nuns, and more!

Father Pius is a friar of the Eastern Dominican Province and serves as Chair of the Pastoral Studies Department and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Studies of Saint Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California. He holds a BA in English and Philosophy from the University of Arizona and a JD from The Law School at the University of Chicago. In 2002, Father Pius entered the Dominican Order and his studies eventually led him to the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) in Rome. In 2016, Fr. Pius was appointed a missionary of mercy by His Holiness, Pope Francis.

Don’t miss this opportunity to join other like-minded young women and grow in your relationship with Jesus through Mary! For more information and to register, visit our website.

Have You Met...

Sister Joseph Marie, O.P. is our vocations directress and coordinator for our Janua Caeli Retreat Days.  She's passionate about helping young women grow in their relationship with God and discern His gift of their vocation, whatever that may be.  

A welcome from Sister Joseph Marie, O.P. on our vocations page.

If you are, or you know, a young woman who would like to grow more deeply in relationship with God (and other young women of like mind), check out our next Janua Caeli Retreat Day on Saturday, October 13th!  You can find out more and register online at our website.  Have additional questions?  Contact Sister Joseph Marie!

Did you miss it? Recap of Janua Caeli

Our first Janua Caeli Retreat Day was on April 21st and our theme for was Fullness of Grace: How to Receive an Overabundance of God’s Gifts.  Our retreat master was Rev. Quan Tran, priest for the Diocese of Orange in California and founder of Fullness of Grace, a ministry aimed at helping Catholics and other Christians grow in their spiritual life by better understanding supernatural grace, and how to gain an abundance of God's gifts by imitating the qualities of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

The day of the retreat included talks, Eucharistic Adoration,  Confessions, Benediction, Mass and the Divine Office prayed with the Dominican nuns.  Our novitiate sisters also joined the young women in the parlor during afternoon recreation for an art project.  Most of the young women had never done much art, but were surprised at their own hidden talents uncovered through the simple watercolor project the sisters showed them and all had fun – it ranked as one of the top three moments of the retreat day.

Here's a bit more of what our retreatants had to say at the end of the day:

"I liked best the helpful information to live out grace in the secular world..."

"Father Tran shared much insight about developing our spiritual life.  I liked best the 12 essential dispositions needed to receive the fullness of God's grace."

"God is so good to have inspired you to hold this Janua Caeli Retreat Day.  Thank you!"

"A few words to describe this retreat to someone else?  Contemplative, informative, unique, peaceful..."

"I really appreciated how we were integrated into the sisters' prayer schedule - a very close second was the recreation time with the sisters.  Thank you!"

A big thank you to Father Tran, the young women who attended and to all those whose prayers and support helped make this retreat day possible.  And if you missed this Janua Caeli, don't miss the next one in October!  Invite a friend and register!