OUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY: Models of Spiritual Progress, Ancient and Modern (ZOOM Option)
2026-09-25 15:00 - 2026-09-27 13:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Saint Andrew’s Abbey, 31001 N. Valyermo Road, Valyermo, CA, 93563, United States
In the early Church, and especially in the Christian monastic tradition, the result of deepening relationship with Christ was often described as “blessedness” (sometimes translated as “happiness”) or even “divinization.” In modern psychology and spirituality the term “flourishing” is often preferred. In this workshop we will reflect on our personal salvation history in light of similarities and differences between ancient monastic models of spiritual progress and modern approaches to “human flourishing.”

Presenter: LUKE DYSINGER MD, DPhil, has been a monk of Saint Andrew’s Abbey since 1980. He studied medicine at the University of Southern California and theology at the University of Oxford. He is a professor of moral theology and church history at Saint John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California and has published books and articles in the fields of bioethics, early Christian spirituality and patristics.

*If the event is listed as sold out, please call us at 661-944-2178 for real-time availability and a waiting list.

Slowing Our Pace with Saint Benedict
2026-09-28 15:00 - 2026-09-30 10:00
The Rule of Saint Benedict asks us to go inward and to cultivate a gentle pace and slow rhythm, listening not to external sounds but to God’s presence with “the ear of our hearts.” In many ways, this is at odds with the understanding of progress that shapes American culture, and indeed the Western modern tradition. For us, progress is linear, committed to visible growth, and predicated on accelerating speed. This retreat will focus on the slow, rhythmic beauty of the Benedictine tradition as it calls us to slow our pace as we search for God and develop a new understanding of progress.

Focus will be on the topics of listening, rhythmic prayer, and slowing our pace, which contrasts with the contemporary emphasis on speed, growth, and constant acceleration. It will be grounded in the Rule of Saint Benedict and Sacred Scripture, while also examining how modernity in the West foregrounds and defines “progress”. The slow movement will be mentioned as it overlaps with the Benedictine tradition.

Presenter: MARY CAPUTI has been an oblate of Saint Andrew’s Abbey since 2007. She holds a Ph.D in political theory from Cornell University, a Master’s in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and a Master’s in Italian Studies from California State University, Long Beach.

*If the event is listed as sold out, please call us at 661-944-2178 for real-time availability and a waiting list.

STILL FULL OF SAP, STILL GREEN: A Spirituality of Aging
2026-10-12 15:00 - 2026-10-15 10:00
This retreat will be inspired by many writers’ reflections on spirituality for the “second half” of life, writers including Sister Joan Chittister (The Gift of Years) and Parker Palmer (On the Brink of Everything). Creative living within the season of wisdom, greater and ongoing maturation, and positive transformation of the inner life will be some of the meditations for a full life in the Spirit. Experiencing limitations during one’s aging process will be explored as opportunities for transcendence and spiritual fecundity that could not be profoundly realized in earlier seasons of growth.

Presenter: MARY SCHULTE is an oblate of Valyermo. She has a B.A. in history, with a minor in French, and a J.D. (law degree). She has served as Chairperson of the Ecumenical and Inter-religious Commission for the Diocese of Orange from 1999-2005. She loves proclaiming the word of God and has been a lector in her parish for over 25 years. In addition to her Benedictine spirituality, she participates in a Christian Life Community (CLC) with fellow legal professionals who completed the 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. She is co-coordinator of the Orange County oblate group, and one of four oblate mentors for the Orange County area. She loves to write, and four of her articles have been published in the Abbey Chronicle. She is developing a blog called Ordinary Days with Mary, to share her photography, spiritual writings, musings, and her passion for baking.

*If the event is listed as sold out, please call us at 661-944-2178 for real-time availability and a waiting list.

Autumn Artists Retreat
2026-10-26 15:00 - 2026-10-30 10:00
This retreat is open to artists at all levels, including beginners. Photographers, sculptors, and writers are also welcome to come and experience the colors and beauty of the high desert in the setting of the monastery. Escape the stress of daily life while deepening a spiritual vision in your art.

Presenter: GREGORY MICHAEL HERNANDEZ is a landscape-based visual artist living in Pasadena, CA. His paintings, photography and sculptures explore the religious and political dimensions of land use. Growing up in Hesperia, CA, cemented his lifelong connection to the Mojave Desert. See his work at www.gmhstudio.com

*If the event is listed as sold out, please call us at 661-944-2178 for real-time availability and a waiting list.

PRIESTS' RETREAT: Speak, Lord, your Servants are Listening
2026-11-09 15:00 - 2026-11-13 10:00
St. Benedict begins the prologue to his rule with the admonition, “Open the ear of your heart”. At this moment in our journey together as Church, we are called more than ever to listen deeply to the Spirit – the quiet whisper of our God speaking within our hearts.
The centerpiece for this retreat will be Listening Together: Meditations on Synodality by Timothy Radcliffe, O.P.
*(Priest ONLY Retreat)

Presenter: FR. JOSEPH BRENNAN has been a monk of Valyermo since 1994 after having served as a parish priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for over 20 years. He is a spiritual director at the Cardinal Manning House of Prayer for priests in Los Angeles as well as St. Andrew’s Sub-Prior.

**If the event is listed as sold out, please call us at 661-944-2178 for real-time availability and a waiting list.

Thanksgiving at Valyermo
2026-11-25 03:00 - 2026-11-27 10:00
This non-directed retreat provides time to reflect on all God has given to us and to enjoy the festive celebration of Thanksgiving with the monastic community.

*If the event is listed as sold out, please call us at 661-944-2178 for real-time availability and a waiting list.

Advent Retreat
2026-11-27 15:00 - 2026-11-29 10:00
On this first weekend of Advent, we will offer a potpourri of monastic insights, enabling participants to experience the Advent season as a time rooted in scripture, history, art, music, and liturgy.

Presenters: Monks of Valyermo

*If the event is listed as sold out, please call us at 661-944-2178 for real-time availability and a waiting list.

Pilares Indispensables para que Tu MATRIMONIO Sea Una Aventura de Amor
2026-12-11 15:00 - 2026-12-13 13:30
El libro el Cantar de los Cantares en su capítulo 2 dice “Mi Amado es para mí, y yo para mi Amado”. El retiro está basado en esta premisa de que somos el uno para el otro unidos en solo corazón. El matrimonio es una alianza y no un acuerdo social. Es el lugar donde dos corazones se unen eternamente para vivir en totalidad su aventura de amor. El matrimonio constituye una comunidad de amor y lo sostienen varias columnas: la fidelidad, la confianza, la entrega del uno al otro, el perdón mutuo, y en un contexto espiritualmente sano.
Durante este retiro tendremos momentos de oración, reflexión, sanación interior y renovación de los votos matrimoniales. Te invitamos a que pases un fin de semana con tu ser amado donde ambos puedan descansar, orar y reflexionar acerca de tu matrimonio.

Presentador: CARLOS OBANDO nació en Costa Rica y vive en Los Estados Unidos desde 1966. Está casado, tiene tres hijos y tres nietos. En el año 2009 obtuvo una maestría de la Universidad de Loyola Marymount, Los Ángeles, en Teología Pastoral, es instructor en la Escuela de la Renovación Carismática en la Diócesis de Orange. Ha sido Director Espiritual por más de 25 años. Trabaja con la comunidad hispana desde 1979 en los condados de Los Ángeles y Orange en la formación de líderes y dando retiros a jóvenes, adultos y matrimonios. Actualmente coordina los Ejercicios Espirituales para los Aspirantes y sus Esposas a través de la Oficina del Diaconado, en la Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles.

*If the event is listed as sold out, please call us at 661-944-2178 for real-time availability and a waiting list.

Christmas at Valyermo
2026-12-23 15:00 - 2026-12-26 13:30
On the Solemnity of Christmas, we first contemplate the mystery of the Word becoming Flesh. The liturgical celebration at the Abbey starts with First Vespers on Christmas Eve and ends with Night Prayer on Christmas Day.

*If the event is listed as sold out, please call us at 661-944-2178 for real-time availability and a waiting list.

NEW YEAR RETREAT - All Things New: The Mystical Theology of Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman, Doctor of the Church
2026-12-30 15:00 - 2027-01-02 13:30
In this workshop, we will invite Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman, the most recent Doctor of the Church, to be our guide for the coming year. We will reflect together on his spiritual journey and his understanding of Christian theosis as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and our union with Jesus Christ. Internet links to his writings and sermons will be provided both before and during the workshop.

Presenter: LUKE DYSINGER MD, DPhil, has been a monk of Saint Andrew’s Abbey since 1980. He studied medicine at the University of Southern California and theology at the University of Oxford. He is a professor of moral theology and church history at Saint John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California, and has published books and articles in the fields of bioethics, early Christian spirituality, and patristics.

*If the event is listed as sold out, please call us at 661-944-2178 for real-time availability and a waiting list.
