Learn By Doing

Our retreats and programs go beyond good teaching. When you join us, you will be invited to enter into experiences to discover or deepen your spiritual practice—and bring it into your daily life.

Registration is now open


A Year of Prayer

Join us as we accept Pope Francis' invitation to make 2024 a Year of Prayer. We will meet monthly via Zoom to rediscover how to pray, and to explore the many different styles of prayer: Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina, the Rosary -- are just a few examples. This is a wonderful opportunity for everyone, whether you struggle in how to communicate with God, or if prayer is a fixture in your daily life.
Facilitated by: MSC Team
Date: third Tuesday of each month of 2024:
March 19
April 16
May 21
June 18
July 16
August 20
September 17
October 15
November 19
December 17
Time: 6:00 - 6:45 p.m.
Place: Zoom
Fee: FREE!

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Lenten Meditation in the Mercy Community

During Lent we will be offering a weekly Visio-Divina type prayer experience with English and Spanish versions available. Each week will focus on a different Critical Concern of the Sisters of Mercy: earth, women, racism, non-violence, and migration as a guide for reflection and prayer. A new session containing meditation and prayer and an invitation for you to find a space in your daily life to connect with the sacred in this challenging time will be sent.

Date: a new email each Wednesday of Lent
Time: when it is best for you
Place: where you feel comfortable to pray
Fee: Free will offering

This experience is co-sponsored by the Mercy Retreat Centers of North & South Americas.be your product or give more information.

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Men's Spirituality Group

Amazing things happen when people gather to grow in their faith and encourage each other. We are envisioning a new opportunity for men as another part of the ministry of Mercy Spirituality Center. We invite you to join us as we gather together in community. Our meetings will offer an opportunity to share a meal or refreshments together. There usually will be a speaker or other presentation and then an opportunity to reflect and share insights about what we have heard. Our goal is to experience God’s grace and guidance together and deepen our connection to God and to other men in our daily lives.

Coordinated by: Ed Redmond and Rev. Harry Heintz
Dates: Third Saturday of the month: 
March 16
April 20
May 18
June 15
Location: MSC
Time: 8:30 - 10:00 a.m.
Cost: $100 for series; $15 per individual session

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Walking in Their Footsteps: The Journey to Sainthood

Each session of this monthly program will take a more in-depth look at the life and work of one of these holy role models. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about a lesser recognized saint, or a different perspective on someone you thought you knew. Every month will be enlightening. More information on the subject of the month will be featured as each session approaches.


March: The Saints in Our Neighborhood
"Who are people in your neighborhood?" I learned that song from Mr. Rogers years ago, as I watched him minister to my young daughters with his gentle, loving way. Now, let's replace the word "people" with "saints." "Who are the saints in your neighborhood?" In our March session in this series, we'll be considering the vast and boundless array of the saints. Facilitator: Rev. Harry Heintz 

April: St. Louise de Marillac Louise de Marillac D.C., also known as Louise Le Gras, was the co-founder, with Vincent de Paul, of the Daughters of Charity. She is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church in the United States. Come learn more about this saint who worked closely with St. Vincent de Paul. Facilitated by: Ed Redmond

Date:
Second Tuesday of each month in 2024
March 12
April 9
May 14
June 11
July 9
August 13
September 10
October 8
November 12
December 10
Time: 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Location: Mercy Spirituality Center
Fee:  $25 per individual session or $240 for the series. 

Register Here

Contemporary Conversations Book Club

We are delighted that our Contemporary Conversations Book Club is expanding! Beginning in September, facilitation of the book club will alternate between Jane Sutter Brandt and Mary Anne Shew. Conversations will still be on Zoom; the time will move to evening. Mary Anne Shew is a retired writer for web sites and other media and has started and facilitated over a dozen book clubs. Jane Sutter Brandt is a former editor with the Democrat and Chronicle and has participated in a variety of book groups.

Location: Via Zoom
Cost:  $25 per session
Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

The Next Sessions:

Date: March 6, 2024
Time: 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Jane Sutter Brandt

The Monastic Heart: 50 Simple Practices for a Contemplative
and Fulfilling Life
by Joan Chittister, OSB.

In her latest book, this activist Catholic sister, and esteemed spiritual voice sounds the call to create a monastery within ourselves — to cultivate wisdom and resilience so that we may join God in the work of renewal, restoration and justice right where we are. “In every beating heart is a silent undercurrent that calls each of us to a place unknown, to the vision of a wiser life, to become what I feel I must be—but cannot name,” Chittister writes. The 50 chapter titles include “Antiphons: On Mantras of the Moment,” “Horarium: On Parsing Time” and “Lectio: On Reading Between the Lines.” Each chapter is just a few pages long and includes suggestions on how to integrate the practice.


Date: April 3, 2024
Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Facilitator: Mary Anne Shew



Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit by Lyanda Lynn Haupt 
In Rooted, cutting-edge science supports a truth that poets, artists, mystics, and earth-based cultures across the world have proclaimed over millennia: life on this planet is radically interconnected. Our bodies, thoughts, minds, and spirits are affected by the whole of nature, and they affect this whole in return. In this time of crisis, how can we best live upon our imperiled, beloved earth? In the tradition of Rachel Carson, Elizabeth Kolbert, and Mary Oliver, Lyanda Lynn Haupt writes with urgency and grace, reminding us that at the crossroads of science, nature, and spirit we find true hope. Each chapter provides tools for bringing our unique gifts to the fore and transforming our sense of belonging within the magic and wonder of the natural world. 

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Day To Call Your Own

Come and enjoy a day to yourself in your own, private, comfortable room at Mercy Spirituality Center. You will be able to pray, contemplate, read and relax without being disturbed. A simple lunch of soup and bread is included. Morning prayer is optional. ‌

Facilitator: Sr. Gert Erb, RSM
Dates: 2nd Thursday of each month:
March 14
April 11
May 9

Saturday Options: 

February 10
May 11
August 10
November 9

Time: 9:00 am-4:00 pm; 9:30 am: Morning Prayer (optional)
Fee: $25

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Dreams - God’s Forgotten Language

Once again, by popular demand we are revisiting the importance of dreams and our spirituality.  Throughout the Bible, we find accounts of dreams and visions, yet, today, few people give much credence to their own dreams, leaving a wellspring of inspiration and information that goes untapped. Come, experience the magic that a sacred dream group creates. We come together in prayer to create a sacred container to unlock the mysteries hidden in our dreams, unveiling the voice of God. 

Facilitated by: Sue DiVita
Date: Mondays:
March 4
March 11
March 18
March 25
April 1
April 8
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Location: MSC
Fee: $150 

Sue DiVita is a spiritual director and dream teacher whose mission is to help facilitate the rebirth of a dreaming society. She helps people to live more fully connected to the presence of God in and around them through workshops, dream groups, and individual companionship..

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Solar Eclipse: The Eye of God

We are blessed to be in the path of totality for the Solar Eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. The last solar eclipse visible in Rochester? 99 years ago, in 1925! Join us for this unique community event and view the eclipse. Lunch will be followed with a presentation by the young ladies from Our Lady of Mercy High School, led by chair of the Science Department, Dawn Humphrey and her colleague Dr. Samir Bhagwat. We will then we will use our special glasses to view the eclipse. In case of cloudy weather, we will livestream the eclipse inside from Texas. This is the last solar eclipse until 2044, which will only be visible in three western U.S. states. This event is limited to 25. Please bring a lawn chair.


Date:
Monday, April 8, 2024
Time: 12:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Location: MSC
Fee: $25

Mrs. Dawn Humphrey has been a chemist for over 36 years. She has been a researcher, college lecturer and now works as a chemistry teacher and the science department chair at Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women. She spent 10 years as the youth director, Sunday School teacher and VBS instructor at her home church, St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hilton. A student in history in her spare time, she enjoys exploring how scientific phenomenon affect the cultural and spiritual aspects of the human experience.

Dr. Samir Bhagwat was born and raised in Mumbai, India. He came to the United States to complete his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from University of Toledo School of Medicine. He moved to Rochester in 1999 for a Postdoctoral Fellowship and made his home here. He began teaching at Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women in 2021. Dr. Bhagwat has dabbled in Astronomy since his high school days and continues to maintain an interest in this field, keeping abreast of new developments. 

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Women of the Bible



What can we learn from Biblical Women as we navigate the world today? This four-week program will look at several women of the Bible and their relationships. Each of the women, mothers, and daughters, will take us into stories of love, faith, and courage as we journey through their lives and the world they inhabited. The Bible does not often name women and their stories. If we look to the women whose stories we know, we can walk with them through the challenges they faced that are not always different from the challenges faced today. Some families are born, while others are made. Each two-hour program will offer prayer, a presentation, break with refreshments, time for reflection, and group discussion.
Facilitator: Sharon Therkildsen
Dates: Friday afternoons April 12, April 19, April 26, May 3
Time: 1-3 p.m.
Place: MSC
Fee: $80
.

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Spiritual Directors/ Prayer Guides Gathering

 Spiritual Direction and Social Consciousness:

Is there a connection between spirituality and justice? In the midst of so much suffering, injustice, and polarization in our world what is God trying to call forth from us as people of prayer and more specifically as spiritual directors and prayer guides? What is our role as directors/guides in assisting directees to become attentive to fostering an awareness of a movement beyond a “me and Jesus” theology to a theology more in keeping with biblical spirituality? How did Jesus, as well as ancient and modern-day prophets and saints respond to the initiatives of a God whose desire is to accompany the poor and change unjust and oppressive structures? Come together with other spiritual directors and prayer guides to reflect on how we might raise our own social consciousness so we in turn may assist the prayer of our directees with the God who has an option for the poor.

Facilitated by: Fr. John Rose
Date: Saturday, April 27th, 2024
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. 
Location: MSC

While our gathering is geared towards Spiritual Directors and Prayer Guides, we encourage all to join us. You do not need to be a Spiritual Director or Prayer Guide for Mercy Spirituality Center to join. We encourage all current and past directors and guides to attend! 

Fr. John Rose trained in spiritual direction at The Center for Religious Development, Cambridge, Mass. He presently assists in training spiritual directors at The Spiritual Renewal Center in Syracuse.

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Ignatian Spirituality
Exercises of St. Ignatius In All Of It's Forms

The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius in all of its forms, create an awareness of God in all things—all people, all creation, every human experience, and especially in the person of Jesus. We offer a model of the Spiritual Exercises designed by St. Ignatius for use in daily life which takes place over 30 weeks, rather than 30 days. This program is currently being offered virtually.

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