Canandaigua: the chosen spot

By Father Mike Sergi, C.Ss.R. |

Welcome to Notre Dame Retreat House in Canandaigua, New York. Many of you may not know this, but the name Canandaigua means the chosen spot.

Notre Dame is certainly the chosen spot for any of our confreres who want to get away for a while and be with God. The retreat house sits on 107 acres of land overlooking Canandaigua Lake. It is the only retreat house between Buffalo and Syracuse. So many of our retreatants who come here have said “This is holy ground.” They tell us, “if they want to be close to God, this is the place to come.”

When you come to Notre Dame, you will meet a very welcoming and caring staff. I want to introduce you to them, starting with the Redemptorist community: me, Mike Sergi; Paul Miller; and our newest member, Frank Jones. By the way, Frank is a great cook.

Another staff member is Sister Carole, SSJ, who is part of the retreat team. She leads evening and morning prayer and gives a talk during our retreat weekends. She is also available to our retreatants for spiritual direction. She is a great addition to our staff.

Our office manager is Nancy Lynch. When you call, she will be the one to answer all your questions. When a group comes in for retreat, she is the one who meets them and helps them get settled.

Ron Casella is our business manager. He has been here for 30 years. He knows our retreat house inside and out. He does all the maintenance and handles contracts and any employee issues before they come to the rector. He also works with the rector when it comes to finances.

Jackie, our chef, and Jimmy, our assistant chef, provide everyone who comes with delicious food. There is one thing for certain: no retreatant or guest leaves here hungry. If someone has dietary needs, which is becoming more common, they take care of them.

Hilary and Steve are our housekeeping crew. They make sure every room and all common areas are clean and ready for retreatants and guests. They make the retreat house shine.

We also have two part time staff: Hannah, who works in our kitchen, and Emily, who takes care of the bookstore. Even though these young women are part time, they take pride in their work.

Notre Dame is truly blessed to have such devoted and caring staff people.

Our ministry is giving retreats. In September of each year Sister Carole, Paul, Frank, and I meet and begin to brainstorm about our theme for the coming year. All of us throw in different ideas and topics. These meetings get very interesting at times. But after a great deal of prayer and reflection, the Holy Spirit leads us to our theme and how we will approach it. Each of us gives a conference that lasts about an hour.

We also use movies that connect with our theme. Last year, we showed The Way, and this year we are showing God Is Not Dead!. On Sunday mornings retreatants share with us what they got out of the movie as it pertains to our theme.

We give 20 retreat weekends a year. We have weekends for men, women, and married couples. We average 70 retreatants a weekend. Over the years we have come to see that many of the men bring their sons and the women their daughters. This is great, not only for us, but because it’s a way for sons and daughters to grow closer to their parents. One of the sons said it was really cool to pray with his dad.

In the summer we work with parish leaders and pastors to set up times when we can come to parishes in the diocese to preach and encourage people to come on retreat. A personal invitation is the best way to encourage people to come.

In addition to giving weekend retreats, we lead eight days of prayer each year. We average between 50 and 60 people each time. These days give people an opportunity to get away for the day and be with God.

Each of us decides on a theme for the day and on how the day will take shape. Every day of prayer is different, and our people look forward to them.

Our ministry here is not just giving retreats but also of service to the wider Church. The priests of the diocese come here three times of year. We have two sisters’ retreats in the summer, with sisters who come from all over the east coast. We began with one retreat for sisters but because of the demand we added another one this year.

John Hamrogue, Kevin O’Neil, and Joe Krastel have given these retreats in the past. This year Dennis Billy will be leading the retreat.

Many other faith denominations as well as schools, parish staffs, teens, and organizations use our retreat house because they see it as a place of peace and prayer. When groups comes, the staff is always welcoming, and our community is ready and willing to celebrate Mass and reconciliation with them, provide spiritual direction, or just listen to someone who needs to talk.

If Notre Dame were not here, so many people would have nowhere to go to spend time with God. I could go on and on about what happens here at Notre Dame, but the best way to experience it is to come.

My brothers, I invite all of you to come and spend time with God and with us at the chosen spot: Notre Dame Retreat House.