UPCOMING RETREATS & EVENTS: Call us today ... pre-registrations (two weeks) are needed for COR-sponsored retreats.
Call 716-754-7376, Ext. 1 to pre-register or request detailed flier via email or US Mail.
Fr. Tom Hartle's Preached Retreat Week (July 23-28, 2023). Reservations are now closed for this event. Contact us or visit this website frequently for more information on other upcoming retreats.
2023 Advent Silent Retreat Weekend by Sr. Marcella Kiesel, OSF. Friday to Sunday, December 1-2-3, 2023. More details on home page of this website. Sr. Marcella's retreats are always a meaningful, deeply spiritual experience. Mark your calendar for the first weekend in December to participate in our two-night retreat which will run from Friday dinner through just after Sunday lunch. Call us to receive detailed flier (716-754-7376, Ext. 1 or 2).
CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER GROUP meets the 1st Tuesday evening of each month. Advance reservations are not needed for this ongoing event, but feel free to call us to confirm a particular session will meet. Questions? Please call Center of Renewal at 716-754-7376, Ext. 1 or 2.
EVENINGS OF PRAYER: A series of new one-evening-only themed mini-retreats, including dinner, to be offered throughout the year. Pre-register two weeks in advance to avoid $5 late fee. Day of event: Check-in from 4:30-4:50 PM, opening prayers at 5:00 PM, dinner at 5:30 PM, with retreat evening session from 6:30-8:00 PM. Only $25 per person by two-weeks-prior deadline, $5 extra late fee afterward depending upon availability ... call us for details.
VACATIONS TO ENJOY: Discovering God's Love of Life (Evening of Prayer on Mon., 8/21/23 - Pre-register by Mon., 8/7/23).
Sign up today to join us for VACATIONS TO ENJOY: Discovering God’s Love of Life, another one of our ongoing Evening of Prayer Series mini-retreats.
- Explore the spiritual benefits of taking time to refresh, renew, and rejuvenate.
- Learn simple strategies for meaningfully including God in your vacation plans.
- Even though “vacation” is not included in the Bible, consider various Scriptural references to taking time from our work, setting aside time for meaningful rest, making retreats.
- The evening will include a pleasant dinner with special décor, group activities, songs, prayers and private reflection facilitated by Dr. Nancy P. Askins, Executive Director, Center of Renewal at Stella Niagara.
IMPORTANT! BRING a SPECIAL ITEM of YOURS to the RETREAT! Select an item from home that reminds you of a vacation you have taken in the past OR something characteristic of a place you would like to visit in the future. We will ask you to display your item on a common table, and you will take your own item home with you at the end of the retreat. Sharing enables us all to learn from each other and enhances the experience.
Pre-registrations are required to ensure adequate meals, seating, and materials. Please use the form below or call us at 716-754-7376, Ext. 1; pre-register by August 7 to avoid $5 late fee. Reservations after Aug. 7 will be subject to availability; call first to confirm space. Interested in extending the Evening of Prayer to an overnight or weekend retreat from Aug. 18-22? Just ask us about our special private retreat rates.
Time Schedule for each Evening of Prayer session:
4:30-4:50 PM Check-in (Use Center of Renewal entrance off our black-railed porch; parking just past retreat center)
5:00-5:30 PM Welcome & Opening Prayers
5:30-6:15 PM Dinner (Center of Renewal Dining Room)
6:30-8:00 PM Theme-based Program & Closing Prayers
More retreats are regularly being scheduled. Watch for details.
Ongoing Program Schedule
In addition to providing hospitality to both groups and individuals seeking quality meeting and overnight accommodation facilities in an environment of peace and tranquility, Stella Niagara's Center of Renewal designs and offers its own sponsored retreats and programs with featured retreat presenters for spiritual growth and lifelong learning.
Examples of the ongoing schedule of sponsored retreats and programs include partial or full single retreat days on a special topics. Retreats in recent years have been scheduled to commemorate special church days such as Ash Wednesday and the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, Papal Encyclical topics and themes, wellness and spirituality, peace and justice, and Biblical topics.
Weekly or monthly retreat programs have included a women’s spiritual reading group, a six-week study group on “Laudato Si: On Care of Our Common Home” Encyclical by Pope Francis, and the Guided & Meditation Prayer Group currently meeting on the first Tuesday evening of each month. Overnight retreats have typically been scheduled from one to six nights in length, affording the retreatants to focus more intently on a specific themes during the entire retreat. Retreat presenters are garnered from among visiting scholars, theologians, priests, sisters, and brothers, all knowledgeable specialists in their respective fields and ministries. Other retreat themes have included embracing change, benefits of the 12-step program for everyone, thoughts and behaviors, fruits of the Spirit and Pauline mysticism, and understanding self and others through Biblical comparisons. Directed Retreats can be scheduled on a customized basis throughout the year.
One key example of specialized group programs throughout the year which consider Center of Renewal their “retreat center of choice” include the Women’s Respite Program under the direction of its founder Sr. Diane Gianadda, OSF. For many years, this meaningful program has benefitted single moms and grandmothers of low income, mothers of autistic children, and women with cancer, with each event serving 20 to 30 women. Center of Renewal is proud to serve as the retreat ministry location for these meaningful outreach programs.
