Benedict Inn Retreat & Conference Center

Benedict Inn Retreat &
Conference Center
Beech Grove, Indiana

Welcome

Benedict Inn Retreat & Conference Center is connected physically and spiritually to Our Lady of Grace Monastery.  A ministry of the Sisters of St. Benedict, the Inn welcomes women, men,
and children of all ages and faiths to its many, varied and “inn-spiring” programs fostering spiritual and personal growth.

For PEACE of Mind, Body & Spirit

The Benedict Inn Retreat & Conference Center, housed in the former Our Lady of Grace Academy, opened in 1981 and was founded on the fifth century teachings of Benedict of Norcia, Italy.

In The Rule of Benedict, Saint Benedict provided a guideline for those seeking happiness and spiritual fulfillment through a search for God in the ordinary aspects of daily life — eating, sleeping, working, praying — all performed in moderation. In effect, Benedict endorsed a balanced life. He also believed spiritual progress depended on finding Christ in each person. As a result, his directive to “Let everyone who comes be received as Christ” flowered into the hospitality for which all Benedictine monasteries are now known. From these values of moderation, hospitality, and diversity sprouted our mission.

We offer a variety of programs for men, women, and children of all ages and faiths, as well as exceptional rental facilities for use by a diverse roster of organizations for their own programs. In this way, we reach out to the community with our hospitality and encourage the growth of our guests through opportunities for spiritual, emotional, intellectual and social interaction.

Programs & Retreats

The Benedict Inn hosts several programs and events every year.  Examples of retreats and programs we have offered are:

• Spend a Day with God: Personal Retreat Day: Give yourself a gift!  Take some time away to spend with yourself & God.  Rest, relax, read, walk the Labyrinth, pray, just BE!  It’s your day to spend as structured or unstructured as you need.

• Seasonal Community Labyrinth/Peace & Nature Garden Walk: The Benedict Inn will have an open community Labyrinth/Peace & Nature Garden walk every third Thursday of the month.  Bring your friends! Bring your family!  All are welcome to walk. 

• Praying with Paint: Join us as we intertwine scripture and art, no experience or talent necessary! Relaxing and meditating on scripture first allows the paint to sometimes give us a message. We trust that God’s creation is good, and this fills our imagination, showing itself in our art and designs, our icons, and blessed objects.

• Engaging Compassion: Today we are so busy that the connection between our intent and our compassionate action is weakened.  We react instead of responding compassionately.  In this workshop participants learn to recognize obstacles that are preventing them from living a compassion-centric life and gain skills to make compassionate choices.

• Poetry and the Spiritual Journey: Poetry is the language of the heart and soul and as such can speak to our spiritual journey in a unique way.  Come and explore ways to incorporate the use of poetry into your spiritual life. In this workshop, we will listen to poems that speak to our faith journeys, select poems that speak to us personally and learn active ways of sitting with poetry to enhance our ability to prayerfully sit with our lives.

• New Seeds of Contemplation: Inspired and animated by Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation this conference will explore contemplation both in its historical context and its place as part of the way(s) of Christian living. The basic assumption of this conference is that the contemplative way of seeing is also a way of being.