The Sisters of Life at Villa Maria with Father Benedict Groeschel, a previous retreat director.

From the time the late Cardinal John O’Connor of New York began to form the Sisters of Life in the late 1980s, he spoke frequently of his dream that the religious community would someday operate a retreat center where persons engaged in pro-life activities could “come out of the rain,” as he said, to find refuge, refreshment and encouragement.

Although the cardinal would not live to see it realized, his vision today finds fulfillment in Villa Maria Guadalupe, a retreat center owned by the Knights of Columbus and operated by the Sisters of Life.

The center, located in Stamford, Conn., is now in its third year of offering retreats and days of recollection that affirm respect for human life. Sister Dorothy Guadalupe, director of retreats, said that Cardinal O’Connor’s vision has expanded to three functions.

“One is to serve those in the pro-life movement, to provide them with a place of spiritual nourishment and refreshment, where they can be with people who understand what they are going through,” explained Sister Dorothy. “Secondly, to be a place where those who have been wounded by the culture of death can come and be healed. And thirdly, to be a place of education and information.”

The fall retreat schedule reflects well this threefold mission. The season starts with a retreat for women Oct. 5-7 led by Dominican Father Brian Mullady, a veteran of many parish missions and retreats who also teaches at Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Conn.

“We’re going to talk about growth and grace for lay people, using the ‘three ages’ of the spiritual life,” he said, referring to the purgative, illuminative and unitive stages of interior life as taught by the Dominican theologian Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange (d. 1964). Father Mullady will also use the writings of St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and especially St. Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) to discuss the “special character of women’s vocation.”

Women’s spirituality is different from that of men, said Father Mullady, because they tend to have a greater capacity for empathy and the nurturing life, as St. Edith wrote, which must be tempered by grace lest it become destructive.

St. Edith — who converted from Judaism, became a Carmelite nun and died in the Auschwitz concentration camp — was a strong advocate for women’s education, spirituality and role in society. Her philosophy is seen as having influenced the thought of Pope John Paul II.

Jesuit Father Joseph Koterski, who teaches philosophy at New York’s Fordham University, comes to Villa Maria Guadalupe Nov. 16-18 to direct a retreat for those who work in pro-life ministries. He said he hopes to help participants pray and ponder the religious and theological reasons for the pro-life movement and renew their embattled spirits so as to defend human life with greater vigor.

“There are so many ways in which pro-life people work so hard, and often with such discouraging results, that there’s a need to be rooted in Christ for the struggle,” he said.

Two fall retreats will focus on the Theology of the Body, a model for understanding the male-female relationship within marriage as a sign of the love and unity among the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity. Pope John Paul II developed this theology between 1979 and 1984 in a series of teachings during his weekly general audiences.

Father Luke Sweeney, director of the vocations office for the Archdiocese of New York, said he will give college students a “kind of a crash course on Theology of the Body” the weekend of Oct. 19-21.

Young people are generally very receptive to these papal teachings, he said, drawing from his experience discussing Theology of the Body with young adults.

“There are plenty of college-age students out there who are hungry for this,” Father Sweeney explained. “In many ways, they’re spiritually and theologically starved. From the retreats I’ve had with college students, I think they’ll be open to it.”

At the suggestion of Sister Dorothy, the college retreat will be silent — something Father Sweeney believes will help foster “the right atmosphere and environment” for the retreatants and allow the teachings and meditations to “seep into, percolate and dwell in them.”

The retreat series will return to the topic of the Theology of the Body when Father Walter Schu preaches on the subject over the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 2.

Father Schu, a Legionary of Christ priest who teaches at the congregation’s seminary in Cheshire, Conn., said he would focus also on the “spiritual aspect” of the papal teaching by helping couples apply it to their married life in concrete ways. The retreat will also look at some of the challenges and obstacles to living out these teachings.

“You can look at it as a beautiful theology, something theoretical and nice, but it’s when you start to live it out that the fruits really start to appear for the life of the Church,” said Father Schu, who authored a book on the Theology of the Body titled Splendor of Love (St. Martin de Porres Lay Dominican Community, 2003).

Theology of the Body “really has the possibility of transforming many marriages,” he said, adding that it “helps married couples see the depth and beauty of their vocation to be parents as well as husband and wife.”

Sister Dorothy agreed.

In the Theology of the Body, “the Church is encouraging us to a greater good,” she said. “The fact that the marital union is a sign of the unity of the Holy Trinity lifts our sights a whole lot higher, and gives us hope and vision to how we should live in relation to one another.”

Villa Maria Guadalupe will also host private retreats for groups that promote and support the culture of life, she added.

Gerald Korson was editor of Our Sunday Visitor from 1998-2007. He writes from Fort Wayne, Ind.