History of Center

Staff

Information

Programs

Program Presenters

Year at a Glance

Directions

Retreats for Men

Retreats for Women

Retreats for Young Adults

Connie Bartelson, has many varied experiences as facilitator of knitting groups.  She has been organizer and presenter for the Knit and Relax Retreat in New Ipswich, NH, Rafqa Prayer Shawl Ministry and the Shawl Sharing Day in Worcester, MA.  She has co-presented the Praying with Hearts and Hands Retreat here at the Center.  She is a retired teacher and has been an avid knitter for 50 years.

William Brown, OMV. is a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary.  He is a retreat and spiritual director in the Boston, MA area.

Kelly Connors p.m., JCD is currently the Delegate for Consecrated Life for the Archdiocese of Detroit.  A member of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary, she also serves as canonical consultant to various dioceses and religious institutes and speaks nationally and internationally on Canon Law and Religious Life.  She holds a B.A. from Providence College, an MTS from Weston Jesuit School of Theology, a Phd in Canon Law from the University of Ottawa, and JCD from St. Paul University, Ottawa.

Helene Cote, p.m., MTS studied spirituality at the Gregorian University, Rome, Italy and at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology.  She is a presenter of retreats and workshops.

Dr. Pauline Fournier is a native of Maine.  For 35 years, she has given retreats, conferences and training workshops to priests, religious and lay persons, working in dioceses throughout the US, Canada and Australia.  She worked with religious women in Ireland and Scotland and has worked at Mount St. Alphonsus Retreat Center in NY as a Retreat Director and Spiritual Director, she holds a M.A. in Theology from St. Louis University in St. Louis University in St. Louis, MO and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

Michelle DeSimone is a pastoral assistant at St. Brigid’s Parish in Hartford, CT.  She is a spiritual director and for several years has assisted Fr. Edward McLean in giving retreats here at the Center.

Ann Harriman received a certificate in Spiritual Direction from Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Bethesda, MD.  Ann has a private spiritual direction practice and is available at the center upon request.

Don Harriman is a former educator and Junior High School administrator.  He has been involved in retreat work as a facilitator since the late nineteen-eighties.

Marie May Lausier, p.m. studied Spirituality and Theology at the Gregorian Institute in Rome, Italy.  She holds an  M.A. from Fairfield University in CT, and is certified in Marian Studies from the Marian Institute in Dayton, OH.  She authored In Joyful Haste, the life of Blessed Anne Marie Rivier.  She is a retreat and spiritual director, Rivier Retreat  facilitator and  province director of the Marie Rivier Association.

Beverly Libby, a retired teacher from Westbrook, Maine  works as a facilitator for the program "Echoes of Faith" for adults.  She also gives workshops in Adult Formation in the RCIA program.  She has been knitting prayer shawls for the past several years.  She is  lay Associate of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary.

Fr. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy is a priest of the Eastern Rite (Bysantine) of the Catholic Church.  He is co-founder of Pax Christi USA; of the Annual Forty Day Fast for the Truth of Gospel Nonviolence; of the Program for  the Study and Practice of Nonviolence at the University of Notre Dame; of the Trinity Site/ Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Day of Prayer at Trinity Site in New Mexico Desert  and was nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.
     He has been called by Walter Wink, Professor Emeritus at Auburn Theological Seminary, "... the most powerful voice for nonviolence in the world today", and by Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Fr. John Dear, "... the best teacher of Gospel nonviolence in America." 

Fr. Edward McLean is a priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, CT.   He is a spiritual director, pastoral counselor, lecturer and a retreat master for laity, religious and clergy.

Kim Le Nguyen  holds a Bachelor degree of Fine Art from the University of Louisiana specializing in watercolor.  At Mount Mary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she obtained a Master's degree in Art Therapy.  She has worked as an Activity Psychotherapist and currently teaches Creative Expressions at the Mercy Center in Colorado Springs, CO.

Fr. Daniel O'Connell is a diocesan priest, pastor of a parish and staff member of the Office of Spiritual Development in the Boston archdiocese.  He is involved with parish-wide retreats and days of recollection.  He is a producer and host on the Boston Catholic Television.

Janice Perrault, p.m., has an MA from Providence College, a Certificate of Advanced Specialization in Pastoral Ministry from St. Michael's College in VT and a Spiritual Direction Certificate from the Mercy Center in Colorado.  She is a presenter for retreats.

Kathleen M. Pinard holds an MA in Transforming Spirituality with a specialization in Spiritual Direction from Seattle University's School of Theology and Ministry in Seattle, WA.  She is a retreat and spiritual director.  She supports ecological justice through her work with LightHawk, an international conservation nonprofit.

Melanie Svoboda, SND has been a Sister of Notre Dame for 47 years and lives in Chardon, OH.  She has an MA in English from Indiana University and an MA in Spirituality from Duquesne University.  She has taught high school and college for over 20 years and ministered as a Novice Director for her own community  and also served as Provincial Superior.  She served on the staff of the Jesuit Novitiate in Detroit for 6 years.  For over 30 years, she has been a free-lance writer with articles in dozens of publications including Ligourian and Living Faith.  As an author, she has thus far penned twelve books.  Currently, she gives talks, workshops and retreats nationally.

Meghan Yates holds a BFA with a focus in Printmaking from the Maine College of Art.  An ordained interfaith minister through the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine, the arts have deeply formed how Meghan provides spiritual care.  Music, visual arts, healing touch and sustainable living are the cornerstones of her spiritual practice and ministry.