Retreat House History

St. Francis Retreat house at Easton, PA began nearly fifty years ago. There was at first a small Friary staffed by six Slova­kian Franciscans from the Custody of the Most Holy Savior.  They had been invited to help serve the needs of a growing immigrant church in the United States. They preached missions and Eucharistic devotions, and assisted local clergy with the Liturgy. However, a greater need became apparent. After the horrendous cataclysm of World War II, the world was still bleeding. People everywhere looked for meaning, exploring their ancestral faiths to find answers to questions posed by the bombs, the destruction, and the waste. The Iron Curtain had descended around most of Eastern Europe.

              Slovakia was in ruins; the Church there was forced underground. Among the thousands of her people who had found new life and hope in America before the war were the handful of men who responded to the familiar prayer of Francis: “Where there is despair, let me bring hope.” How does one bring hope? The vision was simple, and proven through time.  Reach out in faith, first to the living God who sustains the Church, and then the faith tradition that inspires you, in this case the Church. That tradition provided a means of turning a hurting and doubtful people away from the source of their troubling distractions, and towards the Source of love and truth that Francis shared with all he met. The means was the retreat.

A retreat implies a change in direction. It is an invitation to temporarily abandon your context, to give yourself over to those who live and toil to expand and deepen others' experi­ence and awareness of God's presence in your life, but you have to have a place to do that. So the Friars sought to construct a building where people could assemble together to hear and discuss the message of the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ and St Francis of Assisi, and to experience how that message was manifest in the life of the Gospel.

In Easton, PA construction was begun to erect a refuge where people could remove barriers amongst themselves, where they could learn to be open to God and each other. This was the beginning of St. Francis Retreat House.  It opened its doors as a men’s retreat house in September of 1961 and began its service to the surrounding communities.

The wonderful collection of stories about St. Francis, the "Fioretti", recorded shortly after his death, tells us how he cared for every creature of God. It tells us how his caring went beyond the individual; how he valued the community, whether it was his own band of followers, a town, city, province, or country. 

Present day Franciscans continue that value. In 1963 the Friars offered a retreat for married couples, a major departure from traditional practice. In 1964 the retreat house opened its doors to a group of Spanish speaking men from Bethlehem for a "Cursillo" under local direction, beginning a long involvement with that movement.

 In 1968 the first retreat for women, married and single, took place. In 1972 the Allentown Diocese began the use of the house as the center for Marriage Encounter. Subsequent years saw the house expand its service and outreach in ways not imagined in the time of Francis, but very much in keeping with his spirit. Almost from the beginning the ecumenical spirit was alive. The house hosted retreats for other denominations, including pastors and their wives. The "Matt Talbot" groups and Sisters of Serenity, men and women seeking healing and support for substance abuse, found a sympathetic welcome for their gatherings in prayer. One in particular, a substantially African American group, had been holding retreats in an Army barracks at a cost that became prohibitive. The military atmosphere was not conducive to reflection. They found in St. Francis Retreat House a place ideal for re­flection, and open to them in a way that would not bar any from attending because of financial restrictions.  

To muster energies and resources, the friars of the Vice-Province of the Most Holy Savior in the year 2000 joined with the friars of St. John the Baptist Province in Cincinnati, OH, and another phase of the retreat house started.  A new addition of bedrooms and conference rooms expanded the retreat house capacity.