St. Francis de Sales was a firm believer in the making of spiritual retreats by the laity.
He explained, “ The saints retreated to solitary places, so that, with worldly cares left behind, they could more freely and ardently give themselves up to heavenly love.
Souls that long to love God in real earnest, close their minds to talk of worldly matters and use their understanding to meditate with greater intensity on what is divine; they concentrate all their striving in one single aim which is to love God and Him alone.” 1.
To facilitate the accessibility of an environment conducive to solitary retreats by the laity, St. Francis de Sales had approved by the Holy See a unique outreach to laity from within the enclosure of the Visitation Monasteries he founded.
The Constitutions of the Order of the Visitation contain this invitational clause: By virtue of the Order’s own special privilege and in conformity with the initial intentions of the Founder, women and young girls desirous of making a spiritual retreat are allowed to do so within the enclosure.”2
Consider the possibility of making a spiritual retreat within any of the eleven Visitation Monasteries in the United States or any of the 150 Visitation Monasteries throughout the world!
Here’s the experience of one retreatant:
http://wanderingthepathhome.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/monastic-perspective/
1.Treatise on the Love of God, Book XII, Chapter 3, St Francis de Sales
2.Constitutions of the Order of the Visitation, 59L