Our History

The original retreat house was purchased from the estate of Charles  Witbeck in May 1948. The house was beautifully furnished and the  transition from a family house to a functional retreat house was not an  extremely difficult one. By August of the same year the house was ready  to serve the community of the Albany Diocese, and on August 8th, the  late Bishop Edmund Gibbons officiated at the dedication. His message to  all present at the dedication ceremony: "This house is for you, the  people. It is not the Sisters'. It is your house; it will be what you  make it."  By August 13th, the retreat house was opening its doors for  the first retreat group. Twenty-seven women were present for that first  weekend. 

 As the retreat movement to spread, it became evident that larger  accommodations were needed. Plans were made for a new retreat house  which would offer accommodations for fifty people.

On  May 3rd, 1958, the Most Rev. William Scully officiated at the laying of  the cornerstone; on November 22nd of the same year, he blessed and  dedicated the new building. The house was officially initiated into the  world of retreats with its first weekend retreat on November 28-30,  1958, which fifty women attended.