A Spiritual Experience: Visiting Marion Heights

By Michael Kirk

On October 20, the seventh grade from St Rose was excited. They were missing a day of school to go on a retreat to a convent, Marion Heights, in Monroe. They didn’t know what to expect as they got on the bus that morning after praying to the rosary. Little did the students know they were in for a day of team-building exercise, prayer, community service, and a special mass celebrated by Fr. Bob Weiss from St Rose of Lima Church.

As soon as the students disembarked, they were greeted by some of the sisters from the Holy Family of Nazareth. The group proceeded to Mass in the Chapel. The Mass was filled with young voices as students sang spirituals including, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee!” Megan Meier and Michelle Rahtelli played accompanying flute and piccolo.

Next, the students enjoyed a preluncheon snack of coffee, donuts, and juice before engaging in a number of team-building activities. One involved a game where one student tried his or her best to make their peers, working to keep straight faces, break down and laugh. The students also constructed a puzzle quilt that illustrated the importance each one of their individual lives brought to the group as a whole.

The students expressed thanks to the sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, their teachers and Father Bob for a spiritual, personally beneficial, and, of course, fun time at Marion Heights!