Hermitage

Looking for a place to reflect and recharge your spiritual batteries? Need to get away from the demands of your everyday life to sort out your priorities? Want a place that will give you space for quiet reflection?

Then come to the Motherhouse grounds of the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio and spend a few days or a week in peace and solitude in one of our Hermitage cabins. La Verna, named after the Italian city where St. Francis received the stigmata, and San Damiano, named after a church near Assisi, Italy, where St. Francis heard the call of God, are identical, full service log cabins built in 1998.

Open year round, the one room plus bath hermitages include:

Complete kitchen with stove, microwave and refrigerator.
Sitting area with easy chair, desk and lamps for reading or writing.
Sleeping area with double bed, dresser, chair and nightstand (linens provided).
Complete bathroom, shower only (towels provided).
Screened porch.
Cabins are heated by a gas-log stove or central furnace and cooled by air conditioning and fans.
One cabin (La Verna) is handicap accessible.

In addition to the hermitages, to enhance your experience, the grounds include:

Canticle of Praise Prayer Garden, complete with walking paths, a pond, Stations of the Cross, Isaac’s Altar, and benches for meditating.
Portiuncula Chapel—modeled after the 12th century church Francis of Assisi prayed in—that includes an attached reading room complete with books and audio tapes.
Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel, built in 1960 for liturgies and celebration.
Walking the grounds, you will encounter numerous shrines honoring St. Francis with the animals, St. Francis with the wolf Gubbio, Our Lady of Sylvania, a shrine to honor the unborn, and the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes.
A 25 foot crucifix rising 18 feet above the ground, handmade from trees on the grounds.

Length of stay can be as short as one day or as long as 10. Extended stays can be arranged on a case-by-case basis. Cost is $40 per day; $20 for partial. We ask that you remit the entire rental cost as well as the cost of meals, if chosen, in advance. Refunds will be made in full up to one month before scheduled arrival. Check in is 3 p.m.; check out is Noon. Bed linens and towels are provided.

Bring your own food and snacks. If you don’t want to cook, meals can be taken in the Rosary Care Center dining room. Breakfast is $5. Lunch is $4 for soup and salad or $6.25 for a full meal. Dinner is $6.25. Coffee is available throughout the day.

No pets or smoking allowed.

For more information or reservations contact:
Sister M. Serra Minier
419-824-3611
sminier@sistersosf.org
6832 Convent Boulevard
Sylvania, OH 43560