Bergamo Center
4400 Shakertown Rd., Dayton, 45430 | bergamocenter.org
The Bergamo Center extends hospitality in a spirit of peace and renewal on its campus adjacent to 50 acres of a wooded natural preserve.

“The Bergamo Center is set on the Marianist property of Mount Saint John, which is open to daytime visitors from sunup to sundown,” said Brent Devitt, Executive Director of the Bergamo Center.

Roughly 8,000 individuals and groups visit the Bergamo Center and its tranquil, natural environment annually. Its unique architectural design sets it apart, featuring a courtyard adorned with native plants and surrounded by 60 bedrooms.

Adult Programs

Day of Rest & Healing Personal Retreat Day

The Bergamo Center welcomes individuals seeking a personal day of retreat for Rest & Healing. The Center selects and offers a certain day each month for personal retreats. The recommended offering for this retreat is $50 which includes a box lunch. The opportunity for Spiritual Direction is offered at an additional cost.
Registration Form for upcoming Days of Rest & Healing

Day of Rest & Healing Retreat Sample Schedule:
9:00 Arrival, Visit Room, short self-guided tour
AM Optional Spiritual Direction, Use of Mary Mother of Mercy Chapel
12:00 Box Lunch
PM Optional Spiritual Direction, Walk the property, Grotto, Room rest
4:00 Close the day

Spiritual Direction

Spiritual Direction (also referred to as Spiritual Companionship or Accompaniment) is a spiritual practice developed in relationship by meeting regularly with a spiritual director. This companionship inspires people to experience authenticity in their lives as they connect with and explore their relationship with God. The purpose is to deepen one’s spirituality and growth, paying ever closer attention to what God is inviting you to. God is the real director in the relationship. The spiritual companion is a professionally trained, active companion who helps you to recognize, appreciate, and be attentive to the movement of God in your life.

Click here to see a list of Spiritual directors who commonly have the Bergamo Center as a site for their Spiritual Direction sessions.

Ignatian Spirituality Project Dayton

ISP Dayton is grateful to partner with Bergamo Center to offer regular overnight retreats for men and women in recovery from addiction and homelessness. Our teams also offer regular spiritual reflection sessions in the community and work with Mercy Manor, Saint Vincent DePaul and Good Shepherd Ministries in Dayton.

We are always looking for volunteers to drive participants to Bergamo, facilitate overnight retreats, lead spiritual reflections and simply walk in companionship with people in recovery across the community. We rely on the generosity of our volunteers and our donors to make our ministry possible! Please contact Allison Loecke at [email protected] for more information or check out our ISP Dayton website.

Bergamo Center Youth Retreats

Bergamo Center’s Youth Development offers high school overnight retreats and 7th-8th grade day-long retreats. Trained teams of youth ministry facilitators coordinate and implement each retreat experience. Retreats continue to be one of the most effective ways to reach young people. Our youth department is prepared to develop a program that will address each group’s individual needs including retreats on human dignity and peer-led retreats.

High School Overnight Retreats

High School students are given the opportunity to:

• Identify and celebrate their own giftedness
• Recognize people in their lives who are essential to nurturing and fostering their growth
• Become aware and celebrate God in their lives through prayer and sacrament
• Celebrate God’s love through reconciliation and sacrifice

7th-8th Grade Daylong Retreats

Seventh and eighth grade students are given the opportunity to:

• Recognize their unique gifts in the context of community
• Affirm those gifts and prepare for the lifelong journey of faith
• Recognize the spirit within their own school and church community
• Assess their readiness in receiving the sacrament of Confirmation

World’s Greatest Retreat Saturday March 2, 2024

* * Note: For Details and to Pre-Register for the World’s Greatest Retreat click on this link for the 2024 forms.
Pre-Registration & Permission Release forms are required and necessary before payment is made through the Event Registration Portal

World’s Greatest is Bergamo’s annual retreat for high school students. The theme is taken from scripture, Genesis 1:27 – “God created man and woman in his image and divine an image it was.” The retreat design is to follow that scripture and have retreatants discover that they are each a gift to the world. Since we are made in God’s image we must see each other as the world’s greatest gifts and treat each other with respect and with responsibility to make good choices. This retreat was created to be a showcase of new ideas and prayer experiences.

This retreat is open to anyone in the Southwestern Ohio. Retreatants have been from Dayton, Troy, Cincinnati, Celina, Centerville, Huber Heights, Beavercreek, Columbus, Vandalia, Sidney, Kettering, and Kentucky. This is a Catholic based retreat, but we invite anyone called by the spirit who has a spark in their heart for God.