Villa Madonna Retreat House
115 Villa Madonna Road E2H 2X4 Rothesay, NB, Canada

We are grateful to receive a generous donation from the AASEA, which will bring Villa Madonna to 90% our goal!

Update on the Winter Warmer Furnace Fund Your outpouring of support and your messages show how important the Villa Madonna is to you. We began this campaign on Monday Nov 31st, and in just 5 days, you have donated $5,671 to the Villa Madonna Furnace Fund!... That's an amazing 56% of the target! Friends are adding comments about what the Villa Madonna means to them- a few are included below. With gratitude, we acknowledge a major donor from the Anglican Diocese of Fredericton with a large gift of $1,000! One donor said "Let's share the warmth of our generosity so that the Villa can share its warmth of hospitality again." Folks are sharing their stories with us, and we learn and understand how Villa Madonna affects people's lives positively: "The Villa has been I place where I go to work things through with God." "I met my best friend at a retreat you hosted for CCSA and STU Campus Ministry in 2010 or 2011. She was the maid of honour at my wedding 4 years ago and we still talk regularly." "When you enter through the door way you know and understand that you are in the presence of God. It is a place that allows each of us to commune with our Heavenly Father during times of retreat and discernment. This is a place that truly practices the ministry of hospitality!" "This is a wonderful retreat house, so peaceful and great place to be alone with God. Thank you for all you do to bring joy , peace and love to all who enter this beautiful building." "Thank you for providing a warm, loving environment for people to come together in fellowship and comradeship to share, learn and grow emotionally and spiritually. " "I have so enjoyed spending time at the Breast Cancer Retreats over the past 11 or 12 years. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, we were unable to meet this year. I miss the survivors and the staff as well as the delicious meals. The Lord willing, we will be able to meet next fall!" "Solidarity from Loyola House Retreat Centre in Guelph Ontario, in honour of Sarah Farquhar whose spirit warms our community in so many ways!" "Until COVID 19, the Villa was like a second home as I facilitated or participated in Anglican groups and events as we gathered for retreats. Let's share the warmth of our generosity so that the Villa can share its warmth of hospitality again." http://villamadonna.ca/furnace-fundraiser

An Update on the Winter Warmer fundraising - https://mailchi.mp//an-update-on-the-winter-warmer-fundrai

Friends, your outpouring of support for your Villa Madonna is amazing. In just 24 hours, we have reached 38% of the target. Thank you for your support!

Make the Winter Warmer - https://mailchi.mp/249c870a1429/make-the-winter-warmer The old furnace expired and you can help purchase and install a new furnace at the VILLA MADONNA's Canada Helps page

Our Socially Distanced Art Show and Fundraiser featuring the work of Cathy Love, Melanie Koteff Backman and Liane Thibodeau sadly ends this afternoon and this will be your last chance to see the show. We hope to see you this afternoon between 2:00 and 5:00 at the Villa Madonna. Don't forget the clocks turned back an hour last night. #SociallyDistancedArtShowVillaMadonna

Liane Thibodeau is hoping you will consider planting milkweed to provide habitat for Monarch Butterflies next summer. We will have milkweed seeds available for free this Sunday, the last day of our Sociall Distanced Art Show and Fundraiser.

Melanie Koteff Backman's floral oil paintings are sure to delight flower lovers.

Hope to see you Sunday

This Sunday, November 1st is the final day of our Socially Distanced Art Show and Fundraiser. You can get an early start on your Christmas shopping and support the work of local artists Melanie Koteff Backman, Cathy Love and Liane Thibodeau, as well as the Villa Madonna, with 30% of all purchases going to support the work of this lovely retreat house. #sociallydistancedartshowvillamadonna

WELCOMING SEASON OF CREATION Blessed are You, God alive in Earth and Cosmos! Welcoming this Season of Creation, we celebrate your generosity,... as late summer ripens to early autumn. All your creatures reveal your beauty, truth and wisdom. We give thanks for flourishing fields, bringing forth rich harvest colourful gardens, attracting precious pollinators. In every season, You give us what we need. Eagerly, your Spirit nourishes us to receive and share loving kindness and compassion. Forgive our carelessness, causing Earths distress, with loss of many species. In a time of pandemic, guide us to participate in your call to transformation. Awaken us to walk lightly on the land, seeding integrity cultivating justice creating a climate of equality and peace. Gratefully, we pray in the name of Jesus, who calls us to grow, making all things new. Amen. ~ Roma De Robertis, SCIC

Hi Friends, we wanted to share this beautiful photo a member of a group at Villa Madonna caught last weekend. A beautiful double arch over the Villa Madonna! And, yes, we are having groups in these days, smaller numbers of course, and some protocols in place to keep everyone safe. Be well, stay safe, love your bubble!

Saint John Quakers Meeting, this Sunday - July 12th. Join us at 11am at the Villa Madonna in Rothesay. Bring your lunch- we'll join together for a meal afterwards. Need more details? Respond to this post and we'll get back to you.

https://www.unb.ca//experien/summer/catalyst/business.html

Sunday June 21st, the Villa Madonna will host a socially distanced silent worship, with the Quakers of Saint John. Starts at 11am- come a little early to get settled. All welcome.

Family Reunion Time: Villa Madonna can host groups inside or outside, and with our new Operational Plan, we can also feed large groups- up to 30- following social distance regulations! Need a space for a family reunion? Give us a call!

Villa Madonna will host a social-distanced Quaker religious event at 11am on Sunday May 31st. You are invited to join the Saint John Quaker meeting at the Villa Madonna, for 1 hour of silent worship and following, a social-distanced brown bag lunch. Please bring your own water and food, and your mask if you wish. Hand-washing and sanitization stations are set-up. This meeting is proposed to be held in the lounge of the Villa Madonna, but may be relocated to the larger St Gabriel room to facilitate full social distancing if numbers require it.

As we create our Operational Plan, we are working in our spaces to see how many guests we can accommodate in our meeting spaces using GNB guidelines on social distancing. Capacity will be reduced to less than half in most cases, in order to keep you safe when gathering together. We're measuring out spaces with chairs or chairs and tables so we know in advance where we can fit your group. We will be able to accommodate groups up to 26 in the largest room, and perhaps a few mo...re if some attendees are from the same household/bubble and can sit closer together. Stay tuned- we'll start posting pics soon!

With the announcement of Code Yellow and the lifting of restrictions, we will be re-opening the Villa Madonna on June 1st. Our Operation Plan includes social distancing and the same high standards of cleanliness that we always followed! In the days to come, we'll be rolling out the limits on group size, plans for the dining room and most importantly, that you can now begin to start re-booking your events. We hope to see you soon!

As the Gov't of New Brunswick publishes Re-Opening Guidelines for businesses, the Villa Madonna is at work preparing our Operational Plan. The staff and Board of Directors of Villa Madonna are working on identifying new measures designed to keep guests safe, as well as reviewing our services and in house traffic patterns. We hope to re-open in June, if the province announces Yellow Level. Hope we can see you soon.

As New Brunswick begins to discuss re-opening, this article carries a lot of weight, about how virus is spread, the most common ways to spread, and an important lesson about "exposure x time = infection". Thanks to Peter Powning for finding this!https://www.erinbromage.com//the-risks-know-them-avoid-the

well, as you can imagine, the Villa Madonna has been quieter than usual for the last few weeks. We did some baking for a while, but we didn't want to encourage people to travel or leave home just to get more of Annie's home-made brown bread... Our core staff have been busy cleaning everything in sight, and now we're moving onto to everything out of sight. We're making some repairs that needed some time to address... and, we finally cleared more of the big trees that blew down... so you can walk from Mary's clearing to the stations of the cross pathways easily now. So we're waiting for news of when we can begin to gather in small groups again. When that happens, with whatever changes are put in place for places like ours, we'll be ready for you. In the meantime, you can still walk on our paths- we'll be getting the prayer benches out soon. In the meantime, stay safe, stay home, we'll see you soon!

And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently. And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed, and the people... joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed. (Special Thanks to Joyce for keeping us honest!) https://www.irishcentral.com//irish-american-teachers-poem

Today, Annie baked fresh biscuits, in the Villa's spotless kitchen. We have some brown and white bread loaves available too. Drop us a line if you'd like to pick something up this afternoon.

BROWN BREAD: Monday March 30th- Annie, with gloves on, is baking brown bread in our sanitized kitchen. We will accept your orders and payment via e-transfer. We will arrange pick-up options with you.

Villa Madonna is closed to events. A few people are working (in isolation) on re-scheduling, routine maintenance and deep cleaning. Our head cook Anne Marie Pace has offered to bake bread for you during this downtime. She is making her maritime white bread, her famous brown bread and biscuits as well. We'd take payment by e-transfer, and will also ensure that strict precautions regarding handling are followed. Pick-up at Villa Madonna will follow social distance protocol. If you'd like some of Annie's home-made bread, please drop us a line here and we'll make arrangements.

Villa Madonna is closed until further notice. - https://mailchi.mp//villa-madonna-is-closed-until-further-

Villa Madonna has closed its doors. This is a brief message to let you know that the Villa Madonna is closed. Although we often serve groups smaller than the Federal Guidelines for gathering, we have too many people traveling through our spaces too often, too close together, for safety and we want everyone, our staff and our guests, to remain safe and healthy.... We have closed Villa Madonna for all events until the end of April, and we will assess the situation during the coming weeks, to see when it will be safe and advisable to re-open. If you have an event booked with us in that timeframe, get in touch with us by email- we have core staff still working (in isolation!) to communicate with you about potential re-bookings. Be safe, stay home, follow the signs. Enjoy your down time with loved ones. Peace, Sandy Sandy MacKay on behalf of the directors and staff of the Villa Madonna

Villa Madonna will be cancelling all events, beginning Tuesday March 17th to Mid-April. We will begin contacting all event coordinators and facilitators Tuesday March 17th.

ASIST Suicide Prevention Workshop, previously scheduled for March 18th and 19th at Villa Madonna is POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Reiki Level One with Master Reiki Sylvie Long, previously scheduled for March 20-22 2020 is cancelled. Thank you for your understanding.

Update: Villa Madonna will be following guidelines set forth by Govt of NB, based on Federal Risk-informed decision-making for mass gatherings. https://www2.gnb.ca//h/news/news_release.2020.03.0114.html

March 10/2020 VILLA MADONNA response to Corona Virus Concerns As an active retreat house, the Villa Madonna is inspected regularly by NB Dept of Health, and we get excellent grades! In our kitchen and dining room, we follow strict guidelines set forth by that Department. In our meeting rooms, public spaces and bedrooms, we follow standard protocols to ensure cleanliness and safety.... Villa Madonna uses hypo-allergenic hospital-grade virucides (virus killers) in all our cleaning processes. Corona Virus is listed on our product information sheets as one of the viruses that our disinfectants are effective against. Our cleaning products are supplied by EcoLab. We use EcoLab equipment to ensure proper standardized mixing of our cleaning and disinfecting agents to provide the right mix for effective cleaning and germicide. Our kitchen processes include these industrial standards: Washing all dishes and kitchen equipment in water that is at least 140 degreesF All equipment, dishes, and utensils are rinsed in industrial sanitizer (with sodium hypochlorite) Kitchen surfaces are cleaned daily with industrial sanitizer Our commitment to cleanliness includes Daily cleaning of public spaces including washrooms, doorknobs and hand-sanitizer containers with industrial virucide (virus-killer) We supply hand-sanitizer at 4 locations in the building Entrance to St Gabriel Room Entrance to Board Room Entrance to St Michaels Entrance to Dining Room Between visits, all rooms are cleaned with this same virucide. We are committed to providing you with a safe and clean meeting environment.

Seniors Mass and Lunch 11 am on Wednesday March the 4th. All welcome.

Lenten Retreat March 6 and 7! https://nb.anglican.ca/events/plowing-the-fields/2020-03-06

Get Ready for Lent with us!

HI Friends, the Quaker Meeting scheduled for Jan 12th at 11am will be canceled due to the forecast of Freezing Rain! We'll reconvene on Jan 26th at 11am.

Rohr: Returning to Essentials: One of the Sisters brought this to us recently! Practical, practice-based Christianity has been avoided, denied, minimized, ignored, delayed, and sidelined for too many centuries, by too many Christians who were never told Christianity was anything more than a belonging or belief system. Now we know that there is no Methodist or Catholic way of loving. There is no Orthodox or Presbyterian way of living a simple and nonviolent life. There is no ...Lutheran or Evangelical way of showing mercy. There is no Baptist or Episcopalian way of visiting the imprisoned. If there is, we are invariably emphasizing the accidentals, which distract us from the very marrow of the Gospel, as St. Francis called it. We have made this mistake for too long. We cannot keep avoiding what Jesus actually emphasized and mandated. In this most urgent time, it is the very love of Christ that now urges us (2 Corinthians 5:14). Quaker pastor Philip Gulley superbly summarizes how we must rebuild spirituality from the bottom up in his book, If the Church Were Christian. [2] Here I take the liberty of using my own words to restate his message, which offers a rather excellent description of Emerging Christianity: Jesus is a model for living more than an object of worship. Affirming peoples potential is more important than reminding them of their brokenness. The work of reconciliation should be valued over making judgments. Gracious behavior is more important than right belief. Inviting questions is more valuable than supplying answers. Encouraging the personal search is more important than group uniformity. Meeting actual needs is more important than maintaining institutions. Peacemaking is more important than power. We should care more about love and less about sex. Life in this world is more important than the afterlife (eternity is Gods work anyway). If this makes sense to you, you are already inside of Emerging Christianity. Gateway to Silence: Rooted and growing in Love

Happy New Year. Here's a great way to begin your year: With Gratitude. https://vimeo.com/44131171

Coming soon, Jan 2020! Clarenda's Empowerment weekend!

Pope Francis appoints Most Rev. Christian Riesbeck, CC as new Diocesan Bishop of Saint John It is with great joy that the Diocese of Saint John received the official announcement that Pope Francis has appointed the Most Reverend Christian Riesbeck,CC to succeed the Most Reverend Robert Harris as Bishop of Saint John. Bishop Riesbeck has been serving as the Auxiliary Bishop of Ottawa since his episcopal ordination in 2014. http://www.dioceseofsaintjohn.org//Clergy-Announcements-20

Next Quaker meeting at Villa Madonna- Dec 22nd at 11am

The next Seniors' Mass and Lunch coming on Wed Dec 11th! Come and see our beautifully decorated house, celebrate Mass and enjoy a great home-cooked meal with us! Call 849-5125 for more details or to let us know you will join us.

~ Reflection Evening ~ Retreat: As we welcome a new liturgical year, the Advent Christmas season offers us a moment ... a time of birthing and new life. You are invited to take a few hours from our busy schedules to discover the new life God wants to birth in you. The evening, facilitated by Sr. Gertrude Mulholland, SCIC, will take place at Villa Madonna on Monday, December 2, from 6:30 - 9:30 pm. Donations gracefully accepted.

There will be a Quaker Meeting tomorrow, Sunday Nov 24th at 11am at Vill Madonna. There is currently a Silent Retreat in progress, so please remember to honour that silence on your arrival. We'll meet in the lounge adjacent the main foyer.