By Father Kevin Cullen
Rejoice… Autumn is here! We slow our pace into this new Season. Some folks listen to Sr. Mary McGlone, CSJ, call us into Beloved Discipleship. Others accompany people with quiet prayers. It’s exciting to watch the natural world be transformed: leaves changing colors and gardens being put to bed for the winter. The Light adjusts: our world is darker in the mornings. The sun sets earlier in the evenings. Days seem shorter, yet the time we have does not change. And transformation occurs in us as well. We are called to listen, look, reflect, and act anew during this autumn season.
Since May, Pope Leo has invited each one of us to understand our place in Magnifica Humanitas. Yes, what wonder and awe we are as part of this magnificent humanity. As October continues, we celebrate the lives of women and men who reveal the image of our Triune God, who recognize the dignity of every person, and who protect and promote the human rights of each and every one. Yes, we are part of a magnificent humanity. A litany of saints with Teresa of Avila, Margaret Mary Alacoque, Ignatius of Antioch, Jean de Brébeuf and companions, Mater Admirabilis, Gaspar del Bufalo, Ursula, John Paul II, John of Capistrano, Anthony Mary Claret and many other holy women and men invite us to celebrate our common graces. Change abounds as we deepen in faith, grow in hope, and live in love!
Rejoice! Our Jubilee year at Marillac Retreat and Spirituality Center begins. With great gratitude, we celebrate the 25 years that this facility has welcomed women and men to grow in spirituality and deepen in their quest for God. People have come here to rest, renew, listen, and live more fully into their callings.
Rejoice! On the third Tuesday of each month, SCLs will celebrate and pray with the many ways their charism has been and continues to be lived. On October 20, Sister Noreen Walter, SCL, founding director of our Marillac Center, begins our Jubilee events. She will Open Wide the Doors, inviting us into prayer, by recalling our past, embracing our present, and dreaming our future ways of being God’s holy presence in today’s world.
Please check our Jubilee link for other programs this Autumn: Living with Gratitude: The Crow Way, and Singing through Seasons with Advent and Christmas Carols. Rejoice!
Celebrating Our 25th Jubilee Year
As we enter the 2026–2027 programming year, the Marillac Retreat and Spirituality Center joyfully celebrates a Jubilee year, honoring both the 25-year history of our dedicated retreat center building and a quarter-century of promoting retreats, conferences, spiritual direction, and educational programs. Grounded in the enduring spirit of hospitality of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, our mission continues to be offered with the core virtues of humility, simplicity, and charity.
In honor of this milestone, Marillac will host a special monthly program on the second Tuesday of each month for the next 18+ months. These sister-presented programs will draw upon their rich years of work and ministry, offering a beautiful opportunity for us to come together to celebrate the SCLs, highlight their incredible work and profound spiritual depths, and give the broader SCL Community the opportunity to Rejoice!
Join us in celebrating each month. More information can be found on the Marillac website or on our Marillac Instagram.
Día de los Muertos
November 3, 2026
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Marillac Assembly
Mr. Nic Herrmann
During the season, we are called to contemplate both life and death; we cross the sacred threshold where the spirits of the past and the pulse of the present become one in a shared celebration of life and the afterlife. It’s a day to weave together global traditions and deep prayer, inviting a fresh perspective on the holy cycle of birth, death, and the light that carries us through them all.
Registration for Día de los Muertos
November 3, 2026, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Nursing The Nurse: Spirituality Over The Life Span
November 14, 2026
10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Marillac Assembly
Noella McCray, RN, and Sister Judith Jackson, SCL
Spirituality for nurses is a life-long journey. This day together is designed to assist nurses to find personal meaning in work; to cultivate self-compassion; to sustain emotional resilience; and to adopt reflective practices such as meditation, prayer, and journaling.
Registration for Nursing The Nurse: Spirituality Over The Life Span
November 14, 2026 10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
