Leaves: Mary O'Mahony, RSM
     Welcome to Berakah.  Our dream, hope, and purpose at Berakah is to provide a holistic renewal program for women religious that recognizes and affirms the uniqueness of each person with her gifts, and empowers each woman to find her voice and speak her truth, grounded in God's word spoken to her in all of life - personal experience, scripture, relationships, current events, the situations of daily life, and nature.  The fullness of life to which we are called is essentially holistic and sacred.  Accordingly, we believe that the personal, spiritual, intellectual, and physical well-being of the human person fully alive requires:
 
 
  • a rich spiritual life centered in a personal relationship with God
  • a positive and realistic sense of ourselves - our personal worth and lovableness as well as our gifts, abilities, limitations, and needs
  • a profound awareness and experience of being accepted, affirmed and loved by God and others
  • healthy, supportive relationships
  • attention to and fostering of one's physical, mental and emotional health and well-being
  • meaningful and fulfilling ministry
  • intellectual stimulation and growth
  • nurturance of the aesthetic and creative dimensions of ourselves
  • laughter and relaxation
  • freedom from fear, shame, oppression and abuse
  • freedom to be and to become, to direct our own lives and make decisions consonant with who we are, and are becoming

     In addition to addressing, supporting and promoting the above, we also seek to:
 

  • foster a contemplative stance toward the sacredness of all life
  • explore and reflect deeply on the meaning, purpose and direction of contemporary religious life, and the roles of women in church and society
  • invite and challenge participants to stretch themselves, risk the new and untried, transcend present limitations, and explore new possibilities.
MEET OUR STAFF:

Rosina M. Bechard, FCSCJ, MTS

Weston Jesuit School of Theology, Cambridge, MA
Retreat and Spiritual Director

Claire Coll, CSC, M.A., M.Ed.

Fairfield University, Connecticut
Notre Dame College, New Hampshire
Licensed PRH (Personality and Human Relations) Educator
Growth Counselor
Norman R. Comtois, O.M.I., MA, LMHC

Emmanuel College, Boston, MA
Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Team Member at Oblate Ecological Initiative
Spiritual Director, Pastoral Counselor

Helene Cote, p.m., MTS

Weston Jesuit School of Theology, Cambridge, MA
Staff Member at Marie-Joseph Spiritual Center, Biddeford, ME
Retreat and Spiritual Director, Inner Healing

Elaine L. Marquis, CSC, MAT

St. Michael's College, Winooski, VT
Administrative Assistant

Pauline Plante, CSC, M.Ed.

Notre Dame College, Manchester, NH
Licensed PRH (Personality and Human Relations) Educator
Growth Counselor

 
Janice Rosman, OSF, DMA

Director of Food Services and Dietary Consultant

Mary Schneiders, OP, Ph.D.

The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
Professor of Theological and Scriptural Studies
Spiritual Director

Auxiliary Staff

Rev. Gerald Auger
Edgar Fournier

Yvette Thibault, CSC

Theresa Labore, CSC
Beverly Drolet
Vicki True
Debbie Frederick Elaine Theoret, CSC
Joan Veroneau Jim Simpson
Kellianne Steeves
 


For registration information and an information
request form, please click here.
 

Who We Are   |   Location   |   Vision   |   Renewal   |   Retreat   |   Home

Please feel free to contact us:

BERAKAH
96 Fairview Road
Pittsfield, NH 03263-3817
Phone: (603)435-7271
FAX: (603)435-6670
E-mail: Berakah@aol.com

© Berakah, 2000-2008