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Spiritual Deepening

Cormaria offers a variety of retreat opportunities and spiritual direction. If you would like more information on available retreats, check out our events calendar.

Types of retreats and spiritual direction

View of lush green grass and trees and statue of blessed mother.

Directed Retreat

This is a uniquely personal experience in which the retreatant is afforded the time, silence, and direction to come in touch with his/her personal relationship with God. There is a daily meeting with a director focusing on the totality of the day’s experience and discerning the movements of the Spirit in the retreatant.


view of peconic bay, with jetty in foreground, blue sky wiht white clouds, with the blue and white reflected in water

Guided Retreat

In an atmosphere of quiet and solitude, a theme is presented to those in attendance through daily conferences and suggestions for personal reflection are offered.  Guided prayer and/or shared prayer experiences occur throughout the retreat as well as the opportunity to meet with a Spiritual Director.


Partial interior of Cormaria chapel with blue rug, oar by sanctuary candle and weaving looking out large picture window to green grass, trees and Peconic Bay.

Private Retreat

A place where you can meet God in prayer and silence.


Cross made of logs, draped with cloth, and flanked by two vertical logs on either side. Blue curtain background, chair in front of cross

Hermitage Experience

Cormaria offers two Hermitage experiences – a place where you can experience God in prayer and contemplation. Amidst the sea breezes, the sound of seagulls, and the lapping water, Cormaria offers a hermitage experience. The hermitage is a small building located at the end of the property. It has two separate units with kitchen facilities where you prepare your own meals. It is a place for people to be still and be re-created as they spend time in solitude with their God.


Spiritual Direction

Spiritual Direction is a specialized ministry in the Church. It is a graced way of serving another believer, helping the other to grow in intimacy with God and to live out the consequences of that intimacy. It is considered a Triune relationship consisting of the DIrectee, Spiritual Director and God. The Spiritual Director provides the opportunity to be more aware of God’s love in the everyday activities of life.

A trained spiritual director helps you:

  • Be more aware of who God is for you
  • Notice God’s movement in the events of your life, in your prayer/communication
  • Talk about what you are experiencing
  • Be attentive to God’s invitations, “nudgings,” confirmations
  • Recognize resistance and barriers in the process of making choices that respond to God’s invitation

Sessions are held at Cormaria Retreat Center. For additional information, or to schedule an appointment, contact Joan McGovern at 631-725-4206 or jmcgovern@cormaria.org.


Cormaria Bereavement Support

Experiences that evoke grief are both more frequent and more varied than most people imagine Take time to honor your type of loss and how you are experiencing it. The process is unique for everyone. Allowing God into your pain and discomfort eases your journey. By gently recognizing unresolved feelings you can deepen the healing. You don’t heal because time passes, you heal because of what you do with the time.

Join other faith-based individuals as we explore God’s healing mercy for each of us.


Upcoming events & retreats

See all scheduled Cormaria events.