Jesuit Retreat House Cleveland Ohio

a place of peace

Retreats
Calendar
Photo-tour
Donate
Volunteer
Links
Stations of the Cross
Jesuit Prayers
Directions
About Us
Contact Us
Home

Search . . .
Ask . . .
Wonder. . .

The Jesuit Retreat House
5629 State Road
Parma, OH 44134

Phone: 440.884.9300
Fax: 440.885.1055
E-Mail: [email protected]

Questions or comments about this site?
Contact our Webmaster.

Director | History

HOLY GROUND
Thumbnail of 118 Years of the Jesuit Retreat House of Cleveland

1886 - St. Ignatius College (now John Carroll University) founded

1893 - Jesuits purchase twenty wooded acres on State Road in South Brooklyn (now Parma)

1898 - St. Stanislaus Novitiate opens house of studies for Jesuit Scholastics in two-and-a- half-story wood frame house

1898 - Fr. Theodore Van Rossum, S.J., former Rector of Canisius College in Buffalo and Superior of the whole Buffalo Mission appointed Rector of St. Stanislaus Novitiate and Master of Novices - Fr. Van Rossum directs three lay men at the new house in three days of retreat - Fr. Van Rossum establishes the lay retreat movement and inaugurates the first retreat house.

1900 - Four-story gothic brick building added to frame structure

1905 - The JRH property expands to 79 acres.

1907-1908 - Jesuit Superior General amalgamates Buffalo Mission with the Jesuit Missouri Province, administered from St. Louis. St. Stanislaus serves as the sole Tertianship for the Missouri Province (later the Chicago Province and after 1955, the Detroit Province).

1898-1912 - The number of men attending retreats at St Stan's grows to an estimated 500.

1926 - Fire brings about renovation and reconstruction, and 22 acres are sold to pay for it, JRH now consists of 57 acres of property

1931 - Lenten retreats begun

1940 - Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in Akron, Ohio. Retreats for members of AA now held at St. Stan's.

1940 - Three lay men form the Laymen's Retreat League of the Diocese of Cleveland

1943 - Retreats become a year-round occurrence with over 1,200 men coming each year

1949-1956 - Demand for retreats soars - post-war years see expansion of retreat facilities when two wings with private rooms, a chapel, dining room and kitchen are added to the original seminary building.

1962 to 1965 - Second Vatican Council - Lay and non-Jesuit associates begin to grow in numbers - many volunteers assist the house ministry.

1966 - First Lay Advisory Board established

1967 - Seminary program moves to Colombiere College in Clarkston, Michigan.

1967 - Board moves to change the name of the house to: the Jesuit Retreat House of Cleveland.

1968 - Inclusion of women's retreats and addition of religious women to staff of retreat directors.

1969 - The era of the 30's to 60's when the "closed," silent retreat was a tradition for St. Ignatius High School students - this year sees 1,500 high school students participating in retreat programs

1974 - Old seminary building is razed, but chapel windows still adorn the Jesuit Retreat House.

1982 - Advisory Board becomes governing Board of Trustees that includes both Jesuits and non-Jesuits and exercises full responsibility for the work of the retreat house.

1998 - Centennial Celebration - marked by major improvements of existing plant

2000 - Board sub-committee study begins exploration of capital improvement needs

2001 - Board of Trustees approves first step in major building expansion and construction