History of The Jesuit Retreat Center

For some years previous to 1924, there had been persistent and serious talk, both among Jesuits who had been interested in the retreat movement and among the men who had been making annual retreats at Santa Clara University, about the establishment of a permanent retreat house. Santa Clara had many advantages, but the main disadvantage was that its availability was restricted to June.

When Father Joseph Piet, S.J., was appointed the Provincial Superior of the California Province of the Society of Jesus, he decided to search for a suitable site. On December 9, 1924, while Father Piet, Father Joseph Stack, S.J., who had been assigned to the new work, and Father Zacheus Maher, S.J., President of Santa Clara University, were making inquiries about directions to a Morgan Hill property, their informant casually mentioned that the Wellman property near Los Altos was on the market and might be suitable.

William Wellman was a San Francisco businessman, director of the wholesale grocery firm of Wellman, Peck and Co. Some two years before, he and his wife divorced and he moved away from his Los Altos property. It was occupied at the time by a caretaker and his wife. The Jesuits visited the property and decided almost immediately that this was a perfect spot for the future retreat house.

Accordingly, the property was acquired, and Father Zacheus Maher helped to get the place in order, physically and economically. The house had to be cleaned and furnished, but the only alteration of note was the conversion of Mr. Wellman's billiard room into a chapel by extending it about 25 feet. Pews and altar were a gift from Santa Clara University. The altar was the work of Brother Chiotti, S.J.

On Saturday afternoon, March 14, 1925, while Father Stack was in the East to review how other retreat houses were operated, Father Dominic Giacobbi, S.J., and Brother Stephen Vlasich, S.J., along with Antonio Rossi, who was to function as the cook, moved to Los Altos and took possession of the property. The next morning, the first Mass was celebrated in the Chapel and the Blessed Sacrament placed in the tabernacle.

The Original name "El Retiro San Iñigo" was suggested by the Most Reverend Edward J. Hanna, Archbishop of San Francisco, who heartily approved of the Jesuits' move to Los Altos and who encouraged the retreat work. He agreed to officiate at the formal blessing and opening of the retreat house at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 2, 1925, a joyful celebration attended by about 125 people. The Archbishop spoke briefly after a Benediction, as did Mr. Paul McCarthy of San Francisco, President of the Retreat League. A number of altar boys from Santa Clara University came to serve, and the young Jesuits from the Juniorate at Los Gatos provided the music and singing.

Thus began the Jesuits' retreat work in Los Altos.

The numbers of those coming for retreats continued to grow, so there was necessarily much discussion of additional buildings and property. The original Wellman home, which is currently the main office building, quickly became inadequate for all the services a retreat house should offer. Twelve more acres were added, and Loyola Hall, a residence hall and conference area for retreatants, was built; Rossi Chapel followed almost immediately in 1928.

For 20 years, the Retreat Center was filled beyond capacity, and after World War II, 22 more acres were purchased when the contiguous Prosser estate became available. This property boasted a large Mediterranean-style mansion, which subsequently became St. Robert's Hall. Marini Hall, an additional residence for retreatants was soon built, and then Pereira Hall, which included a large dining room and kitchen, and the residence for the Jesuit Community. The pressure of increasing numbers necessitated an annex to St. Robert's in 1951 and, finally, another retreatants' residence, St. Joseph's.

The next ten years saw the retreat movement and the 50 acres of The Jesuit Retreat Center continuing to flourish. Many shrines were erected, especially during the second term of Father Neal O'Mara, S.J., after whom the main Conference Room in Loyola Hall has been named. But the numbers of strong supporters and regular retreatants began to wane in the sixties. Successive generations did not choose to join their fathers and grandfathers for the annual weekends, and death began to reduce the size of the traditional groups. The tenor of The Jesuit Retreat Center began to change: women's retreats were instituted; retreats for recovered alcoholics began to draw large numbers, as did those for married couples. Other retreats, devoted either to special groups, such as the charismatics, or arranged according to special programs, such as those emphasizing healing or the understanding of grief, began to be developed. At the same time, individually directed retreats became one of the popular characteristics of The Jesuit Retreat Center.

Under the leadership of Robert L. St. Clair, S.J., in the early eighties, the Retreat Center sold about 12 acres for a condominium development. This sale produced the first, modest endowment; since then, small amounts have been added. While The Jesuit Retreat Center is a house always teetering on the deficit line ­ a daily public prayer to St. Joseph seems to keep it from falling over that line ­ the interest from the endowment and the annual gifts generously donated by retreatants allow us to keep the cost of a retreat within reason.

Through all the change, one thing has remained, and still remains: the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Given in various forms and adapted for different audiences, they are the inspiration for all the preaching and retreat direction The Jesuit Retreat Center offers. The Spiritual Exercises are a methodology, a framework, written in the 16th century by Ignatius Loyola to assist his Jesuits in directing men and women through an experience of prayer and of discernment.

Today, several Jesuits and their lay colleagues combine their talents to guide people in their search for God. It is a rich work, a work of great grace.