PORTIUNCULA Center for Prayer

FACILITIES AND RATES

SETTING: Nestled in the lovely wooded 50-acre campus of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the Portiuncula provides a peaceful environment. Open, grassy knolls, wooded hiking trails and a small creek invite our guests to enter the solitude for study, prayer, and rest. As the spirit is renewed, so also is the body as natural surroundings let guests walk, hike, jog, or bicycle down tree-lined paths.

CONFERENCE SPACES: The Portiuncula Center for Prayer has comfortable, air-conditioned meeting rooms ideal for groups as small as 2 or as large as 50. A spacious auditorium, seating over 400, is available at the Motherhouse. Media equipment includes LCD projector, DVD/Video players and monitors, CD/IPOD players, and microphone system. Meetings room rates are $10 per person with an additional charge for beverage services. No additional charge for audiovisual equipment.

OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATIONS: Our Center has 27 clean, simple bedrooms to comfortably accommodate up to 50 overnight guests. Each room has individually controlled air-conditioning. Some of the rooms have private bath facilities; other rooms with single and double occupancy share centrally located bath facilities. Double occupancy is $53 a person per night; Single occupancy is $65 per night. Discounts apply for multiple night stays.

PRAYER ROOMS: A small chapel is located in the building and is available for mass, meditation, and individual or group worship. Daily mass is offered at the Queen of Angels Chapel in the Mother House. Queen of Angels Chapel can also be reserved for mass if your group exceeds the capacity for the Portiuncula chapel.

DINING AREA: Our warm, attractive dining room comfortably seats 55. Home-cooked, cafeteria-style meals focusing on light, heart-healthy menus are featured. Dietary restrictions can be accommodated with advance notice. Meal costs are Full Breakfast: $8.00; Continental Breakfast: $6.00; $Lunch: $10.00; Dinner: $12.00.

LABYRINTH: The Labyrinth is an archetype, a divine imprint, found in all religious traditions in various forms around the world. By walking our replica of the Chartres Labyrinth, laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral around 1220, you are rediscovering a long-forgotten mystical tradition that is insisting to be reborn. Walking the labyrinth is an ancient spiritual act and a physical meditation that is being rediscovered during our time.

THE HERMITAGES: Designed in the tradition of Franciscan simplicity, these hermitages are special, self-contained, single dwelling places of solitude. • SAN DAMIANO ($30 per night) Dedicated in 1988, this small single room wooden structure sits nestled in a stand of evergreen trees. It's rustic simplicity includes porch, bed, toilet, shower, and small "counter top" kitchen. • GRECCIO & LAFORESTA ($50 per night) Dedicated in 1988, these two hermitages stand near each other, yet apart enough for solitude and peace. Both face into the woods and include a bay-windowed front room, small kitchen and dining nook, and bedroom with full bath. Two more hermitages RIVO TORTO and SANTA CHIARA ($60 per night) were added and blessed on August 6, 2005. Both are fully equipped and include fireplaces and screened porches.

HERITAGE CHAPEL: Rooted deeply in history, the Sister's original 1870 chapel stands on holy ground behind the Motherhouse. It stands on a hill overlooking Francis' fountain and rose garden. Inside the tin walls, the old wooden benches echo prayers with the communion of the saints.