By Tracey Primrose
On March 15, the Jesuit Retreat Center in Los Altos, California, commemorates its first century with a morning Mass celebrated by Bishop Oscar Cantú of the Diocese of San Jose and an afternoon Mass celebrated by Fr. Sean Carroll, SJ, provincial of Jesuits West. Fr. Chi Ngo, SJ, executive director of the retreat center, is among the many Jesuit and diocesan priests who will be concelebrating the liturgies. Former California Governor Jerry Brown, who attended retreats in Los Altos as a young man, will speak at a reception following the morning Mass.
Since 1899, Jesuits have been offering the Spiritual Exercises to retreatants in the Santa Clara Valley. Retreats used to be held at the province’s former novitiate, Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, which now serves as the Jesuits West Province’s infirmary/retirement community, and Santa Clara College (now University), among other locations. After several decades of moving about, then-Jesuit provincial Fr. Joseph Piet, SJ, asked Fr. Joseph Stack, SJ, a frequent retreat director, to find a permanent home.
Fr. Stack learned that a 16-acre estate in the hills of Los Altos with sweeping views of the valley and the Santa Cruz mountains was on the market. When he brought the provincial to see the property, Fr. Piet exclaimed: “This is our place.”
Archbishop Edward Hanna of the Archdiocese of San Francisco gave his approval and suggested the name, El Retiro San Inigo, combining the word for retreat with a nod to the founder of the Society of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola.
For two months, the Jesuits readied and adapted the estate, creating a temporary chapel out of a billiard room before opening the doors for their first retreat on April 16, 1925. Just three years later, 12 acres had been added to the complex and Loyola Hall, a new residence hall/conference space, was constructed.
Mr. P. Carlo Rossi, the 14th child of a San Francisco family, donated the funds to build a new chapel, which was named for his parents and dedicated in 1928. He later became a Jesuit and was a long-serving professor at the University of San Francisco.
The ensuing decades were a time of rapid expansion to accommodate growing demand. During the 1930s, a wing was added to Loyola Hall that would accommodate 18 guests, and in 1948, an adjacent estate, which included 22 acres, was acquired and enlarged. While it took more than four decades, the first women’s retreat was held in 1969.
The complex’s hilly, wooded campus, now 38 acres, was beautified with the addition of a grotto, Stations of the Cross, a Rosary trail, gardens for quiet meditation, and benches with views of the San Francisco Bay, valley and hills.
The Jesuit Retreat Center today boasts a diverse array of offerings. There are retreats that last one day and ones that are 30 days, retreats in silence, in Spanish, for couples, for those in recovery, for mothers grieving the loss of a child, and for seniors discerning what to do in retirement, among many other programs.
From April 11-13, the centennial celebration continues as the Jesuit Retreat Center commemorates the 100th anniversary of its first retreat with a special Palm Sunday weekend silent reflection on Jesus’ final week of earthly ministry. On May 22, the retreat center will host a fundraising gala, where it will present its first annual San Iñigo Award to Fr. Greg Boyle, SJ, who is being honored for his groundbreaking work as founder of Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program. Fr. Boyle, who refers to the retreat center as “a school of tenderness” will offer a weekend retreat starting the day after the gala. For more information, visit here.
Editor’s Note: Pat Clough, a writer and second-year student in the Pierre Favre program at the Jesuit Retreat Center, has been compiling a history of the center’s first 100 years. For more, visit this blog.
