not just tourism!
europe
Here are suggestions for European travel and a stay at a Beatitudes Community
Check out these places, click on the links to see images, and pray to the Holy Spirit! As individuals or as a group organizing among yourselves, you book and pay for planes and trains, and stays at airbnbs or community houses. As a courtesy, try hard to follow through with your reservation at our houses and arrive and depart at the times you tell them. Once you are there, our religious and lay members are welcoming, generous, and helpful. We'll put you in touch with our houses and give you navigation tips, but you are free and responsible for yourselves. $30 suggested donation for night and meals at each of our houses. Trust the Lord's Providence for so many experiences of people, prayer, and sites. Get ready to witness your holy joy in secularized and war-torn Europe!
Here's Fr. Anthony's 15-min video
of travel tips and logistics.
French Young Adult retreats
Our weekend retreats and annual conference in France, Open Heaven welcomes young people from France and sometimes also non-French groups. For any Americans, several English-speaking members of our houses can guide them amid the French experience of prayer, volunteering, community meals, praise, liturgy, formation, recreation, and vigils of all-night silent adoration. Our main center of mission and retreat is two hours by train south of Paris, near Orleans. Young adult activities also take place in Toulouse and at the Sables d'Olonne, on beach of the Atlantic Coast.
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toulous, nay, and Lourdes
So accessible! Fly or train to Toulouse, bus or 30-min walk to our house from the airport and spend a night or more. Bus or walk to Aquinas' tomb, then train 2 hours to Lourdes or to our countryside house in Nay. Pray, serve, and enjoy our brothers and sisters in the countryside a couple days before walking 25km to Lourdes. Spend a couple days at our house kept by one of our married couple, with the best view of the shrine. Visit the grotto and the basilicas around. ​
community houses
Break away from tourism and travel busy-ness for a few days. Go deeper with a small community of souls seeking holiness. See Catholic culture from the inside. Experience charismatic prayer within chanted liturgies, enter into holy and simple volunteering in the kitchen or garden. Catch our Friday evening Lord's Day with Hebrew singing!
paris/lisieux​
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​Fly to Paris and spend a night there at the beginning and end to have time to visit
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Sleep at the famous shrine, Sacred Heart Basilica of Montmartre if you agree to an hour of nocturnal adoration
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2-hour train to Lisieux, and the train station is walking distance from our house and from all the sites. Plan for at least two days in Lisieux. Our house is happy to accommodate and orient you, and permit longer volunteer stays.
Switzerland
30 min from Zurich lies German-speaking Zug, the postcard mountain town on a lake. Stay at our community at the heart of the town. Live and pray and hike with our brothers and sister and with the young couples, young adult household and prayer groups that walk with them.
1h30 from Geneva is French-speaking Venthone, perched on a mountainside with unbelievable panaramas of the highest Alps. Great prayer, joyful family feel, hiking trails. They love young volunteers and can connect you with our young adult group. Here's a sweet video of our house.
Czech republic
Train Prague, where you've pre-booked an apartment, house or hostel for the night (airbnb or booking.com) and visit the city. Train to Brno and spend a few hours or a night. Train to Olomouc, and walk or bus the 7km to the community house in the small village of Dolany. Stay at our community, lend a hand in the garden, visit Olomouc, hike to Svaty Kopecek and in the surrounding forested hills.
Cost and steps
It's good to plan on leave around 30 euros per night for room and board, especially if you are staying a short time. If you are volunteering for some time, it could be less. Please fill out this application. Email anthony.beatitudes@gmail.com with questions and if you want to be a point person for a trip. Travelling in groups of 3-8 people is the best! Ask about Medjugorie, Hungary, Slovakia, Lebanon, or Israel!
mont saint michel
A 2-hour train from Paris. A 17km walk from our house in Saint Broladre to the famous UNESCO shrine, Mont Saint Michel where you can join the prayer of the Monastic Fraternity of Jerusalem (they are also at Saint Gervais, near Notre Dame in Paris)
Plan for at least 3 days or a few weeks at Saint Broladre volunteering your loving presence with the elderly and mentally handicapped who live with us.
what's this epic
background photo!?
Saint Martin du Canigou is a fortress-like monastery built on a cliff by the Benedictines 1000 years ago. In the French Pyrenees near the Mediterranean and the Spanish border, it attracts tourists from around the world who must hike 40 minutes to arrive. It is possible to combine a stay at Saint Martin with a visit to Barcelona and with a day at the Costa Brava beaches.