The Open Gate Retreat Center 14626
West CR318 Williston, Fl 32696 352.528.1003
“Let all guests be received as Christ” Rule
of St Benedict
“Pax et Bonum” (Peace and all Good)
Franciscan greeting
"Cead Milte’ Failte" (A Hundred thousand Welcomes) Gaelic Greeting
"The
Open Gate is an invitation to adventure." "The Open Gate is the call to explore new areas of yourself and
the world around you." "What we have to learn is to recognize when an open gate is presented to us."
"The gate of glory is already open and He is inviting us to enter into it."
Excerpts from "The Open
Gate" by Rev David Adam
Situated on 23 acres in the beautiful rolling pastures of Florida’s horse country near the town of Williston
halfway between Ocala and Gainesville, The Open Gate humbly invites you to come and rest for a little
while. We offer our retreat house and chapel to you not as a destination but as a stop along the journey.
A place to make “Space for God” as the author Don Postema so well stated.
At The Open Gate
we seek to weave together three of the great strands within the Catholic tradition, providing a unique place of
welcome where the Franciscan, Benedictine and Celtic are integrated. We pray that our greetings from the
traditions reflect our intent as hosts and facilitators during your stay whether as an individual or group. Though our
base is Catholic, we extend the ecumenical branch of peace, community and hospitality to all of our brothers and sisters
in Christ who seek a place to stop and rest individually or as a group while on your journey.
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Thursday, September 24, 2009
Great start to our retreat seasonThe Catholic Relief Service (CRS) Fair Trade Student retreat was a wonderful start to our fall retreat season.
We cannot say enough good things about the leadership and students who attended from 18-20 September. The students performed
an awesome service project for us at the center by preparing our new Saint Francis garden and putting up the new statue of
our patron. We look forward to their return in November and again in January.
We were also blessed by a day
retreat of freshmen from Trinity Caholic HS of Ocala and are also looking foward to the other students from Trinity who will
be with us over the next several weeks.
Our reservations are starting to fill but we still have room at the
"Inn" for parishes and groups who have a desire to come to the quiet and still feel like you are at home.
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