There will be plenty of peace and quiet at St. Emma Monastery this weekend, for those who seek it out.

About 70 people who are attending a silent retreat at the Hempfield community will bask in the quiet among the Benedictine nuns there.

“People are bombarded by every spectrum of everything,” said Mother Mary Anne Noll. “Everybody’s attention is being clamored for.

“When do I have a chance to get the cobwebs out of my head or listen to God?” she asked.

Regular people from across the country will get that chance during the monastery’s silent retreat. Noll said she added a third weekend for next spring’s silent retreat because of the huge amount of interest this year. About 50 people attended the retreat in the beginning of March, and dozens more were put on a wait list. Two more silent weekends are planned for October.

Participants can talk Friday at dinner and Sunday at lunch at the monastery with views of rolling, green hills. But in between, they don’t have to say a word.

“It’s beautifully silent,” Noll said.

Research shows silence can have health benefits. The Cleveland Clinic suggests starting with 1 minute of silence daily and building up to 5 or 15 minutes. Quiet time can be incorporated throughout the day, such as during a morning cup of coffee without an electronic device or ditching the headphones for natural sounds during a walk.

The monastery has been offering silent retreats for several years since they were introduced in the 1950s. They continued during the coronavirus pandemic with appropriate separation restrictions. During the early March weekend, people traveled to the monastery from all over the country — Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia, Noll said. They ranged in age from 30s to 80s.

Some are repeat visitors, while others embarked on their first silent weekend. It’s a busy time for those at the monastery with cooking and cleaning.

Noll said the retreat is an opportunity to set aside the daily stressors and obligations and “rest with Christ.” It can give participants an opportunity for self-reflection and to process emotions amid a sometimes-loud world.

“We feed ourselves every other way but spiritually,” she said. “Silence is really the language of God.”

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