Winter Family Mini Vacation
I Thank You for the Wonder of My Being
January 23 – January 25, 2026
Please join us January 23-25, 2026, for a Winter Weekend Family Vacation at The Studio in Steubenville, Ohio!
“Humankind’s highest value, our virtue, courage, energy, what makes life worth living, lies in gratuitousness, in our capacity for gratuitousness. And it is in free time that gratuitousness truly comes out and affirms itself in an amazing way. The way one prays, one’s faithfulness to prayer, the truth of one’s relationships, one’s self-dedication, enthusiasm, humble approach to reality, emotional involvement and compassion toward things, all this is much more evident during vacation than during the year. On vacation one is free, and if we are free, we do what we want”
– Luigi Giussani, “Vacations: The Time of Freedom”
This weekend gathers families and friends for games, rich conversations about culture and meaning, and shared moments of prayer through the Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, and silence. Our theme, “I Thank You for the Wonder of my Being,” invites participants to reflect on fatherhood, belonging, and the discovery of a Presence that generates and accompanies us.
We are honored to welcome Br. Bruno Mello, OSB, a Benedictine monk of Newark Abbey, as our keynote speaker. Drawing on his work at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, NJ, featured in the 2014 PBS documentary The Rule, Br. Bruno will speak on spiritual fatherhood and what it means to belong to such a unique, life-giving community. We will also screen this extraordinary film, for which he will give an introduction.
Holly Taylor Coolman is the mother of 5 adopted children. She earned her PhD at Duke University in 2006. Her areas of specialty include Christian accounts of Judaism, as well as the family, especially adoption. Holly is the author of Parenting: The Complex and Beautiful Vocation of Raising Children.
Please join us for this life-giving weekend, filled with Beauty and the possibility for wonder.
Our Winter Weekend Family Vacation will take place January 23–25, 2026 at The Studio/Sacred Heart Villa, 36 Villa Drive, in Steubenville, Ohio. All guests need to make their own travel and lodging arrangements for the vacation, and we invite everyone to donate toward the cost of bringing speakers and the use of the Villa; otherwise, the vacation is free to anyone who registers.