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“It’s not the kind of place you might accidentally drive by. You
have to be seeking us out,” Jacobsen said. “That’s part of the mystery.”
The solitude-induced spirituality has been part of La Casa’s
appeal ever since the mid-1950s, when the Sisters of the Immaculate
Heart opened La Casa de Maria, using the place as a retreat center
for married couples to strengthen their relationship with God and
one another. Over the years, La Casa slowly began opening its doors
to outside groups, at first religious, but then also ones devoted to
education, personal growth, community service, and art. At the same
time, the center began developing its own program of retreats.
“That’s one of the things that makes La Casa so special,” said
Shawne Mitchell, La Casa’s Outreach and Volunteer coordinator. “The
roots are quite spiritual. There were a lot of people here who were
deeply praying, which gets imbued into the land. It was initiated as a
place for love, devotion, and service – it’s in the ambiance of the land.”
On that September day that I first visited, it turned out that
Mitchell was at that moment in the process of emailing me about
some of the new programs. Coincidence? Here, amid the oaks and the
artifacts, it seemed like the synchronicity was somehow not all that
surprising.
After a mini-tour, I spent a lot of time on my own, in a self-
MINDFULNESS MEDITATION
F
or a decade, Radhule Weininger, MD, PhD, has led
a Mindfulness Meditation, which begins with a short
talk followed by a gently guided meditation and traditional
Metta (loving kindness) practice, at La Casa. She also offers
a Mindfulness Practice Retreat one Sunday per month, and
will be among the leaders of a 24-hour Contemplative New
Year’s Eve retreat and co-conduct a study series in January
and February on “Awakening the Heart: Reconnecting with
Ourselves & Our World”.
“It’s a wonderful place for people to explore the sacred or
luminous and delve into new frontiers between psychology and
spirituality. La Casa welcomes that exploration,” said Weininger,
who has developed several workshops on site, including a
current path in compassionate meditation that she’s turning into
a book. “It has a marvelous energy, which none of us can explain,
but you can feel it. There’s a sense of warmth and goodwill, a
genuine wish for helping people from all walks of life to grow.”
While she maintains an office in a space on the grounds
of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Weininger
remains devoted to continuing her work at La Casa because of
that indefinable aura.
“People come there who have an ache in their heart and
need some time to heal. La Casa de Maria has been a very
compassionate place to be when you are at the crossroads.”
(La Casa de Maria Retreat Center is at 800 El Bosque Road
in Montecito. For information on visiting, programs, or booking a
retreat, call 969-5031 or visit www.lacasademaria.org.)
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