Welcome to The Cenacle on the Lake

Welcome to The Cenacle on the Lake, a gift to our community for many years. We invite you to visit us soon! The retreat center is nestled on our beautiful ten-acre property on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. 

As you navigate the website, you will find our overall mission and vision for The Cenacle on the Lake, a brief history of how the Archdiocese of New Orleans came to own and operate our facility, as well as the various retreats and programs that are offered. We encourage you to explore the opportunities available to you to come and rest from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Encounter Christ and refresh your faith in the peace and beauty of this place. Please do not hesitate to call us if you have any questions or if you are interested in attending a retreat or booking the facility for a retreat or other event. We hope to see you soon!

God bless you, 
Aline Harbison

On February 22, 2014, Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond presided over the Welcome and Rededication Mass of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center, dedicated to Our Lady of the Cenacle. Below is an excerpt of his homily.

Sometimes we hear people say, “I have finally found my dream house. I have finally built my dream house.” Usually that’s because the house is quaint, comfortable, warm and hospitable. Or maybe it just has that perfect family room or some other room that they dream of having.

This is a dream house ... It is God’s house in which he dreams ... Where people come, especially women, to know God. For 55 years women have come to this house, to this sacred place, hungering for God and his love, seeking greater clarity for God’s dream and his plan for them and their families, opening their hearts that are sometimes hurt and broken and confused to be touched by God and to know his compassion.

My sisters and my brothers, to those who come here in prayer and on retreat, so many of you – perhaps all of us – have been nourished and embraced by God’s dream. We have been drawn more closely to the heart of Christ, who calls us to take on the heart and mind of the Lord Jesus Himself.

This retreat house will be known, I suspect in the future, by many names – the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center – but it will continue to be known and spoken of as the Cenacle Retreat House or just The Cenacle, all of which is appropriate. The Cenacle, as we know, was that Upper Room where Mary and the disciples gathered and awaited the coming of the spirit in their fear. And the spirit came to squelch their fear and to give them new life. This is a cenacle, whether we call it that or not.

But what is it really? It’s God dream house where people come and seek God and his dream for them and where God shares his dream and his love and his compassion and his forgiveness. For 55 years, this has been a holy place, holy ground, and you have helped to make it that. Thank you for being here today as we begin this new chapter, because it’s still holy ground, it’s still a sacred place with its arms wide open – the arms of God.

Yes, this is God’s dream house.