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There’s a certain peace you feel when you walk inside the center.

Maybe it’s from the sunlight that spills into the main retreat space, still decorated with chairs from its latest group gathering. Maybe it’s from the courtyard, bursting with greenery and colorful flowers from the summer rain. Maybe it’s from the chapel and its mural of saintly women, whose hands reach for the heavens, as vibrant in color as they are with life. 

Maybe it is all of these things rolled together, and maybe it is why the Dominican Retreat and Conference Center has served as a place of clarity and guidance for thousands of women and men over its many decades. 

Now, the place of “solitude on a busy highway” (the center is located just off Route 9 in Niskayuna), marks an impressive milestone, celebrating its 75th anniversary after opening its doors on Aug. 13, 1948.

The Dominican Retreat and Conference Center sits just off Route 9 in Niskayuna. 

“Seventy-five years caring for the spirit, I think that’s a remarkable thing our sisters and staff have done,” said Sister Sue Zemgulis, OP, center administrator, who has been volunteering and working at the center since high school, now 47 years. 

The center will be hosting an anniversary Mass and reception at St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish, 1803 Union St., in Schenectady, this Sunday, Aug. 13, to celebrate the jubilee. Mass begins at 2 p.m., with reception immediately following. 

“It’s a lot to celebrate and a lot of people said this place had made a difference in their lives,” said Sister Sue.

The center offers retreats, workshops and presentations to enhance spiritual life and growth. The center is staffed by the Dominican Sisters of Peace and lay people who coordinate the various retreats, such as “Day of Reflection with St. John’s Bible,” retreats into movies (discussing various films and their messages), book clubs (in-person and virtual), and “Dinner Party with the Saints.”

And while a lot has changed over 75 years, so much about the center and its purpose has stayed the same. 

“The parishes offer a worship experience and community, what this offers is a more extended time to quiet yourself, to be away from the distractions of family, work, phone, internet and really get some perspective on your life and think, ‘God, where are you leading me? What is my next step?’ ” said Sister Sue. 

THE HOUSE ON THE HILL

The center’s origins date back to Lucy Eaton Smith (1845-1894), in religious life known as Mother Mary Catherine de’ Ricci of the Sacred Heart, the foundress of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine de’ Ricci in Albany. 

Smith originally joined the Dominican Congregation of Our Lady of the Rosary, based just north of New York City, but left after nine months to live with her grandparents in Glens Falls. It was there, with the approval of the then-Albany Bishop Francis McNeirny, she founded a Dominican community in 1880 focused on offering retreats for women. 

“She realized that there was nothing to support women spiritually in America,” Sister Sue said. “Who teaches the children? Who educates? And who supports women? That was always the focus: retreats and how do we help women. We had retreats and houses where women could get away to rest.”

Women gather at one of the center’s first retreats with Sister Maria Demonte, OP, in this undated archive photo. 

In 1948, the Albany sisters moved into the now former manor house of Clark Witbeck. Their first retreat for women was held at the house (known now by the sisters as “the house on the hill”) on the weekend of Aug. 13. The building was used for about 10 years and then replaced by the larger and more modern facility on the property that is still used today. 

Known as "the house on the hill," this building was the original location for the Dominican sister's retreats before moving to their current facility.

In 1958, the center (at the time called the Dominican Spiritual Life Center) received a special gift from the late Anthony “Tomie” dePaola, who painted the popular mural inside the center’s chapel. DePaola, who died in 2020, was a renowned writer and illustrator who created more than 260 children’s books, such as “Strega Nona,” which received the Caldecott Honor Award in 1976. 

The mural features Saint Rose of Lima; Blessed Jane of Aza; Saint Catherine of Siena; Mary, Mother of God; Saint Catherine de’ Ricci; Saint Mary Magdalen; and Saint Maria Goretti. 

A mural inside the center’s chapel depicts seven women saints. The mural was painted as a gift by children’s illustrator and artist Tomie dePaola in 1958.

A PLACE TO RESET

Seventy-five years later and the center is still going strong.

“I think it’s still very prevalent,” said Sister Sue. “We have programs open to both men and women because we realized that people need both, but still to have a place where women can come and share about their spiritual journey and their spiritual struggles, it’s vital.”

The center sees around 2,000 attendees each year for retreats. Of that, more than 80 percent are women. 

Growing up, Sister Sue was one of the women who regularly attended the center. Her family lived down the road, and she worked in the center’s kitchen in high school and later volunteered with their choir in college. “This is home turf for me,” she said. “I grew up under the vision of those ladies on the mural.”

Sister Sue Zemgulis, OP, administrator, has been affiliated with the center for 47 years. 

Little by little, her involvement planted the seeds for her discernment, but “nobody forced it,” she said. Religious life became real for her by “seeing that the sisters are regular people.”

“They got upset about things, they laughed about things. We would joke about things, but I could see a little bit of everything. It made it a real possibility for me.” 

After graduating from Siena College in 1986 with a bachelor’s in social work, she entered the order in 1990. Sister Sue has since become a quintessential part of the center’s retreats, and the healing work that they offer.

“To be in a room with somebody else who is five steps down the road, you go ok, I can do this,” said Sister Sue. “We’ve had retreats for survivors of sexual abuse, for a death of someone you love, divorce, health issues. It’s amazing to me how God always puts someone on the retreat that says, ‘I understand that.’ ”

The center will continue celebrating its anniversary with special events planned throughout the year. 

“I just think it’s absolutely fabulous we’ve been here for 75 years,” said Sister Sue. “I can’t even fathom how many lives we’ve touched. As our foundress thought, it was a ripple effect, if God touches one person’s heart, that is going to affect everybody who they come in contact with, and it goes out. And it’s a grounding and a re-grouping. All I have to do is be here with God, and go from there.”

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