Marianist Encounters Conference Location Information
Mount St. John, Bergamo Center for Lifelong Learning
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A short drive from downtown Dayton, Ohio, and the Dayton airport, the Bergamo Center for Lifelong Learning in Beavercreek offers a tranquil escape from the bustle of city life. Nestled on the 147-acre Mount St. John, the grounds encompasses serene gardens and peaceful wooded trails, inviting retreatants to unwind and rejuvenate their minds, bodies, and spirits. Established in 1967 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Bergamo Center was named in honor of Pope John XXIII's childhood home. Initially serving as a retreat house, Bergamo has since expanded into a comprehensive retreat and conference center serving youth and adults. The nearby Our Lady of Lourdes grotto and many reflection areas provide quiet havens for meditation and experiencing a calming atmosphere.
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Mount Saint John
Since 1910, the Marianists have called Mount St. John home, honoring the patron saint, St. John the Apostle. The land encompasses Marianist communities and ministries and 100 acres of natural area that have been a hub for Marianist initiatives in Ohio. These include the Marianist Novitiate residential community of Marianist brothers and priests (Society of Mary), the Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC), the North American Center for Marianist Studies (NACMS) located adjacent to the Madeleine Room in the Chaminade Center, the Marianist Mission, the Bergamo Center for Lifelong Learning, Queen of Apostles Chapel and Queen of Heaven Cemetery. Facilities are managed by Mount St. John Facilities.
Mission Statement: Mount St. John is a center for formation and education for the Society of Mary and the Marianist Family. All entities and programs support the Marianist mission of transforming society through formation in faith in community. Inspired by the faithful discipleship of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, they strive to make Christ present by building communities of faith that advance justice, peace, reconciliation, and the integrity of Creation.
Vision: The entities at Mount St. John collaborate to offer quality faith development and Marianist formational activities with “Mary’s warmth of welcome to God and to others”[1] in a place of natural beauty and peace that nurtures reflection and witnesses respectful, sustainable care for the gift of all Creation. [1] Rule of Life, Society of Mary, #8.
Caring for the Land
The land known as Mount St. John today has long been viewed as sacred. Inhabited by many indigenous Nations and Tribes of this region, likely including the Adena, Hopewell, Myaamia, Osage, and Shawnee. The woods were part of the sacred hunting grounds between the Miamis. Among the first Euro-Americans to arrive in this area were John Patterson and family who provided the land where the Watervliet Shaker community was founded in 1806. The original 80 acres of Mount St. John formed part of the East Farm of the Shakers and was purchased by the Society of Mary - Marianists in 1910 as a working farm (until 1963) and to this day for residences, faith formation, and education.
Natural Areas: Approximately 100 of the 147 acres of Mount St. John are maintained as natural areas under the care of the Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC). Sixty-two of those acres, the Marianist Nature Preserve, are permanently protected by the Society of Mary since 2019 to a conservation easement funded by the Clean Ohio Greenspace Fund and held by the Tecumseh Land Trust.
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A well-maintained several-mile trail system provides visitors access to the crown jewel - the 14-acre Brother Don Geiger Prairie (named after MEEC’s Founder). Planted in 1986 in a highway borrow pit dug during the construction of I-675, it is among the oldest prairie restorations in Ohio. In addition to this restored Tallgrass Prairie, trails wind through other native Ohio ecosystems of oak-hickory-dogwood woodlands, natural and created wetlands, meadows, and old field-shrub habitat punctuated by towering burr oaks.
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MEEC also stewards a 35-acre Front Field Education Area, including a native plant labyrinth for meditation, native plant wildflower, grass, shrub tree, and sedge nurseries (of over 300 local genotypes/species), and many demonstration gardens. Mount St. John is a registered Saint Kateri Habitat and a Groundwater Guardian Green Site.
About MEEC - Living Laudato si and the Global Compact on Education.
With a Vision of Restoring Communities of Land and People, the mission of MEEC is as an environmental education community in the Catholic tradition. In Mary's hope-filled spirit, we preserve and act in communion with the land and educate other communities in sustainability through ecology-based simple living, social justice, and spirituality.
Through programs, resources, and restoration activities, MEEC provides opportunities for individuals and communities to encounter creation, cultivate a deep appreciation for the complex relationships that characterize and sustain the natural world, and transform their personal and communal actions in ways that promote an integral ecology, all in a spirit of prayerful gratitude.
Integral ecology, popularized by Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si, is a holistic approach to the interconnected problems of economic injustice, social and political conflict, and environmental degradation. We follow Pope Francis’ call to respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor through personal and communal transformation with a vision of earth as our common home. We view Mount St. John as a refuge where all Creation can thrive.
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MEEC serves the 20,000 annual visitors to Mount St. John, the greater Dayton community, and Marianist communities and institutions throughout North America. We value collaboration in all our efforts, and for the myriad ways they strengthen our mission, we are grateful to our partners, including the Midwest Native Plant Society, the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative, the Marianist Family Encounters Project, the Saint Kateri Conservation Center, Mission of Mary Cooperative, the University of Dayton and the other Ministries of Mount Saint John.
Energy Sustainability at Mount St. John
Conscious efforts are being made to increase energy efficiency and energy consumption at Mount St. John that include changes in lighting, heating and cooling systems, windows, and building insulation. The St. Joseph Hall building is currently undergoing a comprehensive renovation to enhance energy conservation.
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Solar Array: Since Spring 2023, a 3-acre solar panel array was installed in the front field, making Mount St. John carbon neutral on an annual basis. A prairie was planted by MEEC underneath, and the University of Dayton ecologists are researching the impacts on insect populations and birds are nesting under the panels.
