We’re Paul and Carol Quist, the new manager and wife at Durward’s Glen Retreat Center near Baraboo.

We’ll explain how a Racine boy and an Alberta, Canada, girl ended up here in November, and we’ll share a bit about the good things happening here, but first, a few words about the Glen.

The story of the Glen

You might be familiar with Durward’s Glen, located nine miles southeast of Baraboo.

It’s been around for a long time. Bernard Durward, a Scottish, Protestant immigrant who was an artist, poet, and teacher, and his wife, Margaret, purchased the land in 1862.

A few years earlier, in 1853, Bernard had converted to the Catholic Faith after being commissioned to paint a portrait of the first bishop of Milwaukee.

Bishop John M. Henni gave us a great example of using the opportunity at hand, a series of portrait sittings, to share his Faith.

The rest of the family converted, too.

The Durwards’ eight children, Bernard Jr., Charles, John, James, Andrew, Wilfred, Emily, and Mary, were exemplary in their contributions — two priests, a famous painter of Madonnas, a farmer, a musician, a poet and naturalist, and Mary, the youngest, who bequeathed the property to the Order of St. Camillus, which inhabited the Glen and ran a monastery and seminary from 1932 until roughly 1980.  

The Order continued to own and operate the Glen into the 2000s, running it primarily as a retreat center, and for a time, a parish of the Diocese of Madison.

It is now a privately owned, non-profit, Catholic retreat center and oratory of the diocese.

Our story

Now, how did we end up here?

Carol and I were raised Lutheran, and I was an ordained pastor.

Originally from Wisconsin, I met Carol at a Lutheran college near Seattle.

We were married in 1982 and were blessed with three children.

After ordination, I served at two Lutheran churches in western Canada, in Calgary and Edmonton.  

While searching for greater intimacy with God and longing for moral and theological clarity, we fell in love with the truth, beauty, goodness, and unity of the Catholic Faith.

Only four months after hearing a compelling conference about St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, I resigned from my church, we sold our house in Edmonton, and moved to study at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne, Australia.

Our whole family was received into the Church at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in East Melbourne during the Easter Vigil in 2005.  

After our two-year stint down under, we returned to Edmonton in 2006, where I worked for the archdiocese, taught at Newman Theological College, and, with Carol, worked at a large parish.

COVID led to us being laid off, so we returned to my home state of Wisconsin.

While living in Kaukauna, Wis., a rather remarkable set of circumstances (involving a serious car crash on Hwy. 94) led to our discovery of Durward’s Glen and our arrival here last November.

Come for a visit, and we will tell you the whole story.

We love it out here in the forest and bluffs, surrounded by the rich history of the faithful, creative, and sacrificial Durward family; blessed by the presence of Our Lord in the tabernacle and by Our Lady, who seems to favor this place.  

Many priests favor it, too.

Fr. Simon Tipps is our spiritual advisor, and Fr. Pedro Escribano and other priests  of the Society of Jesus Christ the Priest, living in the Sauk City area, serve here generously.

Come out on any Tuesday morning for the Rosary at 7:30 a.m., Mass at 8 a.m., and a study by Father Pedro with coffee.

Note for priests: Come and stay sometime for a personal retreat, for a free-will donation.

Upcoming events

Note the following dates on your calendar, and keep in touch with us through our website, durwardsglen.org or call 608-356-8113.

• Friday, May 1 to Sunday, May 3: A beautiful retreat on the powerful, life-changing  Devotion to the Holy Face. Get to know Jesus in His Passion, grow in holiness, repent of your sins and the sins of the world, fight Communism, and “bother Satan.”
• Saturday, June 6, and Sunday, June 7: Saturday retreat on Eucharistic Miracles; Sunday Corpus Christi Mass and procession.
• Friday, June 12, to Saturday, June 13: Silent retreat “For the peace that you seek.”
• Saturday, July 11: Community festival “Bagpipes in the Glen” with music, fun for the family, and good food.
• Friday, July 24, to Sunday, July 26: Event: “Passing on the faith to our children and grandchildren.”
• Friday, Aug. 14, to Sunday, Aug. 16: Marian retreat on the Assumption and on Marian apparitions.

Come by anytime, dawn to dusk, to walk the beautiful trails and to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, typically Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Durward’s Glen is located at W11876 McLeisch Rd., Baraboo.