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Peace, Sisterhood, and Identity in Christ
For the women who attended Catholic Noles’ women’s retreat this spring, the day offered something often difficult to find in the middle of college life: quiet, peace, and space to be with God. For Grace Knauff and Manuela Velez, the retreat became not only a break from the semester’s demands, but also a place of real surrender, friendship, and renewed identity in Christ. Grace said it simply: “It gave me a sense of peace that you can’t find anywhere else.”
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Grace’s path to the retreat is closely tied to her path into the Church. A junior, she entered the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil during her senior year of high school, and this Easter marks three years since she came fully into the faith. The following year, she had the joy of serving as sponsor when her parents also entered the Church. She first encountered Catholicism through the Good Samaritan Project, a service-centered summer camp in the Diocese of St. Petersburg, and came to FSU hoping to find a Catholic community that would continue to help her grow.
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By the time the women’s retreat arrived, Grace was carrying the weight of a stressful semester and was initially unsure about going. But once she said yes, it became, in her words, “my favorite retreat so far.” What stood out most was the small group, where the women became vulnerable with one another in a way that felt rare and deeply meaningful. The talks, she said, created “that room, that space,” and the retreat ultimately “gave me the space I needed to surrender.”
Manuela came from a different starting point, but with a similar longing for God. An international student from Colombia, she transferred to FSU from Valdosta State and is now in her first semester in Tallahassee as a sophomore majoring in psychology with a minor in child development. She had heard that Catholic Noles was active and welcoming, and after connecting through Daily Mass and Roses, she felt drawn to go on retreat — even though she was nervous because she did not know many people yet. She believes strongly that “everything that brings you closer to God should be an immediate yes.”
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For Manuela, the retreat offered “some rest and some quiet time” in an “overstimulating” world. What remained with her most deeply was a truth at the heart of the retreat: “I’m a daughter of God before anything else, and that is the base of my identity.” It was, she said, an especially important truth to recover “in college and in a world where so many other things try to define who you are.” The retreat helped her return to that foundation.
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She also offered a beautiful word for students who may hesitate to go: “Allow yourself the time to be at peace and to look for God, because the people who look for God eventually find Him.” In a culture that is “very overstimulating,” she reflected, it is easy for God to slip lower on the list of priorities when He should be first. Retreat creates space to seek Him again — and to strengthen that relationship with intention.
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Together, Grace and Manuela’s reflections reveal the heart of the women’s retreat: peace, sisterhood, and a renewed sense of identity in Christ.
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Catholic Noles is deeply grateful to the donors whose generosity made this retreat free for students. Manuela said she was surprised and grateful that the experience was offered at no cost, and Grace noted how valuable opportunities like this are in college. Because of that generosity, students are able to step away, encounter Christ, and return strengthened in faith.
