The salt-laced winds carried whispers of change in 2019 along the pristine sands of Stone Harbor on the southern edge of Seven Mile Island. For decades, a quiet corner of the shoreline, affectionately known as Nuns’ Beach, had been synonymous with the gentle presence of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a Roman Catholic congregation of sisters. Their 1930s retreat house, known as Villa Maria by the Sea, had closed, and part of the land had been sold to develop million-dollar homes. An era was ending, another longtime Shore landmark seemingly set to ebb with the tides.
Yet something remarkable took shape: a rebirth. The demolition of the old building paved the way for a new, modern retreat center on 111th Street and Second Avenue that opened in April 2023 as a testament to the sisters’ enduring commitment to their mission. They had always welcomed Stone Harbor’s visitors to pray at the Stations of the Cross on their lawn or to swim and surf on their beach—plus cheer at the yearly Nuns’ Beach Surf Contest. But the advent of a new, year-round structure has opened their doors wider for laypeople to enter the building for the first time for retreats and days of prayer from October through April.
Image: Courtesy of getarchive.net
Although headquartered outside of Philadelphia, the presence of the sisters at the Jersey Shore dates back to the early 20th century, when they purchased the Hotel Carlton in Cape May in 1913. It was used as a summer retreat until 1936, when Mother Nature came calling. “When the ocean claimed the building, our general administration, knowing the value of our sisters coming to the seashore area for days of retreat and renewal, wanted to look for another space that we could have as a retreat center, because those days were important,” says Sister Jane Mary, one of five sisters who live at the retreat year-round now.
In 1937, the General Superior and Council “found this special space here in Stone Harbor,” says Sister Jane. For $2,000, the sisters purchased about 4 1/2 acres of land and later bought more property. The groundbreaking took place on February 2, 1937. In a remarkable 118 days, a three-story retreat was built to accommodate 250 sisters each week for the summer season from May to September.
“Now, the rooms were teeny-tiny,” says Sister Jane. “The bedrooms had the bare necessities. You didn’t have a closet. You had a hook. But you didn’t care. You were at the seashore. Life was very simple. We had a beautiful, spacious chapel that accommodated all of the sisters, a beautiful dining area, and porches and solariums where the sisters could gather.”
Sister Emily Vincent Photo: Dave Moser
Over time, Stone Harbor itself expanded, bringing new residents and vacationers. Houses sprung up all around them. The Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary was created on the other side of Second Avenue across from the retreat. In the 1970s, surfers pushed aside by those who frowned on the dangers of surfing approached Sister James Dolores, who was in charge of the building at the time. She allowed them to use what is still a private beach in front of the property. The legend of Nuns’ Beach began. As a way to involve the community and raise funds, Sister James came up with the idea of a surfing contest that continued for 20 years.
Sister James, along with Sister Andrew Marie, leaned into branding over the past quarter of a century. At the retreat’s garage on 112th Street, on weekends in the off season and daily in the summer, they sell hats, car magnets, hoodies and, each year, a new commemorative Nuns’ Beach T-shirt.
Over the course of 80 years, says Sister Margaret McCullough, the retreat’s executive director, “Our numbers of sisters decreased from where we were having 200 to 250 sisters coming down. We would have 40 sisters coming for retreat, and we’d have 40 sisters here doing the cooking and the cleaning. So sometimes we had more service people than we had retreatants. We didn’t need the whole space.”
Rather than sell the entire property, the General Superior and Council, along with input from the Borough of Stone Harbor, decided to divide it, selling lots for 13 single-family homes and rebuilding a smaller, more energy-efficient space that could be open year-round. The new, modern Villa Maria by the Sea can accommodate 45 people with a mix of single rooms and small apartments for four, whether it’s sisters of the order using the building exclusively from May to September, or retreatants during other times of the year. Everyone has full use of a dining area, two solariums with incredible ocean views, a chapel that uses much of the material from the old chapel, and even a pool that was built at the behest of older sisters who wanted to swim but had difficulty going to the beach.
During the construction of the new retreat center, a surprising discovery was made. When the excavators were digging, they pulled out a life-size statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, says Sister Emily Vincent. Photo: Dave Moser
When laypeople visit from October through April, they can choose a single day of organized prayer, a silent retreat, or other spiritual programs that include guided or directed retreats. Weekend retreats are usually themed around programs with speakers, such as women of the Gospel or guided retreats centered on topics such as bereavement.
With careful consideration by the five sisters who run the retreat year-round, religious groups and groups with a spiritual focus can book the retreat whether or not they are Roman Catholic. Sister Jane says they’ve had parish groups, young adults from Immaculata University and Stockton University, seminarians from Saint Charles Seminary in Philadelphia, and a group called Serenity by the Sea. However, she emphasizes that the primary focus remains spiritual: “This is not a hotel. It is for spiritual purposes only.” The accommodations are simple, yet nice. “I had this image of staying in a bare cell with nothing but the essentials—a sacrificial weekend,” says Kathleen Schindler, of Wyncote, Pennsylvania, who has visited more than a dozen times. “I thought it would be challenging, but spiritually rewarding. It was the opposite of what I imagined. The place was stunning—like a resort. I had my own room, shower and bathroom, and from my side window, I could even see the beach. It was so nice that I joked it might be tough to focus on praying!”
The cost to spend a day or weekend at one of the top two or three most affluent communities at the Jersey Shore left Schindler “absolutely shocked.”
A typical weekend retreat with two nights of lodging costs around $200-$250, plus meals. Compare that to the thousands of dollars one spends for a weekend in Avalon or Stone Harbor, even off-season. For a private day of prayer, there is a $25 stipend.
Schindler says that, comfortingly, her childhood memories of Avalon and Stone Harbor have surfaced during her retreats. She recalls “spying on the nuns” at Nuns’ Beach as a kid—a playful reminder of her early connection to religious life. “You can tell it’s been a religious space forever. There’s something about it that immediately puts your soul at ease,” she says. “The chapel is open 24 hours for prayer, which is incredible for those seeking solitude. And every floor has a big bowl of saltwater taffy—it’s such a sweet little detail that makes you feel cared for.”
During the construction of the new retreat center, a surprising discovery was made. When the excavators were digging, they pulled out a life-size statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, says Sister Emily Vincent. The statue is now the centerpiece of the new Stations of the Cross outside garden, open to the public. “It’s dated 1909, which predates the former building by 28 years and predates the establishment of Stone Harbor by five years,” says Sister Emily. “So we believe it’s a sign that God wants us here, and that he’s here with us.”
R.C. Staab is a travel writer, book author, playwright, and wildlife and Jersey Shore enthusiast.
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