Retreats and Quiet Places

Throughout the year, the Office of the Chaplain and Religious and Spiritual Life offers occasional retreats for those who seek time for renewal. Many of the student-run spiritual and religious organizations also sponsor evening and weekend retreats to which all are welcome. We also regularly refer seekers to the many retreat centers in Massachusetts and throughout the Northeast (see a partial list below).

Quiet Places

Williams Chapel

The Preston N. Williams Chapel is our largest spiritual gathering space.

Swartz Hall | 45 Francis Avenue

Christian chapel with large glass windows and chairs set up in an oval

Divinity Chapel

Prayer rugs, meditation cushions, scriptures of many traditions and prayer beads available.

Divinity Hall, 3rd floor | 14 Divinity Avenue

Sunlit chapel, with dark wooden walls, chairs set up in the center

HDS Multifaith Space

Swartz Hall | 45 Francis Avenue

Spacious, sunny room with high ceilings, wooden paneling, hanging glass globe lights, and a circle of chairs

CSWR Meditation Room

Center for the Study of World Religions

42 Francis Avenue | Harvard Divinity School

Small sunny room with plants, pillows, small stools, and rugs

HDS Labyrinth & Contemplative Garden

Near Rockefeller Hall | 45 Francis Avenue

Flat stone circular labyrinth surrounded by shrubbery and a stone bench

CSWR Courtyard

Center for the Study of World Religions

42 Francis Avenue| Harvard Divinity School

Spring flowers blooming in the CSWR courtyard

University Musallah

(Muslim Prayer Space)

Smith Campus Center, Room 204

Open Monday-Friday 7 am to 10 pm; Saturday and Sunday 8 am to 10 pm

person preparing for religious service by laying out light blue prayer rugs in room with window to left

Indoor Spaces

All spaces on campus require an HUID.

Harvard Art Museums
32 Quincy Street

Memorial Church
Harvard Yard

Harvard Graduate School of Education
Meditation Space
Longfellow Building
13 Appian Way, Room 214
Open Monday–Friday

Gutman Library (fourth floor) when Longfellow Hall is closed
6 Appian Way

Harvard Business School
The Class of 1959 Chapel
Soldiers Field Road

Harvard Kennedy School
Meditation room
Littauer Building, Room G28
79 John F. Kennedy Street

Smith Center
Prayer/meditation space
Room 728
1350 Massachusetts Avenue
Open Monday–Friday, 10 am–5 pm

Friday Jumua Prayer
Khutba begins at 1:00pm and ends at 1:30pm
Located in the Lowell Lecture Hall throughout the academic year until June. There are no Jumua Prayers in the summers.

Harvard Medical School/ Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Countway Library
10 Shattuck St, Boston, MA

Multifaith Prayer Room
Vanderbilt Hall, basement entry A
107 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA

Society of St. John the Evangelist
980 Memorial Drive
Between their scheduled services, the chapel of the Society of St. John the Evangelist is available to all for quiet meditation and prayer. The chapel is generally open Tuesday–Sunday, 6 am–9 pm.

Center for Government and International Studies
Winter Garden Meditation Room
Knafel Center, basement floor (access through the Harvard-MIT Data Center)
1737 Cambridge Street

Harvard College
Serenity Room
Grays Hall Basement, Room 021
Harvard Yard
For first-year Harvard College students only but please note that the guided meditation sessions offered here by the Center for Wellness are open to all.

Harvard Law School
Interfaith Prayer and Meditation Space
Wasserstein Hall, Student Organization Workroom
1585 Massachusetts Avenue, 2nd floor
Access for HLS students only.

Interfaith Prayer and Meditation Space
Second Floor – Casperson Student Center (WCC)
18 Everett Street

School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Room 1.306
Science and Engineering Complex, First Floor, Western Avenue
It is unlocked and available during normal building hours (Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.).
After hours, you can access the space by requesting that Security unlock the room. 
The room is furnished with a small number of prayer rugs and hijabs.
All users are asked to respect the room use rules that are posted inside and on the door outside of the room

School of Public Health
Reflection Room
Kresge LL14
677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA

Wudu Area
Kresge LL08
677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA

Outdoor Spaces

CAMBRIDGE

The courtyard of the Center for the Study of World Religions, 42 Francis Avenue
The park on the grounds of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 136 Irving Street
The courtyard garden of Adolphus Busch Hall, 27 Kirkland Street, Monday–Friday, summer and part of the fall
Radcliffe’s Sunken Garden, corner of Garden Street and Appian Way
Garden at Longfellow House, Washington’s Headquarters National Park, 105 Brattle Street
Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn Street
Fresh Pond, at Fresh Pond Parkway and Concord Avenue

BOSTON

Charles River Reservation and Esplanade
Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston

ARLINGTON - LEXINGTON

The Minuteman Bikeway

CONCORD

Walden Pond

Retreats and Contemplative Organizations

The sites below are maintained by organizations external to Harvard Divinity School; their inclusion here does not necessarily imply endorsement by HDS. If you know of other resources that you think should be considered for inclusion on this page, please email Kerry A. Maloney, the chaplain and director of religious and spiritual life.

Abode of the Message Retreat Center (New Lebanon, NY)

Adelynrood Retreat and Conference Center (Byfield, MA)

Aryaloka Buddhist Center (Newmarket, NH)

Bethany House of Prayer (Arlington, MA)

Blue Cliff Monastery (Pine Bush, NY)

Cambridge Peace House (Cambridge, MA)

Cedar Hill Retreat Center (Duxbury, MA)

Church of the Woods, Canterbury, NH

Earthdance (Plainfield, MA)

Eastern Point Retreat Center (Gloucester, MA)

Elat Chayyim: The Jewish Retreat Center (Accord, NY)

The Empty Bell (Northampton, MA)