Franciscan Poverty and Humility: Hallmarks of “God’s Fool”

Oct 2-4, 2026
with the Knights of the Holy Eucharist and Fr. Matt Eickhoff

Go here to attend in-person

Online Retreat starts Friday with rosary and Mass at 8:00pm, ends Sunday with Noon lunch. Download Virtual Retreat Schedule sample.

Eucharistic Adoration

Jubilee Year of St. Francis

In the Jubilee Year of St. Francis of Assisi, you are invited to rediscover the radical simplicity that made the Poverello of Assisi one of the most beloved saints in the history of the Church. St. Francis embraced poverty not as deprivation but as liberation — stripping away everything that stood between himself and God, and thus finding a joy the world could neither give nor take away.

This retreat invites participants into that same Franciscan spirit through the heart of the Church’s greatest treasure: the Most Blessed Sacrament. In the silence before the Eucharistic Lord, we encounter the God who humbled Himself to become bread — the ultimate poverty of heaven poured out for love of us.

Led by Fr. Matt Eickhoff with the Knights of the Holy Eucharist, the retreat will unfold as a series of Eucharistic spiritual exercises, including Scriptural meditations before the Blessed Sacrament, daily Mass, Confession, and spiritual direction. Together we will reflect on how the Franciscan virtues of poverty and humility are not merely historical charisms but living invitations — calling each of us to surrender, to simplicity, and to a deeper union with the God who gives Himself completely in the Eucharist.

Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House is as a pilgrimage destination during this extraordinary jubilee year, and a plenary indulgence is available. St. Francis’ spirit of prayer, simplicity, and devotion to Christ has been woven into the fabric of the retreat house since its founding, as the retreat house’s Franciscan heritage spans more than six decades.

Franciscan Fathers established the first retreat house in the Diocese of Lincoln in 1963 and directed it for 15 years until 1978. The retreat house shares its grounds with the Marycrest Motherhouse of the Marian Sisters of the Diocese of Lincoln, a Franciscan religious order, and serves as headquarters for the Knights of the Holy Eucharist, a Franciscan association.

The Franciscan charism of humble service and contemplative prayer continues to shape our mission. Just as St. Francis sought quiet places to encounter the Lord, we provide a sacred space where people can retreat from the noise of daily life and deepen their relationship with Christ.

Hosted by the Knights of the Holy Eucharist, a community of Franciscan religious brothers founded by Mother Angelica and dedicated to fostering reverent Eucharistic devotion in the Diocese of Lincoln.

Go here to attend in-person