Samir Azer

Samir Azer, Operations and Hospitality Director of the Saint Joseph Retreat and Conference Center, is a man of faith, a hotelier who has traveled the world, an immigrant from Egypt, a former seminarian, and a married father of three.

“I’m privileged to be Christian and more fortunate to be Catholic,” he says.  “There is no other denomination where God invites you every day at his table…giving us the opportunity to be united with him and in him.”

Azer’s reverence has facilitated the revival of the St. Joseph retreat into a spiritual epicenter.  It is a welcoming and “targeted place for everyone seeking to find himself, looking to discover the will of God.”

He seeks to make service and hospitality from the heart the touchstone of the St. Joseph retreat.  He welcomes visitors to contemplate God’s works, explaining that “those who are tired and have heavy burdens, they will have rest.”

Azer has an educational and managerial background in the hospitality field and has received several awards in recognition of satisfying hotel guests. He has more than 12 years experience as a hotel general manager, including two years with a hotel chain in Indianapolis.

“I can attribute my years of success to the eight years I spent in the seminary to become a priest,” he says.  “Those years shaped a person for the future.”

That future, to move from Egypt to attend Cornell and Miami International University and eventually to bring his family to Indiana, was not what he had planned but what he discerned God willed for him.

“God of the impossible, he always gives us more than we ask or even deserve,” says Azer.  “When I sit with myself to contemplate the plan of God and how he saved my family, I do not know how to thank him for all the blessing he gave us!”

Azer will receive guests at the facilities and grounds of the St. Joseph Retreat and Conference Center.  He invites all to visit, and to rest, contemplate, and listen for the presence of God at this quiet haven that offers a chapel, meeting rooms of different sizes, individual rooms for overnight guests, and a dining room in the main building.

Azer aims to present a pleasant yet moving place for disciples looking to discover the will of God.  He hopes to facilitate guests’ meaningful encounters on this “secluded oasis…no interruption, very peaceful, tranquility all around that creates joy and happiness in one’s soul.”

A focal point of this oasis is the chapel that “has a special Spirit that moves the deeps,” he says, hoping others will feel the same serenity he has experienced here.

“I am a person with a versatile skill set, a lot of integrity and a willingness to go the extra mile to satisfy the needs of a guest,” says Azer.  Part of his daily work will be to assist visitors with reservations and provide what they need during their stay at the renovated center.

It is Azer’s prayer that as changes are made around the center, more “disciples will go out to spread the Good News of our Lord, there will be new creation, healing miracles.”

He says he wants everyone to contemplate God’s works in their lives and to experience the St. Joseph center as “a place where people come and never leave the same.”