Experience Pacem

Self-Directed Retreat Guides

You don't have to arrive at Pacem in Terris with a plan. But if you'd like one — something to hold you gently, open Scripture for you, and guide your prayer through each day — these retreat guides are offered freely for that purpose.

Each guide is a complete, three-day self-directed retreat drawn from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and the living Word of Scripture. They are written for the specific season of life you are in right now. Simply find the one that speaks to where you are, download it, bring it with you, and let the silence do the rest.

No prior retreat experience is required. No schedule to follow. No one to impress. Just you, the hermitage, and the God who has been waiting for this time with you.

Choose your guide

Into the Silence and the Sacred

For everyone — a first retreat

A foundational Ignatian retreat drawing from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The perfect starting place for a first visit to Pacem — or a return to the essentials of prayer.

Beside the Still Waters

For mothers

Centered on Mary, the mother of Christ — her courage, her surrender, and her immeasurable love — as a lantern for every mother who has known both joy and sorrow.

The Father's Heart

For fathers

Grounded in the love of God the Father — steadfast, pursuing, tender, and strong — as the source and model for every father's calling.

Made to Make

For artists and creatives

Drawing from The Artist's Way and Scripture's vision of a Creator God, a retreat for those who create — recovering the sacred source of imagination, craft and the creative self.

The Gift of Enough

For busy professionals

For those who believe they have no time. A compact, honest retreat that meets you in your urgency and invites you into a freedom you forgot was possible.

Through the Valley

For those who grieve

A gentle retreat for those mourning the loss of a loved one. There is no rushing here, no performance of healing. God meets us in the grief — not beyond it.

You Are Not Forgotten

For weary caregivers

For those who give and give — who tend the sick, the aging, the fragile, and the difficult — and who have quietly forgotten that they also need care. Come empty. Leave held.

Where Are You Sending Me?

For young adults

For those standing at a threshold — uncertain about vocation, relationship, education, or simply the next faithful step. This retreat does not give you the answer. It teaches you how to listen for it.

You Did Not Choose Me, I Chose You

For educators

For teachers, professors, administrators, coaches, andall who form the minds and hearts of the young. A retreat that honors the calling — and the cost — of Christian education.

The Servant Is Not Greater Than the Master

For clergy and church leaders

For pastors, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers, and all who shepherd God's people. A retreat for those who preach rest while running on empty — and who need, at last, to receive what they give.

Ready to begin?

Each guide downloads as a document you can print, read on a tablet, or bring on your phone. There is no cost. They are our gift to you — before, during, or after your stay at Pacem in Terris.

If you're new to silent retreat, we suggest starting with Into the Silence and the Sacred. If you know which season of life brought you here, choose the guide written for that season. Either way, the hermitage will meet you where you are.

Make a Reservation