San Damiano Spiritual Life Center

Overwhelmed by the world? Feeling a bit lost…and even afraid?
Why not retreat?

During calamitous and world-shaking times 800 years ago a rich, spoiled, slightly neurotic little man sought a quiet place to pray to make sense of all that was going on around him (and within him).

Jesus Christ spoke to the discouraged man in the broken down San Damiano Chapel just outside the walls of Assisi. Our Lord's voice sounded through a crucifix which hung on the wall… “Francis, rebuild my church, which as you see is falling into ruins!”

The rest is history. St. Francis -- with a little help from his friars, St. Clare, and her Poor Clare Nuns -- was an essential force in the great renewal and reform of the Church in the 13th century.

At our Diocesan Retreat Center, San Damiano we offer a quiet place for people to “come aside and rest awhile” (Mark 6:30-32); to read and think and pray in silence and solitude at the feet of our Eucharistic Lord in our chapel and while wandering about our 100+ acres of rolling green grounds in the Shenandoah Valley not far from the Blue Ridge mountains.

To find out more about how to retreat with us, please call 540-868-9220 or email us at sandamiano@arlingtondiocese.org or visit our FAQ page.