Silent Retreat for Deacon Directors
July 6-10, 2025
Be refreshed and renewed in your ministry of diaconal formation.
This four-day, silent, directed retreat with the Institute for Diaconate Renewal at Franciscan University of Steubenville will give you an opportunity to join fellow deacon directors as you step away from the busyness of life and spend intentional time with Jesus Christ. The retreat is lead by Dcn. Stephen Miletic and Dcn. Mark Erste.
You’ll be strengthened through eucharistic adoration, lectio divina, the sacraments, and spiritual direction while listening to the Lord’s still, small voice in the silence of your heart. You’ll come away encouraged and rejuvenated, so you can better serve the faithful men you form and guide in the diaconate.
Details
Registration opens soon. Reach out to us here to let us know you’d like to be kept up-to-date!
Amenities
A private room with A/C
Outdoor Stations of the Cross
Multiple chapels for prayer
Three meals and beverage service daily
Cost
$750/per person
Covers retreat, room, meals, and beverage service
Note: All travel and related expenses are separate and the responsibility of the retreatant
Location
Franciscan University of Steubenville
Airport shuttle upon request
Note: Pittsburgh International Airport is 30 minutes away
Our Featured Speaker
Fr. Donald Haggerty will open the retreat with the St. Ephrem talk on ‘Growth in the Life of Prayer’. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is currently serving at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. He has been a Professor of Moral Theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Maryland and has a long association as a spiritual director for Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. He is the author of Conversion: Spiritual Insights into an Essential Encounter with God, as well as Contemplative Provocations, Contemplative Enigmas: Insights and Aid on the Path to Deeper Prayer, and The Contemplative Hunger.
Why Four Days, Silent, Directed?
Four Days
• to decompress, enter a deeper self-awareness,
• to distinguish between God thoughts, our own, and those of the adversary,
• to track affective movements,to know and experience Christ the Servant’s heart, the source of Trinitarian love.
Silent
• to get comfortable with listening to our hearts,
• to recognize God’s heart,
• to hear God’s wordless message,
• to let his presence and love touch us,
• to let go of our interior noise,
• to allow God to embrace our hearts.
Directed
• orientation provided for silent prayer, interior listening,
• Mass, liturgical and private prayer, adoration, confession,
• two brief orientation sessions per day (morning, afternoon),
• two spiritual direction meetings,
• evening sessions–sharing the fruits
• private and communal lectio divina
• plus time for rest, relaxation, exercise, spiritual reading.
“In the silence, I was able to hear God’s voice. I was refreshed and enlightened through contemplation and lectio divina. I came away from this retreat feeling both rested and invigorated by the Holy Spirit. This was the first retreat I have been on where I really experienced the presence of Christ.”
Dcn. Joseph Bell
Retreat Participant
Diocese of Reno