San Damiano Retreat Center
2005 Brings Renewed Spiritual Interest
San Damiano Offers a Place of Renewal That Is Closer to Home Than You Think
We, as Christians, attend to our spiritual needs in our home parishes and churches on a weekly, if not more often basis. At home each one of us has a favorite room or chair where we relax just to retreat from daily demands and routine.
While both of these places, our church and home, fulfill a very real need in our lives, we occasionally need to get away, even if for just a night or two; not necessarily too far away, not necessarily to a fast paced vacation trip, either. Just simply to get away, to relax, to slow down from the daily pace, and to renew ourselves. A renewal to one’s self, each other, and to God.
San Damiano offers a place of retreat that fulfills this need. Not that far away—about a three hour drive from the St. Louis area, six hours from the Chicago area, and less than an hour from western Kentucky. San Damiano’s location in southern Illinois is situated in the Shawnee National Forest. Two hundred acres situated on top of a 225 foot bluff overlooking the Ohio River offer peace and relaxation.
Peaceful walks wind through forested and landscaped grounds to the Garden of the Angels, remembering the nine choirs of angels, the Blessed Mother’s Prayer garden, and the Garden of St. Francis. Each of these places can foster that renewal that we are encouraged to seek—encouraged by scripture and role models in our faith, Christ, Our Blessed Mother, and St. Francis of Assisi.
San Damiano takes its name and inspiration from St. Francis of Assisi. Located in the Umbrian hills of central Italy, a young Francis was called by Our Lord to a renewal of himself and the church. The place where St. Francis was called was a place where he sought refuge from daily life, a place to renew himself with his God, a quiet prayer chapel named San Damiano. And it is with this inspiration, we offer a place of reflection and renewal and name it San Damiano, Shrine of the Good Shepherd.
