Desert Solitude Retreats for Catholic Priests

A desert solitude retreat at Merciful Heart Hermitage provides Catholic priests with the opportunity for a deep immersion in contemplative prayer in the form of a 5-to-8-day retreat that can be semi-directed if desired. The retreatant will be essentially living as a hermit and sharing in the life of the Hermitage. These retreats are intended to bring about deeper interior conversion and are not simply a time of rest and rejuvenation (although such rest and rejuvenation often flows from deeper union with Jesus).

The ideal candidate for such a retreat is a priest whose heart has already been awakened to the depths of the Father’s love for him through previous experiences of individually directed retreats, and desires to move into deeper, more intimate communion with the Holy Trinity.

The retreatant’s sole occupation in the hermitage is to seek this intimacy with God. The invitation is to leave the world behind and focus only on prayer, Scripture reading, and one’s relationship with the Lord.

While similar to an individually directed retreat (such as in the Ignatian style), a semi-directed desert solitude retreat offers a little more freedom for the retreatant to set his own schedule for each day, finding the contemplative rhythm that works best for him. The greater amount of solitude offered here as well as a lesser frequency of spiritual direction sessions is intended to lead the retreatant to a greater reliance on God alone. In that way, a priest is given at least a small taste of the adventure and challenge of being truly alone with God in the solitude of the desert.

Necessary dispositions for entering this contemplative immersion are:

• A vibrant personal prayer life – one that is based in a real and living relationship with the Lord, not consisting solely of one’s own activity or effort.
• Formation in relational/contemplative prayer – an ability to acknowledge and relate one’s interior movements to the Lord and receive from Him.
• Honesty and vulnerability before the Lord in prayer and in spiritual direction – being able to name places of struggle, inner pain, etc., with great trust in the Father’s healing love.
• A heart that is truly seeking God, desiring Him.
• A desire and intention to spend at least 3-4 hours a day in personal prayer while on retreat.
• The desire and intention to be separated from the world while on retreat, keeping one’s cell phone turned off.
• The desire and intention to remain in silence while on retreat as one would in a cloistered contemplative monastery, not engaging in unnecessary conversation with others on the property.

If the above dispositions are not present, one is likely not being called to make a Desert Solitude Retreat at Merciful Heart Hermitage at this time.

In order to preserve the essentially contemplative and eremitic nature of the Hermitage, these retreats are only offered on certain designated weeks throughout the year. Space is very limited, as we are only able to welcome one or two priests at a time for any given retreat week. The retreat dates as well as further information may be found on our Retreat Request Form.

Suggested Offerings

Although we do not charge a fee, Merciful Heart Hermitage relies on the generosity of retreatants for its continued operation and gratefully welcomes freewill offerings. Please also consider including the Hermitage as part of your annual tithing.

Many parishes/assignments will reimburse priests for their annual retreat, and we would be happy to provide an invoice that would reflect a reasonable amount according to the policy of one’s diocese or parish. For those who wish to partake of our meal option (see Accommodations) we do ask for an offering of $10/meal to cover the cost of the food.

Donations may be made by personal check, payable to “Diocese of Phoenix / Merciful Heart,” and may be left in one’s hermitage upon departure or may be sent to the mailing address on our Contact Page. Donations may also be made online via credit card.