Day Retreat, Silent Retreat, Pilgrimage: the International Names for a Christian Day

Anyone searching online for a spiritual experience finds many terms: day retreat, silent retreat, prayer walk, spiritual tourism. These are terms used all over the world. Here is what they mean, which ones describe the Christian spiritual days I offer near Taormina well, and which ones do not.

Terms that describe the days well

• Christian retreat / spiritual retreat. A time of withdrawing from ordinary life to pray.
• Day retreat. A retreat that lasts a single day, with no overnight stay. This is exactly the form of my days: in the evening everyone returns to their own home.
• Desert day. A term used in many Italian parishes (giornata di deserto): a day of silence and prayer, like the Fathers in the desert.
• Silent retreat and contemplative retreat. Retreats centred on silence and contemplation. In the days silence has an important place, but it is not absolute: there is also time to talk, laugh and be together.
• Prayer walk. A walk lived as prayer. It is the heart of the spiritual walks in nature.
• Pilgrimage. A journey to a holy place. When we visit places of the Italo-Greek saints, the day becomes a small pilgrimage.
• Christian hospitality, monastic hospitality, Philoxenia. The welcome of the pilgrim in the tradition of the monasteries, East and West. It is the spirit of the Philoxenia of Abraham.
• Agape / fellowship meal. In the first centuries Christians shared a fraternal meal, the agape. The meal prepared and eaten together keeps its spirit.
• Hesychast prayer, Jesus Prayer, prayer of the heart. The tradition of the prayer of the heart and of hesychasm, which we talk about during the day.

Related terms, with some differences

• Spiritual tourism, faith tourism, religious tourism. These refer to travel to places of faith. The days are not a tourist service: they are free hospitality.
• Slow travel. Travelling without hurry, truly getting to know places. The spirit is similar; the difference is that prayer is at the centre.
• Digital detox. Switching off screens. During the day this happens naturally, but the aim is not well-being: it is the encounter with God.
• Spiritual Exercises. Retreats of several days, often following the method of Saint Ignatius, led by a priest. The days are simpler and more familiar: one day, in friendship.

What the days are not

• They are not a wellness retreat or a yoga retreat. No well-being techniques are offered, but Christian prayer.
• They are not a mindfulness retreat. The meditation is Christian: we do not empty the mind, we turn to God. I explain this on the page about Christian meditation in nature.
• They are not forest bathing. There is contact with nature, but as contemplation of creation and praise of the Creator.
• They are not a B&B, a farm stay or a guided tour. There is no accommodation and no commercial service.

In short: what I offer

A Christian day retreat near Taormina, in Sicily: common prayer, a meal prepared and shared, walks in the countryside, time together, silence, the saints of ancient Sicily and a conversation about Christian asceticism. No overnight stay, entirely free, reserved for Catholic and Orthodox Christians.

How to take part

The days take place near Taormina, in Sicily. The places to visit are agreed together each time. There is no overnight stay: we share one day, and in the evening everyone returns to their own home. Hospitality has no price and does not depend on any offering: whoever comes is welcomed for who they are. Everyone contributes as they can: anyone who cannot leave anything is welcomed like everyone else, and takes part by giving a little of their time.

The days are reserved for Catholic and Orthodox Christians, because they are lived in shared prayer. To ask for a date, simply write to me on WhatsApp. The spirit of the days is told in the manifesto of hospitality.

If you would like to know what makes this mission possible, read The circle of love.

Explore the other pages

The days: Christian spiritual days in Sicily · The Philoxenia of Abraham · Spiritual search and finding yourself

Spiritual travel in Sicily: Spiritual tourism in Sicily: the guide · Pilgrimage walking routes in Sicily · Holy Week and Easter in Sicily · Religious festivals in Sicily: the calendar · Orthodox pilgrimage in Sicily · Spiritual Nordic walking and ski walking in Sicily

Nature and places: Spiritual Taormina · Spiritual walks in nature · Christian meditation in nature in Sicily · Places to meditate near Taormina and Messina · Places to meditate in Sicily

Prayer: Christian asceticism: the spiritual struggle · The prayer of the heart or Jesus Prayer · Hesychasm: the prayer of stillness · The Philokalia: the Neptic Fathers

The saints of Sicily: Byzantine Sicily and the Italo-Greek saints · Saint Hilarion the Great in Sicily · Saint Methodios of Syracuse · Saint Joseph the Hymnographer · Saint Elias the Younger of Enna · Saint Agatha of Catania · Saint Lucy of Syracuse · Saint Pancras of Taormina

Sources

• Genesis 18:1-15 (Bible Gateway, RSV)
• Hebrews 13:2 (Bible Gateway, RSV)
• Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Orationis formas (1989), vatican.va