2024 Pietas: Intellectual and Contemplative Retreat For Teachers

Pietas, hosted by the Portsmouth Institute, invites teachers from all educational backgrounds and disciplines into a contemplative celebration of the Catholic intellectual life. Participants encounter the best in literature, philosophy, and theology in a communal, monastic setting.

By becoming students once more—and reencountering the wellsprings of their own passion for learning—Catholic teachers are thus equipped to share with their students a love of learning grounded in the Catholic intellectual tradition.

Pietas explores the essential questions facing Catholic educators: What is the purpose of Catholic education? What is distinctive about the Christian teacher and student? How can I orient my discipline towards God? How can I bring the wisdom of Christian education into my classroom?

These questions are addressed in an intensive six-day program of shared seminars, lectures, and meals. We read, discuss, and pray alongside the writings of St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John Henry Newman, Flannery O’Connor, C. S. Lewis, and more.

Pietas imparts intellectual formation and spiritual rejuvenation. Engagement with the monastic rhythms of prayer inspires contemplation and cultivates a space to recognize grace at work in our lives.