If retreats can be described as a series of days passed in solitude and focused on prayer and reflection, then they can easily be called as old as Christianity.

The 40 days Christ spent in the desert after his baptism is an example that has found many imitators in all ages of the Church. Often in Scripture, Christ exhorted his followers to seek spiritual refreshment in withdrawal from the world.

The desert monks and Church Fathers stressed the value of solitude in achieving sanctity. St. Gregory the Great wrote that those who exercise authority do well to interrupt "the clamor of earthly activity" so that they may, by recollection and prayer, "rest within themselves in the bosom of tranquility."

By the 5th century, eastern monks retired into the desert for long periods of prayer and fasting, a discernible antecedent of modern closed retreats. St. Benedict in his rule provided monastic hospitality for the traveler for spiritual retreat as well as bodily rest. Even the pilgrimages of the Middle Ages could be considered precursors of modern retreats.

Many of the participants joined the journey to achieve spiritual betterment, and religious activities were part of the pilgrimage.

St. Ignatius of Loyola and his now-classical Spiritual Exercises gave modern retreats their initial impact and discernible form. He combined the methods of reforming one's life and seeking the will of God in solitude. The Society of Jesus was the first active religious order in which the practice of the retreat became obligatory by rule. Pope Pius XI recognized the important role of Ignatius and named him the patron of retreats.

Other saints and religious congregations in the 17th and 18th centuries also helped to extend the movement throughout the Christian world. Among them were Saints Charles Borromeo, Francis de Sales, Vincent de Paul, John Eudes and Alphonsus Liguori. In more recent times, retreat work has been promoted throughout the world by innumerable secular priests and religious orders.

The modern retreat is a flexible tool as evidenced by the number of retreat programs and houses that exist in the archdiocese of Los Angeles, and its neighboring Dioceses of Orange, San Bernardino and San Diego. The format of a retreat has evolved in recent years from being intense parish missions to the wide selection of locations, times and themes of today.

Although the Church does not oblige the laity to participate in retreats, Pope Pius XI --- in his 1929 encyclical, Mens Nostra ("The Promotion of Spiritual Exercises") --- indicated the great advantages to be derived from retreats for all persons of the Church.

Just one year previous, the National Catholic Laymen's Retreat Conference held its first meeting. Today in the U.S., there are nearly 400 retreat centers offering a wide variety of programs, all with the general purpose of promoting the spiritual growth of the individual --- and, by extension, the church and community.