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# Metr. Saba Urges Creation of Retreat Centers for the Faithful
- URL: https://uoj.news/news/86131-metr-saba-urges-creation-of-retreat-centers-for-the-faithful/
- Published: 2026-01-16T08:15:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-25T16:13:46.000Z
- Description: Metr. Saba urged the creation of “Bethany Houses” to provide accessible spiritual retreats that offer healing and renewal amid the pressures of modern life.
- Author: Tobias Straney
- Tags: #Category: News, Metropolitan Saba (Isper), Spiritual Retreat

**ENGLEWOOD, NJ —** Metr. Saba (Isper) has [called on the faithful](https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2705) of the Antiochian Archdiocese to establish parish-based retreat houses, or “Bethany Houses,” to address the growing spiritual, emotional, and psychological strain of modern life. In a pastoral encyclical, the Metropolitan reflected on his own retreat experience in Lebanon and emphasized the Orthodox tradition of renewal through prayer, silence, and communal life.

Citing widespread exhaustion, anxiety, and depression, Metr. Saba stressed that the Church must expand pastoral care beyond preaching to include organized spiritual retreats for small groups in quiet, natural settings. Such retreats, he said, should be accessible, affordable, and centered on prayer, Scripture, silence, and fellowship.

[![](https://uoj.news/content/images/2025/11/86931-metr-saba-warns-against-intellectualized-christianity-image-df66c9405bf4.jpg)On this topicMet. Saba on Self-Criticism: 'Ask Questions and Demand Answers from Yourself'](https://uoj.news/news/85693-met-saba-on-self-criticism-ask-questions-and-demand-answers-from-yourself/)

Recalling a retreat house he founded in Syria during his tenure in Hauran, Metr. Saba urged capable and generous faithful in North America to establish similar centers, envisioning them as places of healing, renewal, and deeper communion with Christ.  
  
Previously, the [UOJ reported](https://uoj.news/news/85966-metropolitan-saba-warns-against-uncritical-viewing-of-religious-films/) that Metr. Saba warned against uncritical viewing of religious films.