Saemi Grace Hill

History & origins

The predecessor of Saemi Garden of Grace was a prayer area known as “Sammoeso Garden of Grace.” In the Diocese of Jeju’s account of the 2009 blessing, St. Isidore Retreat Center explained that this earlier garden had been blessed in 1991. The Way of the Cross and other prayer spaces continued to expand within St. Isidore Ranch, and the blessing of Holy Trinity Cathedral in 2001 marked a further enlargement of the pilgrimage environment.

During this development, a sculptural park of the life of Jesus, a Rosary lake, a Marian grotto, and a labyrinth were added. On May 15, 2009, the Diocese of Jeju blessed the expanded complex and formally corrected the name to “Saemi Garden of Grace.” Because the origin of the former term “Sammoeso” was unclear, the local place-name “Saemi” was adopted, while the letters SAEMI were also given a spiritual interpretation connected with holiness, soul, Gospel, mediation, and the image of God.

The 2009 blessing was therefore not merely a change of name but the culmination of a process of development continuing from the 1990s. Saemi subsequently became a diocesan place of common prayer, and the Good Friday Way of the Cross continued there. A 2026 diocesan account states that the annual event has been held since 2008. In this way, Saemi grew from the pastoral environment of St. Isidore into a major modern pilgrimage space of the Diocese of Jeju, where meditation on the Gospel is joined with prayer for the wounds of society.