About this place
Luha Retreat House is a retreat and prayer facility of the Diocese of Suwon in Danwol-myeon, Yangpyeong, operated by the Sisters Apostles of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church Directory in Korea and the congregation’s official materials identify the same place, making clear that it is not an ordinary parish church but a space for the congregation’s spirituality and retreat apostolate.
The Sisters Apostles of the Descent of the Holy Spirit seek to live the spirit of the early Church renewed at Pentecost through praise and thanksgiving, sharing and service, while emphasizing Scripture meditation, communal sharing, and a Eucharist-centered life. Luha Retreat House can therefore be understood as a place where people come for prayer, meditation on the Word, and spiritual renewal within that spirituality. Its significance lies less in any particular program than in the congregation’s orientation toward communal prayer and renewal in the Holy Spirit.
Its separate listing in the current Catholic directory as a retreat and prayer house also shows the character of a place where the congregation's own community life and space for retreatants meet. Luha is therefore better understood through the congregation's apostolate of helping people read and meditate on Scripture and pray in community than through the outward form of a lodging facility. The congregation's emphasis on peace and communal life in the Holy Spirit provides another essential context for understanding the place.
History & origins
The beginnings of the Sisters Apostles of the Descent of the Holy Spirit go back to August 15, 1986. The congregation’s official chronology records that Fr. Oh Soo-young Hyginus John Mary Vianney founded the community then under the name “Pentecost Peace Sisters.” Its activities later expanded to retreats focused on the Holy Spirit, Bible-reading retreats, social welfare, and mission. In 1994, the congregation held its first complete Old and New Testament Bible-reading retreat, giving concrete form to a retreat tradition centered on the Word.
The turning point directly connected with the present site in Yangpyeong was the blessing of “Luha Village in Yangpyeong” on November 3, 2012. The official chronology shows that the congregation’s community life and retreat apostolate took root there through this event. On December 1, 2017, the congregation transferred to the Diocese of Suwon and changed its name to the present Sisters Apostles of the Descent of the Holy Spirit.
On August 29, 2024, the convent was blessed in a liturgy presided over by Bishop Mathias Lee Yong-hoon of Suwon. The Catholic Church Directory in Korea records the next institutional step: diocesan approval for the operation of Luha Retreat House from March 18, 2025. Taken together, these events show how Luha Village developed from a home for the congregation’s community life into a retreat and prayer facility formally established within the Diocese of Suwon.
Before the congregation settled in Yangpyeong, its retreat apostolate had already developed through several stages. The official chronology records the blessing of a convent in 1988, first vows in 1990, the first perpetual professions in 1993, and the first complete Old and New Testament Bible-reading retreat on May 23, 1994; it also notes the establishment of the Pocono Peace Retreat House in Pennsylvania in 2000. These events show that Luha Village in 2012 did not appear as an isolated new facility, but as a Yangpyeong base established after the congregation had accumulated experience in community growth and in a Word-centered retreat apostolate. The later transfer to the diocese, blessing of the convent, and approval of the retreat house progressively clarified its dual character as both a home for the religious community and a diocesan-recognized place of retreat.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
Start the first record for Ruha Retreat House
No public encyclopedia article is available for this place yet. Help document its Catholic history and stories with verifiable sources.
Encyclopedia articles are currently available in Korean.
Would you like to record this place in your pilgrimage passport?
Sign in to keep this record with you.
Accessibility information
Accessibility information is not available yet. Please check with the location before visiting.
Sources and updates
- Information Status
- Official
- Source
- Official source
- Data freshness
- Fresh
- Last updated
- Source
- 한국천주교주교회의 온라인 주소록
Diocese
Suwon Diocese (Diocese of Suwon)
Official website: http://www.casuwon.or.kr
Help verify information
Did the Mass schedule or church information change?
Let us know if you confirmed the displayed information or noticed something different.
Information Status: Official source
Visited here? Share details about toilets, parking or ramps.
Sign in to leave a visitor check.
Sign in to confirm the schedule or report a change.
Reports are saved for review. Mass times are changed after evidence such as official sources is checked, not automatically based on visitor confirmations.