About this place
Our Lady of Grace School of Prayer is a retreat and prayer house operated by the Diocese of Wonju within Baeron Shrine. The Catholic Church directory in Korea also lists it as a retreat and prayer house of the Diocese of Wonju. It serves as a place where pilgrims to Baeron can stay, pray, and make retreats. Its character is especially clear in the way it connects pilgrimage through Baeron's history of martyrdom and priestly formation with personal and group spiritual renewal in one setting.
The building was planned with spaces for lodging and meals, lectures and meetings, prayer, and Eucharistic adoration, so it is not simply an accommodation facility but a spiritual center capable of hosting faith formation, silence, and community retreats together. From the time of its construction, its stated purpose was to help visitors rest in nature, learn to pray, and reflect on Church history and the meaning of the shrine. It is therefore best understood as a diocesan prayer and retreat facility integrated into the pilgrimage experience of Baeron Shrine.
History & origins
Our Lady of Grace School of Prayer began when the Diocese of Wonju set out to create a diocesan space for prayer and spiritual formation within Baeron Shrine. Baeron brings together several important memories of the Catholic Church in Korea, including a persecuted Christian community, Hwang Sa-yeong's Silk Letter, St. Joseph Seminary, and the tomb of Venerable Thomas Choe Yang-eop. The new facility was therefore conceived to connect the shrine's history and pilgrimage with formation in prayer.
On March 22, 2018, the anniversary of the establishment of the diocese, the Diocese of Wonju held the groundbreaking ceremony for the School of Prayer. The planned building, with one basement level and three floors above ground, included a church, dining hall, lecture and meeting rooms, an Eucharistic adoration chapel, and lodging so that retreats, pilgrimages, and formation programs could be accommodated together. The project reflected an intention to make Baeron not merely a site to pass through, but a shrine where pilgrims could remain and pray.
After construction was completed, the School of Prayer was dedicated on August 15, 2020, the Solemnity of the Assumption, in a ceremony presided over by Bishop Basil Cho Kyu-man of Wonju. Reports at the time described lodging for about 200 people together with various spaces for prayer and formation. With this dedication, the School of Prayer became a diocesan spiritual facility where visitors could learn Baeron's Church history and continue pilgrimage, retreat, and personal prayer.
Korean Catholic Places Encyclopedia
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Building information
- Passenger elevators: 3
- 3 above-ground floors · 1 below-ground floors
- Approved for use in 2019
- Total floor area: 6,854㎡
Building-register record · · Source
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- 한국천주교주교회의 온라인 주소록
Diocese
Wontong Diocese (Diocese of Wonju)
Official website: http://www.wjcatholic.or.kr
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