V4VICTORY Men's Retreat
V4Victory is a 30 day retreat that consists of a small cohort (e.g., 5 to 10) of sincere Catholic men similar in age and backgrounds. Most of these men seek our program out because they realize that somehow they have been hampered from progressing on the path of true Christian manhood, a condition endemic to our age. Paradoxically these young men often have been hampered by the very qualities that give rise to their promise; indeed their recognition of their deficiencies marks them out from their peers who are complacent in their inadequacy.
During this retreat residents are formed in the Imago Dei Way where above all they learn to open themselves to the action of Christ in their lives, thus allowing the Lord to speak to each one personally. This is done via a psychomoralitic process of soul-deep openness to reality, cognitive education in and assent to truth, and volitional choosing of the good. Upon this psychomoralitic process builds the Faith, where the ego decreases so that Christ may increase. The integral sum of this psychomoralitic and sanctifying Imago Dei Way process is living the truth in a coherently and uncompromisingly Christian life.
In the Imago Dei Way each man is encouraged to first embrace his crucial human vocations as a psychomoral being created in God's image and called to be a seeker of truth, as an incarnate being called to manhood, and as a social being called to familial and societal relationships and duties. Upon theses natural vocations the directee is further encouraged to embrace his essential Christian call to holiness and his subsequent specific call to the lay, religious, or priestly state. Each applicant for the program will be evaluated individually as to suitability and compatibility for the current V4V cohort.
V4Victory stands for Virtuous, Vocational, Vulnerable, & Visionary. Virtuous is the call to Christian manhood; Vocational is the call to conversion and one's specific path in life; Vulnerable is a call to suffering well and courageously the Imago Dei Way; Visionary is a call to discipleship and leadership; all taken together is a call to the victory of holiness and bringing about God's Kingdom.
The V4V program is based on the concepts expounded upon in the textbook Imago Dei Psychotherapy (Dilsaver, Sapientia Press, 2009) and the bestselling Three Marks of Manhood (Dilsaver, Tan Publishers, 2010) and the soon to be released books Celebrating God-given Gender and Psychomoralitics. The V4V program entails as appropriate individual, family, and group sessions. Mentoring in manhood augments these sessions. Psychoeducational, philosophical, and catechetical classes round out the curriculum. There is prescribed homework and evaluations of mastery of material. Spiritual exercises (e.g., traditional Mass, Rosary), manual work (e.g. gardening) and recreation (e.g., hiking, fishing) are extracurricular. Due to cohort dynamics and size the frequency and nature of group activities may vary.
In addition to individual, group, and family sessions, each week consists of formal classes and study and discussion groups centered on these classes. Each week focus on key concepts.
Week One focuses on Truth: the nature of truth and the epistemology of assenting to it.
Week Two focuses on Love: the volitional and moral dynamics of choosing the good
Week Three focuses on Integrity: the living out of the truth and realization of the good.
Week Four focuses on Cause: the formulation of a plan of action in the personal, familial, and ecclesial realms.
Required texts to be purchased may include the Catechism of Trent; Living the Truth (Pieper); Self-Knowledge and Self-Discipline (Maturin); Imitation of Christ (Kempis); Three Marks of Manhood (Dilsaver).
V4Victory is a 30 day retreat that consists of a small cohort (e.g., 5 to 10) of sincere Catholic men similar in age and backgrounds. Most of these men seek our program out because they realize that somehow they have been hampered from progressing on the path of true Christian manhood, a condition endemic to our age. Paradoxically these young men often have been hampered by the very qualities that give rise to their promise; indeed their recognition of their deficiencies marks them out from their peers who are complacent in their inadequacy.
During this retreat residents are formed in the Imago Dei Way where above all they learn to open themselves to the action of Christ in their lives, thus allowing the Lord to speak to each one personally. This is done via a psychomoralitic process of soul-deep openness to reality, cognitive education in and assent to truth, and volitional choosing of the good. Upon this psychomoralitic process builds the Faith, where the ego decreases so that Christ may increase. The integral sum of this psychomoralitic and sanctifying Imago Dei Way process is living the truth in a coherently and uncompromisingly Christian life.
In the Imago Dei Way each man is encouraged to first embrace his crucial human vocations as a psychomoral being created in God's image and called to be a seeker of truth, as an incarnate being called to manhood, and as a social being called to familial and societal relationships and duties. Upon theses natural vocations the directee is further encouraged to embrace his essential Christian call to holiness and his subsequent specific call to the lay, religious, or priestly state. Each applicant for the program will be evaluated individually as to suitability and compatibility for the current V4V cohort.
V4Victory stands for Virtuous, Vocational, Vulnerable, & Visionary. Virtuous is the call to Christian manhood; Vocational is the call to conversion and one's specific path in life; Vulnerable is a call to suffering well and courageously the Imago Dei Way; Visionary is a call to discipleship and leadership; all taken together is a call to the victory of holiness and bringing about God's Kingdom.
The V4V program is based on the concepts expounded upon in the textbook Imago Dei Psychotherapy (Dilsaver, Sapientia Press, 2009) and the bestselling Three Marks of Manhood (Dilsaver, Tan Publishers, 2010) and the soon to be released books Celebrating God-given Gender and Psychomoralitics. The V4V program entails as appropriate individual, family, and group sessions. Mentoring in manhood augments these sessions. Psychoeducational, philosophical, and catechetical classes round out the curriculum. There is prescribed homework and evaluations of mastery of material. Spiritual exercises (e.g., traditional Mass, Rosary), manual work (e.g. gardening) and recreation (e.g., hiking, fishing) are extracurricular. Due to cohort dynamics and size the frequency and nature of group activities may vary.
In addition to individual, group, and family sessions, each week consists of formal classes and study and discussion groups centered on these classes. Each week focus on key concepts.
Week One focuses on Truth: the nature of truth and the epistemology of assenting to it.
Week Two focuses on Love: the volitional and moral dynamics of choosing the good
Week Three focuses on Integrity: the living out of the truth and realization of the good.
Week Four focuses on Cause: the formulation of a plan of action in the personal, familial, and ecclesial realms.
Required texts to be purchased may include the Catechism of Trent; Living the Truth (Pieper); Self-Knowledge and Self-Discipline (Maturin); Imitation of Christ (Kempis); Three Marks of Manhood (Dilsaver).