Xavier Retreat House is idyllically situated on a hill top promontory in Baga, Goa, surrounded on three sides by the Arabian Sea and by a lush green hill on the approach side. It is isolated and surrounded by bountiful nature, with the beach just at the bottom of the hill around hundred steps below.

The commanding position of the house from the hill top and, the rare natural scenic beauty are extremely conducive to instinctive communion with nature and God. It is therefore an ideal place to renew and refresh your spirit.

The Xavier Retreat House located on the very picturesque peninsular end of the Calangute shore was one of four retreat houses constructed by Fr Adrian Le Tellier SJ, a Belgian Jesuit belonging to the Province of Calcutta at Kolkata, Mumbai, Mangalore and Goa.

Convinced that the Baga hillock was the ideal lo­cation for the Retreat House, Fr Le Tellier used all his means of persuasion coupled with public prayers and penance to convince Prof Christovao Egypesy, who was the owner of the property, to donate the land for the purpose. He was able to start the con­struction of the project when providentially, his niece in Belgium joined the Carmelites and donated the money that had been assigned for her dowry (should she have married) for the building of the Retreat House. In fact, she was later permitted to visit Goa to see the fruit of her gift when it was in the process of coming up.

The Baga Retreat House in fact, stands testimonial to the wonderful community spirit of those times, with the local residents active and enthusiastic participants in the endeavour. In response to Fr Le Tellier’s pleas, each person voluntarily carried a stone each time they came up to attend daily mass. By 1951, the Retreat House stood complete — a tribute to the skills and the materials used at that time, with an aura of prayer surrounding the place — indeed, a true labour of love!

Subsequently, six rooms and a hall (today known as the ‘lower hall’) were added on by Fr Irineu Lobo, through funds donated by the Figueiredo family of Loutolim, in memory of Jose Philomeno Figueiredo, who drowned tragically at Canacona.

Although the Retreat House fell into disuse for some time, it was restructured and made functional throughout the year some time ago by a number of Jesuit priests and brothers, who willingly put their shoulders to the wheel.

Today, the Baga Retreat House serves as a base for spiritual renewal programmes, catering to a large number of people both lay and religious, truly ful­filling Fr Le Tellier's noble dream.