Our Mission
The Avila Foundation is dedicated to the dissemination of the renewal of prayer and spiritual patrimony of the Church, the sharing of authentic and timeless Catholic Spirituality, and solid priestly formation as the true answers to the crises in the Church and in the world.
We are home to several apostolic works. Each serves the larger mission of the Avila Foundation.
Our apostolates are committed to renewing the life of prayer in the Church and to generously providing authentic and faithful spiritual formation resources to the Mystical Body of Christ. Learn more below.
What is the Avila Army?
The Avila Army is our battalion of friends, followers and prayer warriors actively deployed in the war for souls through the monthly support of the mission of the Avila Foundation.
With the help of the Avila Army, every year we serve thousands of people seeking true Catholic teaching and support in living a life of authentic Christian prayer.
Because of the Avila Army's unwavering monthly support, our mission is growing stronger. We are building up the Kingdom of God, together.
Our apostolic works
Spiritualdirection.com is focused on providing an abundance of free, authentic, and enriching spiritual formation resources.
Our blog, podcasts, videos, eBooks, and other resources are all designed with your spiritual formation and growth in mind. Find resources on discernment, spiritual direction, prayer, and so much more.
When you sign up on SpiritualDirection's email list, we'll be sure to keep you up to date on all of our latest events and offerings.
The Avila Institute is an online school of spiritual formation that provides students around the world with life-changing, authentically Catholic formation rooted in the depths of the church's mystical patrimony.
The education received at the Avila Institute is uniquely transformative. Lay, religious, and priestly students from all walks of life consistently experience a deepened conversion that bears fruit in family, parish, and professional spheres - but especially, in eternity. Our pedagogy is fundamentally mystagogical: material is presented with the sole aim of deepening union with Christ Jesus, Who is the Truth.
Join the hundreds of students in our Graduate, Spiritual Formation or High Calling Programs with exciting new classes announced throughout the year.
Avila Institute's High Calling Program partners with the dioceses across the country to offer integral formation in philosophy, theology, prayer and discernment for men who are discerning a call to the priesthood.
Pope St. John Paul II noted during his pontificate that men are not properly prepared for success in seminary because of the absence of authentic Catholic culture and formation in their youth. Most of these men are lacking in one or both of these critical areas necessary to properly discern and pursue the call to serve the Church. The High Calling program addresses these challenges head-on.
The High Calling Program has given a growing number of seminarians the necessary intellectual, spiritual, pastoral, and human foundation to thrive in the seminary.
The Avila Institute offers a track for those who are discerning the call to become a spiritual director. This program is partnered with Heart of Christ Spiritual Direction Training program to form spiritual directors.
Co-sponsored by EWTN and spiritualdirection.com, the Divine Intimacy Radio Show is a haven of rest and wellspring of spiritual life for those people seeking intimacy with God. Every week our co-hosts Dan Burke and Stephanie Burke explore topics such as prayer, spiritual direction, meditation, contemplation, and holiness.
The Avila Foundation puts on several life-changing events throughout the year. Each ones serves our greater mission of bringing about healing, renewal, and spiritual formation in the Church. Events include Divine Intimacy in Marriage retreats with Dan and Stephanie Burke, pilgrimages with Dan and Stephanie Burke, virtual webinars, online retreats, and more.
You may also go deeper in a large group by scheduling or attending a live event with Dan Burke. These events include topics on Dan's book "Into the Deep", "Spiritual Warfare and Discernment of Spirits", "Setting the Captives Free", evening of reflections, and more!
The Avila Foundation's founder, Dan Burke, has written several spiritually enriching books spanning a range of topics related to prayer, the interior life, spiritual formation, and spiritual warfare. Some of his titles include Into the Deep, The Devil in the Castle, and Finding Peace in the Storm.
The Spiritual Direction Book series is a collaboration between Sophia Institute Press and SpiritualDirection.com. Browse all books written by Dan Burke, along with Dan's top recommendations. Alongside titles by Dan, all of the books listed in this series have been edited by or personally recommended by Dan Burke.
Apostoli Viae, translated "Apostles of the Way", is a community of faithful believers informed by the Carmelite spirituality and founded by Dan Burke.
Apostoli Viae, and the prayer that flows from the body of this community, support all Apostolic work of the Avila Foundation.
The mission and vision of the community of the Apostles of the Way is to live, light, and lead the way to union with God.
Rooted in deep love of Christ and His Church, Do the Harder Thing is an apostolate dedicated to assisting every one of God's sons and daughters in their daily spiritual battle, remembering that: "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rules of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places." - Ephesians 6:12
Do the Harder Thing's mission is to re-establish authentic Catholic cultures by building a community of virtuous men and women.
