Terra Patris is a beautiful piece of God the Father’s land, that is open for visitors to come and experience a new way to pray in a traditional way. Terra Patris is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western Virginia on 200 acres along the Calfpasture River and offers the nation’s first “Stations of Creation” that offers a contemplative prayer path experience a closer bond to God’s creation and can be done individually or as a group.
The 21 Stations of Creation
The 21 Stations of Creation were created by Peter Gruters and consist of prayer stops dedicated to God the Creator along a path overlooking beautiful scenes of His creation. The path starts upon a large hill, travels past a field, a river, through a park and passes several unique landscapes, until it returns to where it started. Similar to the way Catholics pray the Stations of the Cross, worshipers stand in front of each station and recite meditations. However, the prayers honor God the Father through His wondrous creation and are recited out in God’s great outdoors. The whole goal is to reflect and meditate upon some of the more common creations of our God in a natural, contemplative way, as did the Church through many centuries, until the rise of large cities took people out of the countryside. This is an ancient and traditional way of praying and is described by saints in many spiritual books, but has been all but forgotten by most in more modern times.
We highly recommend that you purchase the beautiful book he wrote about contemplative prayer and the 21 Stations of Creation inspired by Holy Scripture and the saints called How to Pray in a Natural and Contemplative Way: A Guide for Young and Old by Peter Gruters
Note: Details coming soon for online purchase of book. Currently, you can obtain a copy by writing to Terra Patris at
Ecology at Terra Patris
Terra Patris (Land of God Our Father) comprises over 200 acres with a wide variety of plants and wildlife. There are xxx amount of plants, xxx amount of tree species, mammals, fish, and amphibians…
