an annual 12.5% increase to the agreed sale price. (We have been here
two years; therefore the price has increased 25%.)
Stability is fundamental to Benedictine life. One enters a monastery to take root there and to remain there like the grain of wheat
that Our Lord speaks of in the Fourth Gospel: “Believe me when I tell you
this; a grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die, or else it remains nothing more
than a grain of wheat; but if it dies, then it yields rich fruit” (John 12:24–25).
Stability is the one essential element of Benedictine life that, at the
moment, Silverstream Priory cannot offer. We need to purchase
Silverstream. For us and for you, adorers of the Most Blessed Sacrament, it is a worthy investment. Please help!
I am begging, then, for your prayers for Silverstream Priory. I am
begging also for financial help. Prayer and almsgiving are part of the
most ancient Lenten practices of the Church. Our current urgent
need is an opportunity for you to practice both.
Here are five reasons why my appeal to you is urgent:
1. In December our trusted board of lay and clerical advisors decided a moratorium on all renovations until such time as we own Silverstream. The projected renovations are not cosmetic, decorative,
or optional; they are necessary to make Silverstream safe, secure, and
liveable. Therefore, the purchase of Silverstream is urgent; without
purchasing the property we cannot proceed with the necessary renovations.
2. Vocations. Men are applying to Silverstream Priory. Until we
own Silverstream, we cannot offer men the security and stability that
are indispensable to the healthy development of a Benedictine vocation. We are obliged to put vocations on hold until we purchase Silverstream. Vocations are always urgent. As Saint Peter Julian Eymard
said, concerning his own vocation, “Tomorrow may be too late.”
3. Silverstream includes a simple little monastic church built in
1952 under the direction of the Brothers of Saint John of God. The
church requires extensive work and complete renovation. We have
gutted the structure but cannot proceed with the renovation until
we own Silverstream. What is a monastery without a church? A body
without a heart. This is urgent. Our temporary oratory is inadequate.
4. The good Visitation Nuns who own Silverstream are at the
point in their lives where they will need nursing care. They need the
funds from the sale of Silverstream in order to end their long years
of consecrated life in security and in peace. This also is an urgent
matter.
5. The purchase price of Silverstream is being increased by 12.5%
annually for a period of five years. We are currently in our second
year of occupancy. The longer it takes us to raise the money needed
to purchase Silverstream, the more expensive it becomes.
I thank you for taking the time to read this long letter. I felt it
important to give you an in-depth understanding of our special vocation as Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration, and of our pressing needs. Please take all of this before Our Lord in the Sacrament of
His Love and, then, as Our Lady said at Cana, “Do whatever He tells you!”
With heartfelt gratitude in the Lamb whom we adore,
Dom Mark Daniel Kirby, prior
Priory Church
(built 1952)
Unfinished
church interior
Father Prior
preaching
“We need to purchase
Silverstream. For us and
for you, adorers of the
Most Blessed Sacrament,
it is a worthy investment.
Please help!”