We’re in the “home stretch”!
Please help us meet
our $850,000 goal!
You may also mail a donation to the address below. Please make checks payable to the Passionist Nuns, RE: Building Campaign.
Cherish the Flame Building Campaign
Passionist Nuns
8564 Crisp Road
Whitesville, KY 42378
Contact us to discuss other ways to donate!
The holy family wing is underway!
RETREAT house improvements have begun!
Phase I: Our Roof Is Done!!!
A New Roof for the Monastery
After over 20 years of dealing with major leaks and patch jobs on our old, concrete tile roof, your generosity has enabled us to install a new, clay tile roof on our entire facility: chapel, monastery, and retreat house. Thanks to the excellent quality of Ludowici terracotta tiles and to the Helming Brothers’ expert installation, our beautiful tile roof is now leak-free, low-maintenance, and guaranteed to stay that way!
The smaller flat roofs over some portions of the monastery and retreat house took a bit longer to complete, because of pandemic-related supply chain delays and labor shortages. But thanks be to God, this final portion of the roof replacement is now complete!
The Roof is finished!
Phase II: Cloister Walkways
New construction of traditional covered walks around our monastery courtyard, providing shade and protection from the elements. These cloister walkways will facilitate prayer and recreation outdoors year-round, especially for our older Sisters. Masonry arches and pillars and a standing-seam copper roof will match and beautify the current buildings, and the design also includes masonry planters and rain barrels to contribute to our courtyard landscaping.
Also included in this stage is the construction of the Loggia (enclosed walkway) which will connect our current building with the new Holy Family Wing. Scroll down to read all about the new wing!
Our contractor Rick Bivins with JMJ Construction began work in fall of 2022!
The cloister walkways are almost complete!
Phase III: The Main Event!
A New Wing
The centerpiece of our Cherish the Flame Project, the new construction of the Holy Family Wing will provide much-needed new spaces for our multi-generational, growing community of Nuns. Here are some of the highlights:
Chapter Room—a sacred meeting space for the nuns. This important part of monastic life was omitted in our current monastery building, and we have keenly felt its lack.
New Community Room—a space for our whole community to gather in sisterly joy, during the time set aside each day for “recreation,” when we can speak freely, play games, share stories, work on crafts, and build each other up in love. Our current community room, as well as our current Refectory (dining room), is inadequate to accommodate the diverse needs of our Sisters, to say nothing of our many visitors (nuns from other monasteries and young women discerning our life). Scroll down to find out our plans for the Refectory!
Exercise Room—allowing us to take good care of our bodies, temples of the Holy Spirit.
Storage Room—Currently, empty bedrooms are being used for storage space, but we have need of them for new members and for visitors!
Retreat House Improvements
Also included in this stage of construction are a number of initiatives to benefit the many retreatants who come to join us here at the foot of the Cross throughout the year. We are excited to see the fulfillment of these long-hoped-for and much-needed improvements!
Shaded Outdoor Patio—a pillared space similar in design to the cloister walkways will be constructed outside the Retreat House dining room, providing shade and shelter to our outdoor-loving retreatants!
Spiritual Direction Room—the garage adjoining the Passionist Saints Hall will be converted into an additional room for spiritual direction and private meetings.
Entrance Door Awning—protection from the rain and sun, both for retreatants arriving with their luggage and for an additional shaded sitting space. Since one can never have too much outdoor seating, a concrete pad is also planned on the other side of the circle, overlooking the lake and under a shade tree canopy.
Phase IV: Renovation
After all of our new construction, we will finally tackle the long-awaited renovation of our current Refectory (dining area) and Kitchen. Like our current Community Room, these two spaces are simply inadequate for the diverse needs and number of our Sisters and guests.
The spaces originally built as our Refectory and Community Room will be merged and renovated into a new, larger Refectory and serving area. This new space will include acoustical paneling and better sound equipment so that all generations can hear and be nourished by our monastic table readings.
We will also renovate our kitchen to include more countertops for food preparation and to replace our 25-year-old cabinets, worn out by heavy daily use.
We hope to start this portion of the project in the first half of 2024!
Architect’s rendering of proposed renovations for the refectory
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