Franciscan University of Steubenville
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
There appears to be a growing interest in the monastic life among people of all lifestyles - and no wonder! For centuries, the monastic life has provided monks and nuns with disciplines and practices aimed at helping them maintain balanced, healthy and centered lifestyles while they "prefer nothing to Christ." The Portiuncula Hermitage & Retreat Center explores practices such as silence, prayer, work, simplicity, solitude, fasting, and celebration, and the benefits they have for all our lives.
What's exciting is that you can become a monastic without having to leave your day job!
Christ calls us to hope. He calls us to remember that for Christians, peace does not rest on who wins an election or on the value of our stock portfolios, but in a loving God who “in everything...works for good.”
Of course, God doesn't just call us to hope. He gives us reasons to hope and signs of the good things to come.
I truly believe one of those reasons, one of those signs, is the Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage and Retreat Center. The name Portiuncula means the “Little Portion” and comes from the tiny home church of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy. This little church was given around 1208 to St. Francis by the Abbot of St. Benedict of Monte Subasio, on condition of making it the mother house of his religious family. It was in bad condition, laying abandoned in a wood of oak trees. He restored it with his own hands.
We plan to build a Portiuncula Prayer Chapel with stone and earth, and in a way that is environmentally "green." We humbly beg for donations from our benevolent benefactors. No amount is too large or too small. Please help us build what will become the very heart of our community.
To continue building, we need your help! And that is why I'm writing you today.
United in the Roman Catholic tradition and obedient to the Magisterium of the Church and the Bishop of Steubenville, we are committed to our Lord and Savior in the Scriptures, the Eucharist, the Sacraments of the Church and in our Brothers and Sisters.
With God's grace and your help, I believe past Portiuncula retreatants, and those soon to follow in their footsteps, will lead our families into a deeper relationship with God. That is why I invite you to share the work of these Catholics and the Portiuncula Hermitage that is forming them.
First, allow us to pray for you. Prayer is the lifeblood of the Portiuncula Hermitage, and the Franciscan family would be honored to include you in their prayers. Please e-mail your most pressing intentions to: hermitage@parallax.ws
Everyone at the Portiuncula will pray for your intentions before the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and at Mass.
In turn, please pray for the Portiuncula, that it might continue to form family leaders who can be salt and light to our world.
Finally, I would be grateful if you supported the work of building the Portiuncula Chapel with a generous financial contribution.
Your support of the Portiuncula will make it possible for the sons and daughters of the Church to grow in faith during their retreats, and become the courageous Catholic leaders the world desperately needs.
Today, I want to beg of you”For the Love of God” to become a partner in the Portiuncula's mission to build the Portiuncula Chapel by making a either a one time donation or a monthly stipend of any amount.
Simply make checks Payable To:
Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage
508 South 16th Street
Richmond, IN 47374
PORTIUNCULA FRANCISCAN HERMITAGE/RETREAT CENTER
ON LINE DONATION
Please, become a part of the Portiuncula Hermitage's work today.
Pax Et Bonum!
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