OVERVIEW
1. Saint Brendan's is above all things a place of prayer and retreat. The Priory House is open for retreatants during the Spring, Summer, and Fall months. We don't charge a fee for retreats; we only receive what our visitors desire to leave as a gift, praying to God that these monetary blessings are sufficient to support the ministry. The only requirement is to enter into the prayer schedule of the Daily Office. Saint Brendan's is not designed for large group conferences or seminar weekends; it is a place of spiritual renewal as retreatants come apart from the discordant noises of the world to seek God in a quiet place.
2. Saint Brendan's is situated in an economically depressed part of the country. We use the resources God blesses us with to bless the local community of Dennysville and southeast Washington County, Maine.
3. As God places the call and desire in the lives of those drawn to this kind of life, we look forward to having other couples "living in community" with us; entering into the work, the worship, and the prayer of Saint Brendan's. We're also praying for the establishment of a brotherhood -- single men called to a disciplined, monastic life -- who will be trained and raised up for religious vocation as lay brothers or clergy, either to give themselves to the work and life here at Saint Brendan's or for "deployment" to various parishes and ministries of the Communion of Corpus Chrisit according to the needs of our bishops and people.
4. As part of our monastic life, we will be engaged in handcrafts. We will make these handcrafts available for purchase. The items will include home roasted coffees (we buy green coffee beans from around the world), hand-tied and knotted prayer ropes, hand-blended herbs and spices, an assortment of woodcrafts (from sanctuary furniture to hand-turned, exotic wood pens), and even goat's milk soap and cheeses. We're calling our on-line store "The Frumpy Monk" and we'll begin with the selling of prayer ropes.
5. We have a heart for missions as well as prayer. One of our long-range desires will be to open up Saint Brendan's during the summer months for our Christian youth who want to attend a Missions Training Camp. This will be several weeks of intensive spiritual formation along with practical, hands-on work that will introduce our young people to the kind of activities they will be called upon to perform on the mission field. We'll also be emphasizing how Christians live in the "Persecuted Church." This will be time totally set apart from cell phones, MP3 players, walkmans, portable DVD players, etc. It will be totally given over to life and ministry under rustic conditions in isolated areas. Those who demonstrate a true heart for missions may be recommended for short-term missions trips to assist the efforts of churches in Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, Asia, and South America.
OUR LIST OF FRIENDS
Can we add you to our list of friends? Please take a moment to fill out the form below. We deeply appreciate your prayers, interest, and support for this ministry.
