For more than 60 years, Mount Calvary Monastery sat as a patch of holy ground high atop the Santa Barbara hills, home to seven Benedictine Anglican monks whose only jobs in life were prayer and welcoming pilgrims.
Now, after one of the most devastating fires to ever hit Southern California, visitors are left with a different kind of religious experience – a pile of charred ruins.
As drivers make their way to the monastery along narrow roads, banners hanging from side posts thank firefighters. Green vegetation turns to black-dusted earth.
Mount Calvary’s guests no longer read or pray; they snap pictures of the remains of the retreat house. The tall, steel cross that framed the courtyard, the golden bell that called the monks to prayer, the painted archway that greeted visitors, are all still there. There is, however, little else.
Charred cacti form a barrier between the parking lot and what was once a 20,000-square-foot, Spanish-style home. A narrow brick wall divides the property from the burned mountains underneath. And the hilltop provides a commanding view of the town that the fickle fire largely spared.
I am saddened by the loss of many so the wonderful things in the fire. I am also very glad the brothers left when they did so that no one was at risk of injury. However, this article is very misleading. The monks are members of the Order of the Holy Cross which has other monastery’s and priories to which any of these monks can be re-assinged. They are hardly homeless.
I was a postulant in this order back when Bonnell Spencer, OHC published ‘God Who Dares Be Man’. Anyone read it? It is sad that the same person who wrote ‘Ye Are The Body’ ended up losing his theological moorings.
This order has become ultra-liberal and IMHO is a shell of anything resembling Benedictine spirituality.
I was saddened to read of the total destruction of the monastery too. Yes, priestwalter, maybe all or some of the seven monks will end up going back to the motherhouse in Westpark, NY, or elsewhere.
As for the spiritual demise of the once great OHC, I can add a couple anecdotal bits of contrasting evidence. Twenty years ago, I pastored a small, struggling church in the Diocese of Albany, Trinity in Watervliet, NY (where the Erie Canal once connected to the Hudson). The church had once been served by an OHC priest from Westpark as a special outreach for a couple years at the request of the Bishop of Albany, and the parishioners remembered the monk fondly and appreciated his ministry. I lived in the rectory, where the monk priest had also lived. And he’d created an oratory or prayer chapel out of a small room, which my family and I continued to use that way too. That’s on the positive side.
However, on the negative side, I know womeone who went on a retreat at the Westpark monastery, and was shocked and appalled when he got there to discover that they were celebrating “Gay Pride Week.” I kid you not.
Hmmm. The fire reminds me of the enigmatic but disturbing passage in 1 Cor. 3, where Paul warns us that all of us will be judged someday in the sense of having our works done in his name subjected to a searching scrutiny. The Apostle says that our works that pass the test will survive like gold, silver, and precious stones, while the unworthy deeds will be consumed as if by fire, like wood, hay, and stubble. A sobering thought for us all.
David Handy+
I have been on retreat recently at OHC monastery in Westpark and found it a beautiful spiritual experience. The Brothers still faithfully pray all the offices and celebrate daily mass, land strinve to live the Benedictine life. I am grieved for the brothers at Santa Barbara and pray that their monastery will be restored.
Almost off-topic, but I’d love to see them set up a chapter house here in North Florida. As far as I can tell, we have nothing like this any closer than Atlanta. Can you imagine a retreat center along the Gulf Coast of Florida? What better place for a time set apart for God.
Jim Elliott
Florida
David:
I have prayed office in the oratory of that rectory. During my time in the noviciate in West Park we visited the brothers stationed in Watervliet.
Dmitri:
While I was in the noviciate at West Park the noviciate from the Society of St. John the Evangelist visited for a few days. Towards the end of their visit all novices from both orders were taken on an outing to the local gay bar just a couple of miles down the road. I was surprised but not too much. Myself and two other novices left the order shortly after this event. There were monks who were given dispensation from the office of Compline so that they could practice Zen instead.
It was a place of peace and closeness to God. After I left CA our Vestry held its retreat there. They were uniformly positive about (and uplifted by) the experience. The responses sadden me. I hope that the conservative wing of the Episcopal Church, whatever they call themselves, have not reached a point where they can distinguish between the burnings of good churches and bad churches, and just tell the people from the bad churches to find somewhere else to go. One hopes that those who valued it will see it rebuilt.
I don’t doubt that many people who have been on retreat to OHC monasterys and priories have had uplifting experiences. I had many wonderful times during my time in the noviciate.
I’m sorry if my responses sadden anyone. I can tell you that I witnessed much more than the ‘noviciate outing’ I mentioned in #5.
The ‘noviciate outing’ was simply the last straw.
I don’t think anyone here has advocated burning ‘bad churches’