Our Story

Monastery of the Incarnation
Beacon, New York
Carmelite Nuns
Redemptoristine Nuns

Redemptoristines of New York Rejoice in New Home

It has been a long and difficult journey. But now our community (formerly of Esopus) has finally found its way to a proper monastic home in the city of Beacon, New York. We are sharing sacramental and liturgical life, beauty, silence, and spaciousness in the Carmelite Monastery of the Incarnation.  We are making history in this arrangement; two different canonical religious groups living under the same roof. We have received the blessing of our Cardinal Timothy Dolan and the diocesan Vicar for Religious who view this development as a healthy response to the signs of the times. We would like to share with you how we came to this decision for our community.

In January of 2011, we were informed by the Baltimore Province of the Redemptorists that they would be leasing the property of Mount St. Alphonsus and that we would have to find a new home within 2 to 3 years. Four months later we learned that we would have only one year to relocate. The decision made by the Redemptorists was a wise and prudent one, but not without difficulties all around. In the end the property was sold. A bit of gold in this story is that the buyers invested a great deal of money in restoring the building and are lovingly caring for the property. The seminary building is now a private Christian high school.

We searched long and hard for a new home; a suitable monastery. We visited over 40 sites in five states and researched many others via the Internet. By the spring of 2012 we were ready to purchase a Franciscan friary in an urban New Jersey parish. At the last minute we had to give up that plan due to environmental contamination problems with the property. Having only 5 weeks to find a place to live we were fortunate to arrange rental of space in a building owned by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart only 5 miles south of Mount St. Alphonsus. We moved on June 25, 2012. All of our furniture was stored in a gymnasium in the same building. It was a crowded and very awkward space for our life but it did offer spectacular views of the Hudson River.

In January of this year the Missionary Sisters informed us that we would have to leave the property by the end of June. We had already hired professional consultants who work with religious communities to create relocation plans. Everyone went full speed ahead to find the right place for us in a very short period of time. Through the months of searching we learned that private homes require too much remodeling for monastic use and local laws can sometimes interfere in that process. We also learned that former convents, novitiates, etc., required a great deal of repair and adaptation to accommodate the elderly and handicapped. We also knew that it would be very difficult to have daily Mass wherever we went. As the process went on we saw our personal resources diminish as sisters aged and required more care. We had to ask ourselves, “Is it realistic for us to buy a property and take care of it into the future?” Our consultants found situations for us in a few continuing care retirement communities which offer independent or assisted living as well as nursing home care at the same location. These facilities offered great care for our sisters needing assistance. However, the rest of us would have been separated into various buildings. In such an arrangement our communal contemplative monastic life would have been destroyed. By April of this year, we were disheartened and very discouraged. We had two months to find a new home and move.

From September of 2012 through 2013 the Carmelite community of Beacon was prudently examining their own future and their ability to remain on their lovely property. Our two communities have enjoyed close friendship since the 1960’s as members of the Metropolitan Association of Contemplative Communities (MACC). In 1985, the Carmel of New York City moved to a former Ursuline Novitiate in Beacon. During the 1990’s they merged with two other Carmels, added a new wing to their building to accommodate a total of 30 nuns and redesigned the chapel. By September of last year there were only 15 sisters living in the monastery. They wondered how long they would be able to stay in a half empty building. Their options were to rent space in the building or move to a smaller place. Neither option was an attractive one. During this time they followed with heavy hearts our story of disappointment and displacement. At an April community meeting with their professional facilitator present they spontaneously put the planned agenda aside and began talking about what it would be like if they invited us to come and share the house with them. By the end of the meeting they voted unanimously to issue an invitation. Within two weeks the councils of the communities met and the generous invitation was accepted. We had exactly seven weeks to plan the move and make all arrangements.

Two other big decisions were made. Three of our sisters (Sisters Mary McCaffrey, Mary Anne Reed, and Lydia Lojo) would move to Meadowview, an assisted living facility in Mt. Vernon, New York.  At Meadowview they receive all the care they need and join many Franciscan and Dominican sisters in residence there. The second decision was to retire from our work producing ceremonial capes for the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre. We have done this work since 1985. It was a good monastic work, well organized by Sr. Maria Paz and then passed on to others. But we had to recognize that we no longer had the number of sisters required to produce 200 capes a year.

On June 11 three sisters moved into Meadowview Assisted Living. On June 23-24 six sisters moved to Beacon and received a most loving welcome from Carmelite community. We have lovely bedrooms in their new wing, a community room now called Celeste Hall, and offices for prioress, treasurer and secretary. We are blessed here to have Mass every day provided by a delightful rotation of priest. Only two days after moving in we had a wonderful celebration for the Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in a Mass concelebrated by the Redemptorist Provincial, Rev. Kevin Moley, and his Council.

In our decision to accept the Carmelite invitation we were acknowledging the signs of the times; fewer vocations, fewer priests, aging sisters. We were also acknowledging our deep desire to preserve our contemplative vocation. We saw that we could do that by joining forces with another contemplative community and sharing the sacramental, liturgical life already established in their horarium.

This is not the ideal that we had in mind when we set out on our journey in search of a new home. But we came to see that given our circumstances, resources and the limited choices before us this arrangement was the most life-giving for us all. We believe the Holy Spirit worked mightily in the hearts and minds of each sister in both communities. We have had to accept losses but we have also embraced new life and welcomed with grateful hearts the opportunity to live out our Redemptoristine vocation. Jesus Christ is the center of everything in this Monastery of the Incarnation. Could we ask for more?

“It is our desire to create together an environment that fosters the growth and well-being

of each Sister’s contemplative life as lived in the Carmelite and Redemptoristine traditions

and that has the potential for creating together opportunities for effective outreach

to the larger community and Church.”

 Redemptoristine Nuns

89 Hiddenbrooke Drive

Beacon, New York 12508

845-831-3132

Fax 845-831-5579

Rednuns.Esopus@gmail.com

www.RedNuns.org

www.Facebook.com/RedNunsEsopus

 

 

 

Settling into Ordinary Time

Here it is, the second Sunday in Ordinary Time. This is a 'skinny' season between Christmas and Lent. Ash Wednesday comes on the 22nd of February this year. Seems just a bit of a breather. But it really can be process time, opportunity to process, to sit with, to fully take in the deep, deep mystery of the Incarnation. There are no cards to write, no presents to buy, no trees to decorate. There is just an in between time, a time to 'be with'. Things even seem to slow down on the social scene in these months. Why not take advantage of it and and carve out a bit of retreat time - an hour, a day, a weekend. An opportunity is being offered. It is like the call to Samuel in today's first reading. Why not respond, "Speak Lord, your servant is listening."

And another matter:

These days we have been watching the dismantling of Mount St. Alphonsus. It is a 400 acre property dominated by a massive former seminary built in 1911. For three generations it has been a constant presence in the Hudson River Valley. For years the students taught Religious Education classes in local parishes. For years the professors fanned out every Sunday to celebrated Masses throughtout the county, bringing their particular Redemptorist approach to preaching and liturgy. Since 1987, it has been a retreat center drawing New Yorkers as well as folks from New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. This week does truly mark the end of an era.



Stained glass dome in chapel

For us these days are filled to overflowing with continuing preparations for our relocation to a new monastery - not a new building but a new location. We are not able to share the details at this time but do that know we are moving ahead. We are so grateful for the support of the Redemptorists and our many friends. We are also grateful to have met so many others along the way who have been so helpf

Please continue to pray for us, that the gifts of the Holy Spirit of Wisdom and Counsel will be with us as we proceed. Please also pray for ourt community elections set for January 26th.

A Spiritual "In-Service" Recommendation

With the closing of ministry at Mount St. Alphonsus as of January 1, 2012 many things that we have enjoyed there will come to an end. One of them is a tradition begun by Father Francis Gargani, CSsR in the early 1990s. At that time, Brother Donald Bisson was serving as novice master in the Marist community down the road on Route 9W. Never one to miss an opportunity to get first class presenters on the Mount's program schedule, Father Francis arranged for Brother Don to give two Saturday presentations in the fall and two in the spring each year. Brother Don's expertise is in the areas of spirtuality and Jungian psychology. At. first amature recordings were made of the presentations and now most of them are available on CDs available at his website.

The last presentations that Brother Don will be giving at the Mount will be offered on Saturday, October 8 and Sautrday, November 19, 2011. Each begins at 9:30am, ends at 3:30pm. The cost for the day is $60.00 which includes lunch. Reservations are reququired.

Call 845-384-8000.

Saturday, October 8 - Intentional Community

In Our hectic and individualized society, ther is a growing hunger for intentional communities of faith and growth. This workshop will attempt to assist all forms of communities: families, religious congregations, support groups, parishes, etc., to become more conscious and intentional in living the call to unity and love.

Saturday, November 19 - Intentional Pilgrims

We re all called to the holy, but the pilgrim is an individual who is consciously on the quest of life long conversion. This workshop offered from a Jungian and Christian perspective will examine the cost and joy of being a daily pilgrim to the Divine even from the margins of our lives.

It's Official

News Release

from the

Baltimore Province of the 

Redemptorist Congregation

Issued by Office of Mission Advancement (ROMA)

Church Communities to Lease Mount St. Alphonsus

Redemptorist legacy at the retreat house in Esopus will be preserved by the new
occupants.

April 29, 2011 — The Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province are pleased to announce an agreement with Church Communities to lease Mount St. Alphonsus Retreat Center on Route 9W in Esopus, NY. Church Communities (churchcommunities.org) will move in by February 1, 2012 and plans to continue the use of the existing facilities as a religious community and educational center. Some of the property will be used for farming, which hearkens back to the days when Redemptorists first worked the land when it served as the congregation’s North American seminary.

“The agreement with Church Communities is a wonderful fit for the Mount,” said Baltimore Provincial Kevin Moley. “We’re pleased that the property will remain a place of prayer and of work for the glory of God.”

The chapel’s stained glass windows, a very visible representation of the Mount’s Redemptorist history, will remain along with much of the original construction and décor. A perpetual easement for the cemetery will guarantee continued access to and use of the burial ground by the Redemptorists.

During a transition period, the Redemptorists will continue to use the gatehouse. The Redemptoristines, a group of contemplative Catholic nuns, also will continue to occupy their convent, which is located on the property.

Built between 1904 and 1907, the Mount opened in 1908 as the Redemptorists’ North American House of Studies. In addition to being a place of study, Mount St. Alphonsus was a self-sustaining property — the Redemptorist brothers farmed and raised animals for their own food. Since 1985, when the students relocated to Washington, D.C., the Mount has served as a retreat center.

In February 2011, the Redemptorists announced that they would cease retreat operations at the Mount in January 2012 due to changing ministry demands and an aging membership.

“The Mount will always hold a special place in the hearts of all Redemptorists,” Father Moley said. “The decision to end our ministry here was not an easy one. More than 1,000 Redemptorist priests were ordained in the beautiful chapel over the years, including myself. And the many thousands of retreatants who have come to the Mount over the last 25 years have been a great blessing to us.”

Church Communities, also known as the Bruderhof, is an international network of Christian communities originating in 1921 in Germany. Its first community in the United States, Woodcrest, was established in nearby Rifton, NY in 1954. Members take Jesus Christ and the early Christian church as their example for daily living.

Esopus Town Supervisor John Coutant said, “The Mount property is an important part of the fabric and history of the Town of Esopus. Together with the Town Board, I am excited to see the stewardship of this property pass on to Church Communities, and that our Town will not be negatively impacted by a change to this pristine environment.”

Who are the Redemptorists?

The Redemptorists were founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori in 1732 in Naples, Italy. The priests and brothers minister to the spiritual and material needs of the faithful, especially the poor and most spiritually abandoned. Their primary ministry is preaching. There are approximately 300 Redemptorists serving in the United States, and approximately 5,300 worldwide.

The Baltimore Province of the Redemptorists maintains its headquarters in Brooklyn, NY. The province was created in 1850 and took its name from its home city of Baltimore, MD. The name was retained when the headquarters relocated to New York.

For more information about the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province, visit http://www.redemptorists.net/.

Procession Continues

Masthead photo was taken at dusk. Here are some others. Peak is gone. Some trees are bare. More of the river is visible. A full moon provided some additional special effects.

For All the Saints

Celebrating a Solemnity

All Saints' Day

This is the stained glass dome over the sanctuary of the chapel of Mount St. Aphonsus Pastoral Retreat Center. Our monastery of Mother of Perpetual Help is on the property of the Mount which opened in 1909 as the major seminary for the Baltimore Province of the Redemptorists (Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer). It was transformed into a retreat house in the late 1980s. It is surrounded by hundreds of acres on the west shore of the Hudson River in Esopus, south of Kingston, NY.

Depicted here is the arrival of the soul of St. Alphonsus de Liguori, religious founder, moral theologian and Doctor of the Church, into the realm of heaven where the three persons of the Blessed Trinity and the Blessed Mother welcome him with all the angels. Below them is an array of saints; on the left martyrs and apostles and on the right well known saints like Teresa of Avila and St. Francis Xavier and also Redemptorist saints, most prominently St. Clement Hofbauer and St. Gerard Majella. Just below the dome are seen just the heads of twelve mosaic angels, each representing a virtue. It was the custom of Redemptorists and Redemptoristines to focus on one of these virtues each month of the year.

This work of art is an appropriate image for this great feast - "the saints in vast array." We all have our favorites, our patrons, our courts of last resort when the chips are down. Some may have a very particular devotion to a saint like Therese of Lisieux. Others have made a study of a saint like John of the Cross whose depths can never be fully plumbed.

But today I suggest that we think of the saints we ourselves have known, the saints we may have in our families, in our circles of friendship, in our church communities, or even in the larger culture around us. Those who have died are in the Communion of Saints. We do see and experience and benefit from the saintliness of others. We need to think about them, remember why we call them saints, what made them saints. Maybe in the thinking some of it will rub off on us. For them we owe a prayer of thanks to God. We owe thanks to the 'saints' who may live with us or befriend us or serve us in some way. The age of miracles has not passed. IF we think about it, we will remember some. If we look around we may see some in action.

The Sun Appears on the Horizon

After two days of rain the sun appears as if to remind trees arrayed in red and gold

of its ultimate superiority.