Silverstream Priory: An Urgent Appeal

An urgent appeal this Saint Patrick's Day from Silverstream Priory in Stamullen, Co. Meath, Ireland, Dom Mark at Vultus Christi writes: 

The Monastic Tension

I am not the first nor will I be the last monk to feel torn between remaining silent and speaking, between disappearing and appearing. I would not, for minute, want to compare myself in any way to Saint Gregory the Great, or to Saint Bernard, or to Blessed Columba Marmion, all of whom suffered the tension of feeling pulled into silence and out of it, into the enclosure of the monastery and out of it. Monks are not, by vocation, preachers, and yet some monks have always preached. Monks are not, by vocation, writers, and yet some monks have always written, and written well and much. Monks are not, by vocation, missionaries, and yet some monks have always carried the pure light of the Gospel into places of darkness.

Survival
Over the past few days,  I have listened to my community and to our friends; we have discussed the extreme precariousness of our foundation. People whom I trust are urging me to make appeals, to seek out benefactors, to accept invitations to preach, to speak about our urgent need and to write about it. It is a question of survival. What am I going to do? We are preparing the second issue of our newsletter; it will feature an appeal for support. I am going to work at making Silverstream Priory known; I am going to ask for help wherever and whenever possible.

Risk
We do not yet own Silverstream Priory nor any of the surrounding land. While our community is established canonically here in the Diocese of Meath, we cannot yet call Silverstream our own, nor can we administer it freely, and develop it. Until we have purchased Silverstream’s buildings and property, there remains an element of risk in what we are doing. The men who have joined our monastery are conscious of the risk involved and, in the face of the risk, have laid their lives on the line.

Read the entire appeal here.

Prayerfully consider how to help.  My own heart is eternally grateful for the prayers of the monks at Silverstream Priory and for the spiritual writing of Dom Mark Kirby at Vultus Christi.  What a beautiful gift their prayers and their work are to our Holy Church.  Let us support with our prayers and gifts these ‘Men Who Hold Their Gaze Directly Towards God'.

St. Patrick, pray for us! St. Joseph, pray for us! St. Benedict, pray for us!