Fr. John Schork onsite at Monastery renovation.
Building a Future of Hope
Update on Louisville renovations, Fr. John Schork, CP, December, 2008
“The project is taking even more ’shape’ these days, with lots of carpenters, drywallers, electricians, and roofers adding their touches. You can now see the definite outlines of the various rooms, where the lighting fixtures are located — plus some walls are being prepared for painting. The bathrooms are getting their new floor and wall tile, awaiting the grouting process and final painting and installation of the shower walls and seats.
The roofers continue to amaze many with their high ’antics’ as they replace very rotten boards and install shiny new copper gutters and scuppers. Cold winds don’t seem to faze them, with their heavy work clothes and life-lines connecting them further up the roof gables.
The first floor heating systems are being installed, plus some of the new doors to the hoped-for western outdoor deck have arrived. Indoor door casings/transoms are being rebuilt and some new doors being fitted.
Kitchen equipment is on order; bedroom ceiling fans to be installed rather soon. Hardwood floor finishes have been selected, as well as kitchen cabinet finishes.
Much progress—yet more to go! January 17 & 18 we’ll speak at the Masses at St. Agnes. Keep up the prayers for a safe and prompt completion.”
If you would like to contribute to this important effort, please go to our Donate Now page and choose “Building a Future of Hope Campaign.” Thank you!!
Read more about this project…
As part of the Passionist commitment to “Building A Future of Hope,” Sacred Heart Monastery, our Passionist home in Louisville, KY, was chosen to be the Province Assisted Care Community where our senior Passionists will live and continue on as vital, spiritually active members of the Community.
“Retirement” isn’t a word that exists for Passionist priests and brothers. Although elder Passionists may step aside from more rigorous ministries, they continue to live in community and do the spiritual work - praying, providing spiritual direction, and supporting their fellow Passionists “in the field” - that God calls them to do.
Given the new needs that the Monastery will be meeting, the Passionists have undertaken $2.8 million in repairs. These renovations will restore much of this historically important building and provide necessary accommodations for our senior Passionists.
History
The Monastery was built by the Passionists in 1905 who had come to Louisville as early as 1879. The impressive Ionic columns that still grace the entrance today are the remains of the pre-Civil War plantation house which was the Passionists’ first home on the very same spot.
Prior to 1906, there was only one American Passionist Province. But given the great expanse of the country, the number of retreats requested and the amount of work for one Provincial, it was decided that a second province must be inaugurated. In July of 1906, “Holy Cross Province” was born at the dedication of the new Sacred Heart Monastery in Louisville.
Over the years, this sturdy but wonderfully adaptive Monastery has served as a house of theology, a novitiate, a college seminary, and a spirituality center.
Most important, the Monastery has welcomed hundreds of lay men and women through her doors, and has been the home from which countless Passionists have gone forth to serve in hospitals, universities and parishes. Passionists such as Fr. Walter Kaelin, Fr. Germain LeGere and Fr. Jim DeManuele, now deceased, and also Fr. Francis Cusack, Fr. Donald Senior, Fr. Sebastian MacDonald and Fr. Joe Mitchell have walked and talked in her halls, prayed in her chapel, offered counsel and given blessings, prepared for ministry and found solace when the day was done.
