For nearly a century, the Monastery of the Angels in the Hollywood Hills served as home to a community of cloistered Dominican nuns who devoted their lives to study Scripture and to pray for those who came to them for guidance and penance.
But the community dwindled as the nuns aged and some died from COVID-19. In early 2022, the monastery closed, but its chapel, gift shop and beloved peanut brittle and pumpkin bread business have remained open.
Now, the North American Association of Dominican Monasteries, which the monastery was a member of, has partnered with the Dominican Friars of the Western Province as they prepare to launch a public process to explore future options for the restoration and use of the nuns’ nearly four-acre historic property.
A request for proposals is expected to be released in early April….
Christopher Hanzeli, a spokesperson for the Dominican Friars of the Western Province, said having a public process is crucial “to gather as many creative and interesting ideas as possible” to protect the monastery’s future.
Father Gerard Francisco Timoner, the head of the Dominicans, advised Father Christopher Fadok, who leads the Western Dominican Province, to work with the nuns to find a way to protect the legacy of the property, Hanzeli said. The organizations negotiated an agreement in late 2022 that was finalized this February. Terms of that agreement are confidential, Hanzeli said, with the process being directed by the Western Dominican Province.
Among those working to help repurpose religious property is Dominic Dutra, author of Closing Costs, a new book about reimagining church spaces that could be put to work for ministry….
Full story at Religion News.
I clicked on the link and was attracted to another article about an editor-Exman-who is being “credited” with creating the current spiritual but not religious atmosphere of the times. It is an interesting article. It has a quote that is fairly astute at explaining what evangelists are encountering today.
the religion of experience, which is the most popular form of religion in the United States today. People see religion as a personal matter. They think it’s about feeling and experience more than it is about dogma or doctrine or ritual. They don’t think it takes place inside institutions. They think it takes place in the human heart.
Does “what they think” matter?
Is it determinative of reality?
Of course.
Gavin’s suggestion:
Turn it into an abortion clinic.
These religious communities concerned with their property’s “legacy” is a laugh. Face the music. It’s going to be sold and converted to a secular use. It’s just the way of the world as time marches on. Maybe there will be a brick on the property somewhere that mentions the community, but that’s it. If God wanted it to continue to be used for a Catholic purpose, he would have sent enough vocations to the community for it to endure.
Catholic organizations all over the country are going to have to face the music, sell, consolidate, merge and close properties. Get used to it.
Original tite: Nuns, friars partner to explore future for iconic shuttered Hollywood monastery
Male Dominicans? WT…
I love this place. Hope it survives..