Local abbey builds on faith

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Matt Ryerson/The Hawk Eye
Abbot Michael-John Austin, left, celebrates with Sister Vincent-Marie Rittenhouse and Brother Thomas Ferrell on Monday during a groundbreaking ceremony for three new housing structures at the Abbey of Saint Benedict complex east of Donnellson.

Matt Ryerson/The Hawk Eye
The Abbey of Saint Benedict is in Donnellson.

Grant helps founder build guest houses for spiritual retreat.

Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness."

-- Matthew 4:1

By KILEY MILLER

kmiller@thehawkeye.com

DONNELLSON -- Abbot Michael-John Austin knows a desert can sometimes be an oasis.

The founder of the Companions of St. Luke-Benedictine long has felt called to create a spiritual retreat at the idyllic home of his Episcopal monastic community in northern Lee County.

Thanks to the generosity of a pair of benefactors, that calling has become action.

With black-robed members of his order by his side Monday, Austin dug a shovel in the earth at the Abbey of St. Benedict to begin construction on three log guest houses.

When completed in June, the buildings will offer up to 10 guests a sanctuary for prayer and communion with God.

"(In Scripture) we see our Lord consistently wanting to go into a lonely place," the abbot said before the groundbreaking. "Often it is referred to as a desert."

Amid the spinning excess of modern life, the need for the desert has become, if anything, more earnest.

Thus the two-story guest houses.

The buildings, named for SS. Mary, Joseph and Jerome, replace a pair of dilapidated mobile homes removed Monday. They had housed visitors for the past seven years.

And they are paid in full.

The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation of Buffalo, N.Y., has given the Companions of St. Luke $250,000 for construction, a grant that came after the same organization had denied the order's application for a loan.

Envirotech Services LLC, a Houston contracting firm overseeing the work, has agreed to cover any remaining expenses, meaning the guest quarters will cost the Community of St. Luke nothing.

That's a blessing beyond measure, because the project is not meant as an end but a beginning. Looking into the future, Austin plans a towering yet earth-friendly chapel, a convention facility and additional living quarters.

If there is any doubt of the need, the abbot said there is a five-year waiting list for reservations at the two nearest monasteries -- one in Dubuque and one in Missouri.

"I believe people are becoming much more aware that the peace and the quiet that they're seeking is to be found in God and in the holy space of the heart where they can meet their god," said Sister Vincent-Marie Rittenhouse.

Potential visitors already have begun contacting the abbey about rooms. It is expected that guests will stay anywhere from overnight to a month or more, with all denominations welcome.

As a permanent abbey resident for the past three years, Rittenhouse is an exception rather than the rule for the Companions of St. Luke.

Austin founded the order 15 years ago to enable the devoted to follow the Benedictine walk, with its focus on prayer and introspection, from their home parishes. Women and men are equally welcome. Vowed life is reserved for Episcopalians, but associates and oblates may come from any denomination.

The order has 34 members, only six of whom live at the abbey.

This decentralization led to the involvement of Envirotech Services.

Sister Sophia Holt, a member of the Companions of St. Luke, serves in her professional life as a business administrator for the construction firm.

According to company founder and President Lloyd Broussard, who held the other shovel for Monday's groundbreaking, Holt approached him about 18 months ago about leading the guest house project.

As construction drew nearer, "she applied the pressure like Sister Sophia can do," Broussard said.

That included hauling the Louisiana native to Iowa in the middle of January.

"I almost died," Broussard said, "because I wasn't mentally ready for the cold."

In a way, he wasn't mentally ready to work at a monastery, either.

Despite growing up Roman Catholic, Broussard said he knew next to nothing about the inner workings of monasteries.

Partnering with Austin has been an education.

"I have bought into his philosophy of life," Broussard said.

The abbey is a place for setting aside the "things we take for granted in life -- like running into a convenience store for a Coke," he said.

In doing without, you discover such necessities are actually luxuries.

"That really appeals to me," Broussard said.

Apparently, it also appeals to members of his team. Some of Broussard's guys started out dreading the Midwestern cold only to become so enamored of the abbey project they made sure to finish other jobs in time to be part of the Iowa crew.

Envirotech Services won't need much help to raise the guest houses. Broussard said his company, which specializes in school renovations, completed 17 of the first 23 school buildings opened in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

For the abbey, though, Austin wants to use as many local vendors and subcontractors as possible. As a result, Envirotech Services will manage the project and handle the electrical work only.

"We've got agreements with all the subcontractors here, and I think we should have them under contract by the end of the week," Broussard said.

The three buildings will boast certain creature comforts, with individual bathrooms and temperature controls for each guest room, and a library and meeting room upstairs in St. Jerome's.

But efficiency was as much a priority as privacy.

"We are very concerned about the environment, so we wanted to build green," Austin said.

That commitment will carry through to the chapel, which will be built into a hillside across a stream from the abbey's existing buildings.

Among other eco-conscious features, the chapel will be oriented north-and-south rather than the traditional east-and-west to get maximum sunlight on the solar panels on the roof.

While some stone may be used, the building will be built primarily of wood.

"Nature is informing us of what we need to do," Austin said.

There is not a timeline for construction beyond the guest houses -- at least not one Austin would reveal. The abbot expects construction of the chapel and other buildings to put well more than $1 million into the local economy.

"We're in fundraising now," he said.