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Pax

Abbots Appeal for Easter/Pentecost 2007

Dear Friend of Pecos Benedictine Monastery,

Peace and Blessings to you!  Thanks to each one of you who have been helping us this year and who have responded to our needs.  In this letter, I want to thank all of you, but also renew our appeal for your continued help.

Some of you have asked if we are truly doing something to support ourselves.  In one letter I received, the response to my begging letter was “God helps those who help themselves.”  There may be some truth to this even though it has absolutely no scriptural basis.  As a matter of fact the quote comes from Benjamin Franklin.  However we are trying our best to become as self sufficient as possible in our economy.

Some may have heard that we are developing “Abbey Gardens”.  This is a monastic endeavor that will involve all of us in the growing of lavender, the making of honey, and also candles.  Of course, the lavender industry is the most promising, but it is also the most involved and the most time demanding.  This project will need the renovation of our gift-shop.  It is there that we plan to develop this new image where the products of “Abbey Gardens” will be sold. 

Along with the renovation of the gift shop, we are also moving our bookstore to what is now the “coffee room.”  We need this bigger space for our bookstore and also in order to give it a more personal and hospitable touch.  These two projects will enhance our economic vitality and also our monastic hospitality.

We are working to pay off completely our debt incurred by the necessity of replacing some of our roofs, installing a new sewage system and also replacing our water tower.  The State of New Mexico simply would not allow us to continue unless we made these necessary changes.  And unfortunately, there are still many more to be made!  Much of this debt is a bank loan that we will dissolve with the selling of some of our land.

So you can see that we continue to seek the means of self-support, while we continue to need your help to go forward.  I do not believe in the philosophy of those who say to those in need:  “God helps those who help themselves”.  Nonetheless, I pray and truly hope to see that day when I can say, “We are now making our own living!”  But we are not there yet.  An estimated cost for completing these projects will be about $75,000.00.

If you would like to help us, please note it in the “memo” space of your offering:  “gift-shop” or “bookstore.”

As always, I promise you our prayers and our gratitude.  May God give you much joy and gladness in your life. 

Your Brother in the Lord,

+Christopher

Christopher M. Zielinski, OSB oliv.

Abbot

Benefactors of Pecos Benedictine Monastery

The Major Gifts Campaign

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