Sacred Heart Appeal
Thank you for checking out the current appeal on our website!
The cost of education! A call to action!
We Missionary Benedictines invite you to assist us in training young monastics as messengers of Christ’s love and to equip them with skills and knowledge for the assignments they will receive from their superiors and communities.
Our Congregation, represented on four continents in 20 plus countries, has over 100 students as residents in our study houses in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. Monks, having completed basic studies and earned a degree in their chosen discipline, are often sent on to schools outside the country for further studies or training in the chosen trade. The international Collegio Sant’ Anselmo in Rome, Italy, welcomes students from all over the globe, as do our monasteries in Europe, the United States, and in Asia. All our students live in community where the Benedictine value of “Ora et Labora” – of “Prayer and Work” is followed.
We all know that it is not easy for numerous families to come up with the funds to send a child through school, college or university. Many depend on scholarships to pursue higher education or training in a specific trade. Thank God, for existing programs to help young people reaching their goal in life. It is no secret that many college students hold fulltime jobs to subsidize the cost of education.
Our monasteries in Africa and Asia lack the resources to fund all expenses for the education of young members. The Conference of Mission Procurators is committed to help with the running costs of the study houses and extraordinary expenses that occur. The well-being of our students is a priority, as is their safety. The procurators reviews budgets, but also award grants, supported by our monasteries in Europe, South Korea and the United States.
Education encompasses a wide spectrum and not only studies towards priesthood. We need good business administrators, teachers, doctors, nurses, dietitians, farmers, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, engineers, etc. Specialists in computer science and technology are essential for the future of our monasteries and their sponsored institutions.
Please help us change the infrastructure in places where we are represented,
based on Benedictine values and solid education!
God bless you for being our partner in mission and for giving our brothers and sisters the helping hand to succeed in their studies without financial worries. Your prayers and financial sacrifice are truly appreciated.
One June 27, we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Our Congregation, recognized by the Holy See in 1896, was dedicated to the Sacred Heart by our early superiors. Thus, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart is the Titular Feast of the Missionary Benedictine Congregation of St. Ottilien.
On October 24, 2024, the late Pope Francis released his fourth encyclical letter “Dilexit Nos” (He Loved Us), which can be seen as his Spiritual Testament from which people of good will can draw strength, consolation, and assurance for the journey of life with the Risen Jesus.
The images of Pope Francis visiting prisoners on Holy Thursday and then bestowing the “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the City of Rome and the World on Easter Sunday before interacting with pilgrims and faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, will be a lasting memory! Several hours later, Pope Francis returned his life to his Creator.
Our American born Pope Leo XIV calls us to unity, embracing the Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as the pierced heart in the coat of arms suggests.
“The flames of love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus expand through the Church’s missionary outreach,
which proclaims the message of God’s love revealed in Christ.”
Dilexit Nos, #207
United in the love of Christ and the assurance of our prayers we remain,
Fr. Anastasius, Bro. Tobias and all the monks of Christ the King Priory
Student community at Mass and university study/lecture hall