Due to the Abbey’s extremely rapid growth over the past years, the buildings are insufficient for housing all the members of the community and the students.   The Abbey areas lack sufficient room for the blossoming of a monastic community which is yearly blessed with new vocations. The school buildings do not reflect the high quality of education the students receive.

In 1998 a landslide damaged St Michael’s Preparatory school.  It was then that the geological instability of the entire landmass was discovered and the community sought to expand and update our facilities on the current site.

Developers told the community that the current site could not be stabilized without moving the entire community off site for an extended duration.  This effectively meant the community and school needed to seek another site.

Resolution

After years of searching, the community identified a large piece of geologically stable land in rural Orange County that is ideal for the needs of an abbey and boarding school. 

This parcel of land is located off the Ortega Highway near Lake Elsinore, just inside the Orange County line.  It is surrounded on three of its borders by Cleveland National Forest, which insures that the contemplative nature of the site will be protected from indiscriminate development — hopefully for many centuries.

The Expansion Project consists of many different parts.  It will be a vast undertaking.  Because there are many elements to coordinate, the timing is of essence, and we must be able to start building by September of 2010.

The project consists of the abbey, which is made up of the following components: the abbey and abbey church, which will house the priests and seminarians of the community and provide the place where they pray and chant the Office and Mass seven times each day with the faithful – the church will include seating for a congregation of 500 of the faithful, with additional seating for great occasions.

Also included in the project are the future preparatory school buildings.  These will provide class rooms and boarding areas for our students, young men who seek the classical education and academic rigor we offer them.

There will be a convent to house a community of Rosarian Dominican Sisters who cook for our community and students and have a group of their religious on our grounds.

A project of this scope will cost a great deal, but it will be built to last for centuries.  It will be austere in style, with pure, Romanesque lines, and it will use materials that are noble and enduring.  Such a project calls for an architect of culture, profound learning and genius.

When we looked for a designing architect for the project, we sought a man who would combine architectural excellence with an understanding of the monastic life in the Catholic Church.  We found more than this in Jean-Louis Pagès.  Jean-Louis has actually designed and constructed more than one abbey in France; he understands what an abbey is, and how the buildings need to be constructed to meet the needs of monks and canons regular.

Making it Happen

Planning includes:

• A church with choir stalls for 85 Norbertines, seating for 500 people and abbey building in the Romanesque style with stone facing
• Abbey guest quarters
• Boarding school to accommodate classrooms and dorms for 100 students
• Library
• Sports field for the school
• Convent for 12 Dominican sisters
• Parking facilities to accommodate a minimum of 500 of the faithful for Mass

We have received much from the generations who planted the seeds of our abbey and school in Orange County.  These have grown and developed into a treasure for the Church. Today, the preservation of this treasure falls to a new generation.  All who know and love the continued presence of an ancient religious order and a renowned boarding school in Orange County have the unique opportunity to participate with generous enthusiasm in the $125 million Campaign.

Your gift will provide the best kind of legacy: through giving, you will enable future generations to benefit from the cultural, sacramental, and educational presence of an Abbey and a premier boarding school in Orange County, and you will join with us in giving glory to God.