Ashleigh and I moved to Colorado from Minnesota nearly 20 years ago. Growing up, we were both impacted by going on retreat at Pacem in Terris, a silent hermitage retreat center in Minnesota. Ashleigh and I have felt a consistent call over the past decade to build and maintain a silent retreat center with our children. To this end, we founded and began donating to Saint Joseph’s Foundation in 2017, a non-profit organization that provides funding for the building of this hermitage retreat center.

 

    The name Patris Corde stems from our devotion and gratitude to our patron, Saint Joseph. We have experienced St Joseph’s intercession in many ways, but in a miraculous way in finding the land for this hermitage. The land is located 30 miles north of Silverthorne and is bordered on 3 sides by public lands, offering an ideal location for silence and natural beauty.

  

    The late Monsignor Michael Glenn was instrumental in supporting this mission, blessing the property and saying mass near the current retreat center location the day after we purchased the property in 2017. His constant encouragement to us before he passed to eternity was: “Priests need poustinia prayer." We are also most thankful for the help and support of Father Brady Wagner, Father John Nepil, Jason Simon, Ed Van Pelt, Jr., Amanda Freeman, and Casey Van Pelt. The above are members of our board/operations and have helped us from our beginning phases.

 

    This year marks our third year of planning and our second year of construction. Monsignor Glenn charged us to pray, saying: “Many things that start in the spirit end in the flesh." We urgently seek your continued prayers for our family’s protection, guidance, and faithfulness to this assignment.

 

     Most Sincerely,

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