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What We Do

- What We Do

Spiritual, Physical, Mental
At this time, we are focusing our efforts on the Spiritual Retreat Center and Physical Catholic Back to Land Center. As time and resources allow, growth into the other areas will commence.

We will have conferences, regional gatherings, monthly workshops which will center on the perfect grace of God with the rich experience of a family life lived in tune with the natural order of first things. Water, housing, food, clothing and fuel will be the initial and on-going focus of training. Faith and family, with our individual relationship with God, and community will enrich all who participate in these gatherings.

Spiritual:
1. Provide a spiritual retreat center focused primarily on lay spiritual development (Fathers, Mothers, Family and young adults).

Physical:
2. Catholic Back to the Land Center: Operate the facility as a Family homestead/farm conducting themselves as true stewards of God’s land. Operate a regenerative farm; i.e. one that regenerates God’s creation while providing nutrient dense food, provides excellent food to the local community, is financially self-supporting and restores life to God’s creation.

3. Provide/facilitate monthly classes/workshops that link experts in homestead fields with potential practitioners at all levels for homestead and life skills.

Mental:
4. Lead/facilitate monthly domestic Church events for the mutual development and support of couples.

5. Facilitate routine homeschool co-ops/workshops.

Spiritual: Retreat Center

Nearly 75% of Mass-going-Catholics have lost their belief in the Real Presence, we must concentrate our every effort on welcoming everyone, yet run an unapologetically Catholic facility knowing that only Jesus' Catholic Church will be able to stand the test of time. Therefore, nothing but His Catholic magisterium will be taught.

The retreat center will focus primarily on silent retreats led by a Catholic Priest or religious acting as retreat master. The center of the retreat will be administration of the sacraments, specifically Holy Mass and Penance. Second in the purpose of the silent retreat is to deepen the prayer life, both during the retreat but also to assist the individual in long term growth and sustainment. The intent behind the silent retreat is singular - become a saint. It is difficult enough to live in the world and sanctify it, yet that is the mission of the lay person. To do so, grace is fundamental as well as having a consistent prayer life.

The silent retreat will support this need in many ways:

1. Provide a place of silence so that the person can remove themself from the world and its noise temporarily;

2. Introduce methods of prayer, especially meditation, to the layman,
3. Lay a foundation for the person to grow in union with God so they can take this back home and sanctify themselves, their Family and the world.

There are generally three types of "Silent Retreats":
1. Preached Retreat - led by an individual (Priest/Religious); preaching a number of talks/meditations to help participants enter deeper into prayer. Should include daily Mass and confessions.
2. Directed Retreat - Individual is directed by a priest/spiritual director, including meeting at least once per day. May include daily Mass and confessions depending on the situation.
3. Self-guided Retreat - Individual finds a retreat location and makes a retreat. Likely they will receive some spiritual direction ahead of time to plan appropriately. Daily Mass and confession are completely dependent of the situation/location.
The St. Teresa of Avila Retreat Center at Edelweiss House will focus primarily on providing Preached Retreats. We will coordinate to have a Retreat Master to preach the retreat, while providing the appropriate resources for the sacraments, lodging and food included. The Retreat Center will be available for Self-guided retreats when the retreat center is not already scheduled to support an activity. Individuals wishing to make a Self-guided retreat must provide a letter from their spiritual director or Priest stating that they are suitable/capable of a self-guided retreat.

Physical: Back to the Land Center
Pope Pius XII, in an address in 1946, stated: “We well know how much the moral recovery of the whole people depends on the steadfast faith and social integrity of the tillers of the soil...More than others, you live in permanent contact with nature...your families are not only communities of consumers, but more especially, communities of producers.

From the fact that your lifework is so profoundly, and at the same time, so generally and completely based upon the Family, and therefore so fully in conformity with the order of nature...Finally the stability of your Family life is the reason of the indispensable function you are called upon to exercise as the fount and bulwark of unsullied moral and religious life, as well as the reservoir of men, healthy in mind and body, for all the professions, for the Church and for the state.

Every possible care should be taken to preserve for the nation the essential elements..: love of work, simplicity and uprightness of life, respect for authority, love of country, readiness to give mutual help, and a truly religious attitude of mind. “ He goes on to say how the Church remains the heart of the village where you come together to raise the mind above material things in the praise and service to God.

“The fact that the working of a farm has an eminently Family character makes it of outstanding importance for the social and economic prosperity of the whole people."

Putting Ourselves on the Line

Our society has shown its effects of broken families. The lack of male/father leadership in our world, and modernistic practices have destroyed much of what God intended for His children. Sister Pat's vision and now ours is to focus on our future (children), by building up the Family through the various means as detailed within this site. While there are various individual organizations and efforts ongoing, none have the permanent mission in supporting the sanctity of the layman both individually and in the Family, which is the building block of society. The major threat to this enterprise is the forces of evil which have had great success in breaking down the Family. A roadblock is intended to make difficult or impossible to continue on a path; we intend to be a Roadblock on the current path that leads to complete and utter destruction of the Family. Since the Family is the building block of society, the destruction of the Family will result directly in the destruction of society as a whole. Through the grace of Almighty God and with the help of many Volunteers and Donors, Edelweiss House will succeed in furthering Sister Pat's vision and our end-goal . . . that being to advance the holiness and sanctity of the Family. The center of all activities at Edelweiss House will be grace. The primary means of grace is through the sacraments God instituted through His Holy Catholic Church. This is not only important for the onsite Family and Executive Director because of the attacks which will ensue, but just as important for those who come to Edelweiss for any and all activities.

The Edelweiss House website will be forever changing with updates, new activities, and provide mass communication to the public. As the mission matures, EHI will interact with various local, regional and/or national outlets.