FIRE CONSUMES LITTLE PORTION HERMITAGE MONASTERY

April 29, 2008, Berryville, Arkansas

At approximately 12:00am today fire struck at Little Portion Hermitage in Arkansas' Ozark Mountains.  The fire began in the Charity Chapel, the main worship space for this Catholic religous community.  The fire spread quickly through a covered walkway to the Common Center, a building housing the main dining and meeting rooms, offices and library.  Both structures are a total loss.

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Update May 8, 2008

I've just returned from a few days at Little Portion to help with the work of setting up the office space in the temporary Common Center, located in a vacant family hermitage.  The computers are in place, a telephone system was installed, and a temporary internet connection is now working.  Boxes of CDs arrived to replace the inventory that was lost.

Photos of the damage are wholly inadequate to convey the scope of the disaster.  Even now, more than a week after the blaze, there is a sharp odor and tingling sensation in the nose when approaching the burn site.  Many in the community still have bronchial irritation.  Due to the ongoing investigation by fire department officials, we were still not allowed into the rubble to check the contents of our fireproof filing cabinets and safe, but I was told that it is not likely that anything is left even there.

The community members are amazingly resilient and are busy getting back to business, while continuing their daily monastic routine of work and prayer.  Daily prayers and Mass are held in the Portiuncula Chapel which was constructed of stone a few years ago, and the noon meal is served in the temporary Common Center.  The farm, gardens, and animals were not affected by the blaze, and farm operations have continued.  Monday morning, as usual, a truckload of frozen chickens was delivered to buyers a few hours away.

John Michael and the ministry team are in Canada, at the beginning of a nearly month-long tour of Alberta and Saskatchewan.  The community felt that the tour should go on as scheduled, and that it is important for all of the ministries of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity to continue in full swing.

Donations continue to come in from all directions.  Our dear friends at Oregon Catholic Press notified me yesterday of a substantial donation that is on the way from their offices.  Friends and fans from all over the world have logged on to John's website and donated generously.  Members of the news media have been kind to help spread the word of our tragedy and our need, and I have received hundreds of e-mails with promises of prayers.  We treasure our supporters, donors, friends, and fans who have come forward to help.  Please know that the community prays for you daily. 

Jim Cosgrove
Operations Manager
John Michael Talbot Ministries

Update May 1, 2008
 
The work of recovery has begun.  John Michael and the General Council have met with the insurance company and fire investigators, and the awesome task has begun to identify everything that was lost.  The fire department has not yet pinpointed an exact cause of the fire, but it was ruled accidental. 
 
The Troubadour offices are being set up in a vacant hermitage, and computers, internet service, and networking equipment will be installed by Monday May 5th.  One telephone line has been restored, and others will be operating by Monday also.
 
Many have asked what the needs of the community are at this time.  I spoke with John Michael this morning, and he said, above all, prayers are needed.  Prayers for the members of the community as they start the clean-up, recovery, and rebuilding process.  They are all experiencing bronchial difficulties due to smoke inhalation, and fatigue and even exhaustion in these early days.  Please pray for strength of spirit and body for them.
 
The archives, containing 30+ years of photos, videos, books and papers, which documented the birth and history of the community was a complete loss.  Thankfully, there are many members of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity Domestic who have offered their own photos and documents from those times to help rebuild the recorded history of the community.

There is an immediate need for donations, even though the insurance will help with the recovery.  The immediate tasks of setting up makeshift office space and shipping areas, kitchen supplies, office furniture and equipment are all expenses that are being incurred now. 
 
As we look ahead to the rebuilding of the Common Center and Charity Chapel, there will be additional funds needed to construct the new buildings from stone, and in a manner that is eco-friendly and energy efficient.
 
Above all, please pray for John Michael and the community as they work to rise from the ashes of this disaster.  Additional prayers are also requested as John, Viola, and John Cotton leave on Saturday for our tour of Western Canada.
 
Jim Cosgrove
Operations Manager
John Michael Talbot Ministries

COMMON CENTER AND CHARITY CHAPEL BUILDINGS AT LITTLE PORTION MONASTERY BURN
John Michael Talbot

Peace and Good in Christ!

Last night the sleep of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, Monastic, was interrupted close to midnight as a raging fire burned our Chapel and Common Center to the ground. Viola and I were the first on the scene as I saw the orange/red glow through our hermitage's back windows. Upon arriving we found there were no hoses capable of stopping the raging flames. I ran up the hill and woke up the community, and we started the almost futile task of spraying down the part of the Common Center that had not yet burned and retrieving anything from inside we could still find.

Although I have seen some house fires, I have never seen anything this big. The flames reached high into the sky. The smoke was very dense, as was the heat. Despite this, our people ventured into the smoky building to retrieve whatever they could reach. Some of us suffered from smoke inhalation. I spent a lot of time trying to get people out of the building before it exploded into flames. We finally surrendered to the inevitability that our Chapel and Common building were going to burn to the ground before the fire company could get to us.

After 30 to 40 minutes the firemen and women began to arrive, followed soon after by the fire trucks and water trucks. Four fire companies responded and did heroic and valiant work at saving the other buildings from being consumed. We are most grateful for our volunteer fire departments!

We lost some most valuable things in the fire. Our community archives were lost and all of the books in our library. The Troubadour stockroom and inventory were lost to the flames.  All of the various awards received were melted in the intense heat of the fire. We have some back-ups from computers, but nothing current. It is our hope that most of this is covered by our insurance.

God gave members various words or locutions. I shared that God is stripping us back to what is really essential to our way of life and that we will rebuild with greater efficiency, but in stone. Someone got the image of Gideon, who was repeatedly told by the Lord that he needed fewer men, but men well-prepared for battle. Another said that she got a word that God is with us through this trial. These served to inspire us and to keep our spirits hopeful and filled with faith, hope, and love. I believe we may have lost some buildings, but He will make us stronger for going through this together.

For the immediate future we will pray at our Portiuncula Chapel, which was untouched by the fire (as was most of our Prayer Garden). We will use some vacant hermitages for common meals and community meetings. Another will serve as a temporary office. Many have offered their homes and guest houses to us, but we will get by and keep the praying heart of the Hermitage alive in the months ahead.

Eventually we will have to rebuild. We will rebuild with stone and earth in a way that is environmentally "green." At that point we may ask for donations from our benevolent benefactors. We are humbled and grateful beyond mere words for the outpouring of offers to help with food, housing and other things.

In Jesus,

John Michael Talbot
Founder, and Spiritual Father
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage

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