‘New Horizons:’ Special Exhibit Opening This Weekend

Will Help Shape The Future  Of Abbey Of Regina Laudis

BETHLEHEM — Life at The Abbey of Regina Laudis is thriving. That’s the good news.

That news is, however, accompanied by an attendant crisis of inadequate housing and urgent safety concerns that must be addressed immediately. The community has outgrown the former factory and adjacent buildings that have served for over sixty years as the main monastic complex.  Without a major renovation project, the Abbey will not be equipped to welcome the women who are asking to enter religious life at Regina Laudis, or to adequately care for its aging members.

In order to address critical issues of safety, accessibility, insufficient living space, energy efficiency, and deteriorating structures, the monastic community has launched the New Horizons Renovation Project, which will break ground in November month and continue in self-contained phases over the next five years.  The nuns are facing a total cost of approximately $4 million. 

To launch this ambitious but imperative project, the Abbey is unveiling an exhibit entitled “New Horizons/Abbey Of Regina Laudis 2011.”   The exhibit will open on Sunday, October 30, at 1:30 pm, at the Abbey of Regina Laudis Monastic Art Shop, 273 Flanders Road in Bethlehem.

Art Shop hours are 10 until noon and 1:30 to 4 pm, Thursday through Tuesday. The exhibit will continue indefinitely, but the public is invited to meet members of the monastic community during the afternoon of October 30.

They hope that visitors to the Art Shop will learn more about the New Horizons project and that word of this project will spread.

The collection on view will include framed historical photos and current photos of the Abbey community, architectural drawings of the project, written material about the project, plus many things for sale: Abbey crafts (leather work, iron work from our blacksmith shop, etc), books, medals, CDs, DVDs, cards, hand-knit children’s sweaters, sachets (lavender, rose, cedar), vinegars, teas, honey, and more.

In addition, the Abbey will also host a tag sale Friday and Saturday, November 11-12, from 10 am to 3 pm each day. Rain dates, if needed, will be the following weekend, November 18-19.

For additional information about the exhibit or the tag sale contact Sister Angèle Arbib at 203-266-5132.

To help with fundraising initiatives, the public can contact Mother Olivia-Frances Arnold, OSB, at 203-947-3565 or motheroliviafrances@gmail.com.