Dear Members and Friends,

We are entering a very exciting phase in the history of the Order of the Holy Cross and Opus Angelorum in the United States. Having purchased a picturesque property in the rolling foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, in the diocese of Steubenville, we are now embarking on a major development campaign which includes: the construction of

a monastery, convent, OA center and a Romanesque chapel.

The Government of the Order of the Holy Cross in Rome has designated St. Gabriel as the patron saint of the new monastery and the chapel will be dedicated to the Mystery of the Annunciation. This will be the national center of the Order and Work of the Holy Angels.

The United States needs the angels! Yes, we need the angels first of all for our own personal sanctification. Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “[the angels] bring God to men, they open heaven and thus open earth.… The angels speak to man of what constitutes his true being, of what in his life is so often concealed and buried. They bring him back to himself, touching him on God’s behalf” (Homily, Sept. 29, 2007). We also need to call on the angels to help us in our efforts to support our priests, and to build up a holy priesthood in the Church.

Further, we need the angels in the major ethical and political battles in which we are embroiled here and now in America. The angels are hidden, but powerful allies—like a “secret weapon”—in the fight for the right to life, and in the upholding of the freedoms and moral standards upon which this country was built.

But we need your help! This project belongs not only to the Brothers and Sisters of the Holy Cross, but also to you and the whole family of the Opus Angelorum in the States—this is our Work, for the good of the Church and our country. For this reason, I am calling on all our friends and members and inviting all of you for your financial support! Any donation you can contribute will be a building stone of St. Gabriel Monastery.

We remember all of you in our daily prayers. Our Lady of the Annunciation, St. Joseph, the holy “house father” in the Opus Angelorum, and of course, the holy angels themselves are our special friends and helpers in this great endeavor for the good of the Church and our country.

May God reward you all for your faithful support. The Order and the Sisters keep you daily in prayer, and remember you in the Holy Sacrifice!

Yours sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Wolfgang Seitz, ORC
Order of Canons Regular of the Holy Cross
National Director of Opus Angelorum