MONTECITO, CALIF. — Brother Nicholas Radelmiller tolled the bell amid the ruins of the Mt. Calvary Monastery, but no worshipers were there to hear it.
Down the mountainside, workers revved up their chain saws as homeowners burned out by November's devastating Santa Barbara wildfires prepared to rebuild. But at the monastery on a promontory 1,250 feet above the sea, acres of rubble awaited the bulldozers that are to arrive this week.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 33 words Type of Material: Correction
Burned monastery: A Jan. 14 article and headline in the California section on Mt. Calvary Monastery said the fire-ravaged monastery was in Montecito. It is in unincorporated Santa Barbara County, northwest of Montecito.
The fire that swept through on the night of Nov. 13 melted the chalices used for prayer. It incinerated the flowing white habits worn at services by the seven Episcopal monks who lived there. It roared through the kitchen that fed as many as 35 guests, the long dining room that looked out over the canyons, the garden with its stonework and planted labyrinth, the deck where over the years thousands of seekers gazed upon mountains and into themselves.
Whether the tiny Order of the Holy Cross -- with only about 50 monks worldwide -- will rebuild is unknown. The monks of Montecito are in the same uncomfortable limbo as many a California homeowner whose dreams have been terminated by natural disaster. Whether insurance and donations would cover the cost of construction is an open question -- as is the prudence of rebuilding in a spot that was so dramatically proved vulnerable to wildfire.
Their 25-acre haven consists mostly of steep slopes that would be difficult to build on. It's high above one of the priciest communities in America -- "We look down our noses at Montecito," joked Brother Nicholas, the monastery's prior -- but the monks say they don't know its value because an appraisal has not been completed.
The order is also grappling with its future. Monasteries are not a growth industry, even in beautiful spots with drop-dead views.
"We're considering the age of members of the order," said Brother Nicholas, a 69-year-old former parish priest. "Younger men are coming in, but not at the rate they once did."
Leaders of the 125-year-old order met in Santa Barbara this week to weigh their next step. A decision will not be made until June, when a larger conclave gathers from the order's other monasteries, in West Park, N.Y.; Grahamstown, South Africa; and Toronto.
What is clear is the sense of loss that extends far beyond Episcopalian monastics, who opened Mt. Calvary to overnight visitors when it was established in 1947.
