Recent letter to Benefactors…

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

I write to you today with a heart filled with gratitude and a renewed plea for your prayers and support.  It is not too bold to say that if it hadn't been for your support over the last few months, Sanctus Ranch might not still be here.  Our Lord is finding a way in the midst of these great trials.

I have seen the Lord do things for me, my family, and our organization that I didn’t think would be possible.  He sent John-Henry Westen of LifeSite News to share our story with the world.  He inspired hundreds of people to make financial gifts that have sustained us.  He has sent workers in the vineyards to lend a hand. 

In the coming weeks we are blessed to be having Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, Jesse Romero, Jason Jones and others visiting Sanctus Ranch and sharing words of encouragement and inspiration for the community that gathers here to grow in holiness and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Sanctus Ranch has also been blessed with visits from many travelers around the nation.  We have had pop-in visits from locals, new friends from New Jersey, Michigan, Colorado, and more.  We have been blessed by visiting priests and a bishop who have encouraged us and found rest and refuge here.  We have seen the boldness of people who are being inspired by Our Lady to prepare their hearts for the coming tribulations.

I can tell you that I have no doubt that the Lord is doing something GREAT here!  In the eleventh hour, He has provided.

For years I have told anyone that would listen to me that, especially as laymen, our job is to use all the gifts and talents the Lord has individually bestowed upon us to pursue the mission He has given us.  Then, we need to let Him bless it or not.

Personally, I have been blessed with big vision, financial acumen, design and construction skills, public speaking, minor technical and graphic abilities, and the joy of HARD WORK.  Over the past few years, I have also been blessed with an ever-increasing faith.  A faith that has allowed abandonment of security and stability in the things of this world.  

I have been abundantly blessed with a wife and children that have also been showered with amazing gifts and talents – a family that seeks the Lord. (Josh 24:15) 

Every person reading this letter has huge gifts and talents that the Lord has given specifically to you.  Some of you are prayer warriors.  Some have talents and specific skill sets.  Some have been abundantly blessed financially.  Some of you have incredible business acumen. Some have been blessed with artistic, creative or teaching gifts. Some, of the most blessed, have been granted a heart of resolve and courage.

Whatever gifts or talents we possess, we will be required to provide an account for them.  We must be like the servant that gave the master an increase in his generosity upon his return. We are told by Jesus in the "Parable of the Talents", in Matthew 25:14–30, of a master who was leaving his house to travel, and, before leaving, entrusted his property to his servants. According to the abilities of each man, one servant received five talents, the second had received two, and the third received only one. The first and second used their talents and doubled the masters' trust in them.  However, the servant given one talent, thinking with fear, buried the talent for “protection”. We all know how this went for the last servant.  As for me, I want to hear “well done, good and faithful servant” from my Master!

Working together, we can each use our talents, “on loan from God” as Rush Limbaugh used to say, for the building up of the Kingdom.  We can use these talents for the restoration of Christian Culture.  A restoration that is sorely needed.

We live in a fallen culture of paganism, greed, distorted love and evil.  Our world, country and especially our Church are in need of restoration to Jesus Christ.  Like the servant given only one talent by the master, we can easily fall into fear and think, there is nothing we can do.  We do not have enough talents or gifts to truly make a difference.  I am not a political leader, what can I do? I am not a Priest, Bishop, or the Pope, what can I do?  However, we should be reminded that “do not be afraid” is repeated throughout God’s word.

If Jesus has told us in Luke 12:32, “Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom”, then we are commanded by our Lord not to fear.  If He is placing on our heart the call to restore Christian Culture, to defend the traditions of our faith, to stand firm in the face of cancellations by weak men in lofty positions, to focus on the Kingdom (Matt 6:33), then we should be getting about the Father’s business…TODAY!

Our culture has slipped into one in which many people like to opine, complain, get angry, and denigrate others.  However, much of this is just wasted emotion and talk.  If we are to restore Christian Culture in our world today, it will take a different approach.  Our answer is found again in scripture.  In Luke 9:62, Jesus tells us to put our Hand to the Plow and not look back.

At Sanctus Ranch, our hand is on the plow.  We are marching forward.  We have abandoned security, comfort, and luke-warm actions.  In the midst of persecution, the Christian should more easily hear the will of God.  The faithful are often able to drown out the noise of this world and focus more on the mission the Lord has called them to.  

As an organization of laymen, we are charged with the responsibility of building our domestic church.  That domestic church includes our spouses, children, grandchildren, and our community at large.  Today more than ever, we need a strong community to weather the onslaught of the fallen culture.  We need places to gather in worship of our Lord, places where we can gather for enrichment and encouragement for the journey, places where we can educate the next generation, places where we can slow down and see the beauty of God and all He has created.  

We must reclaim what has been stolen from us.  We must invest our time, talent and treasure to reclaim Christian fellowship.  We must seek Restoration, Education and Formation that is focused unapologetically on the Kingdom.  We must reclaim our culture for Christ!

Recently the Lord has continued to reveal His plan for this place.  A plan of restoration of Christian Culture.  A restoration that focuses on the famous phrase attributed to St. Benedict, “Ora et Labora”.  We are convinced that we are being called more fully into an ethos of prayer and work.

To that end, we are embracing a monastic leaning attitude for our organization.  We look to be set apart, we desire to be a place focused on knowing the truth, desiring the good, and loving the beautiful.

The Mission of our non-profit organization, Spiritual Retreat Foundation, is “Rooted in the Catholic faith, we provide world-class retreat facilities and programs that allow people to ‘retreat from the world’ and deepen their relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.” Our main programs of Sanctus Ranch and Lumen Christi Academy are founded with the goal of giving our Lord our best.  He deserves the best places of worship and facilities, the best education that we can offer, the best formation of His people.  Our Lord Jesus Christ should get our very best and we should be wholly focused on bringing ourselves and others into a deeper relationship with Him and His Church. 

At Sanctus Ranch, we have embraced daily worship including the praying of the Monastic office of Prime and Vespers, Holy Mass, and Adoration when available, praying of the noon Angelus and are committed to seeking the intercession of Our Lady in the Holy Rosary.  We have also embraced the beauty of animals and gardening.  We have seen firsthand how the birth of a newborn lamb can help a visitor to retreat from the chaos of the world, and marvel in the wonder of our Creator.

This place, this Sanctus Ranch, this Holy Ranch, is striving to embrace a Benedictine way of life in the 21st century. We are rebuilding a Christian Culture.  By the grace of God we are moving forward.

This endeavor requires more than just ambition and resolve.  It requires a community of people who can get behind this mission.  A group of people, following the prompting of the Lord, that come together in little and BIG ways to make things happen.  People who are determined to give our Master a return on the gifts and talents He has entrusted to our care.

In the coming months, we will continue the completion of the Sacred Heart Chapel, our priest resident cabins, our Rosary Walk and many other projects.  We are also coming to the completion of our inaugural Lumen Christi Academy school year.  We will be hiring more teachers for the coming academic year.  We will be hosting many retreats, conferences, and gatherings to enrich the faith journey of our community.

To make this vision a reality, we need your help!  We need your prayers.  We seek your counsel.  We invite your ideas.  We are in desperate need of your financial support.

If you want to see Sanctus Ranch continue, if you want to promote the unapologetically Catholic formation and education of Lumen Christi Academy, if you want to help in restoring Christian Culture in our fallen world, I am asking for your help.

We are in need of raising $150,000 for immediate needs for the Ranch.  This will allow us to move forward in the mission in the coming months and prepare for the renewed vision the Lord has given us.  

This goal could be accomplished with 1,128 people who could donate an additional $133.  It could be raised by 450 people donating $333.  It could be raised by 145 people donating $1,033.  It could be raised by 12 people donating $12,533. If the Lord is placing the support of Sanctus Ranch on your heart, I ask you to pray about how you could help us financially.  We are seeking to raise this monetary goal prior to the Feast of Mary Help of Christians, on May 24th.

Know that we pray daily for our benefactors and the friends of Sanctus Ranch.  Your support has sustained us in our hour of need and your support will help us follow the prompting of the Lord to pursue the restoration of Christian Culture here for years to come.

“Ora et Labora” will be our guide.  We will be a place of devoted prayer and a place of dedicated work.  With our Lord's help, the utilization of our gifts and talents, the support of our friends and benefactors, we will move forward in this mission knowing that if God is for us, who can stand against us! (Rom. 8:31)

Pax Christi,

Dan Sevigny

Co-founder & Executive Director, Sanctus Ranch

President, Lumen Christi Academy

Chairman of the Board, Spiritual Retreat Foundation