Our Lady of Fatima rectory has been completed and now includes all the parish offices and classrooms and is our center for evangelization. It will be used for conferences, workshops, training programs, and numerous other parish activities. It also serves as a monastery, because it houses the members of the Canons Regular of Jesus the Lord.

Front view of rectory, January 2007; the Cathedral is to the right
Back view of rectory, January 2007
A room in the new rectory, January 2007
Kitchenette in the guest quarters which was installed by a volunteer from Las Vegas

Fr. Dan Maurer's description of the new rectory "Our Lady of Fatima Monastery".

 

   At least at the beginning the monastery will only take up about 3/4 of the top floor.  It needs that much space for all the common rooms:

	The large (by Russian standards) living room (called the chapter room) with balcony.
	An adjoining library, which may also be used as a TV room.
	Very small chapel.  Canons like to pray in the church itself so most of our liturgical prayers will be done at the church next-door, but we will still have a small chapel for the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, private meditation, and maybe for Lauds in the winter.
	Bishop's Suite.  This is the main guest room, reserved for the bishop whenever he is here but able to be used by any male guest at other times.

Small parlor, for private conversations if the chapter room is occupied.

7 bedrooms, some with individual bathroom, some share a bathroom between two bedrooms. Three of these are in the monastery section.  They will be for Fr. Myron, Fr. Sebastian and me. Four of them are on the other side of a locking door.  3 of those will be used for guests and volunteers, either male or female, and one will probably be used as their kitchenette/dining room and as the cleaning equipment storage room for the entire 3rd floor.  They have their own staircase entrance from the back yard.

Second Floor (street level):

Large dining room, which can also be used for a medium-large group meeting room.  It can comfortably seat around 30-35 people.

Kitchen;

	small utility room which also has 3 wash bowls for large groups of diners;
	food/kitchen storage room across the hall from kitchen.
	small dining room between kitchen and large dining room for the use of the religious community for breakfast and supper.  (For the main midday meal we will continue to eat with the parish staff in the large dining room.
	One public half bath and one public full bathroom.

one small receptionist room

8 office rooms to be split up between 10-12 parish staff members (including offices for Fr. Myron and Fr. Dan). Two of these room are big enough to be divided by partitions into 4-6 office cubicles.

First Floor: (basement on street side)

Large room for parish hall (was originally planned as a large 4-6  car garage for the monastery)

	Kitchenette for parish tucked into the corner of a wide corridor (no natural light)
	Storage room (no natural light)

Small furnace/utility (no natural light)

Two public bathrooms with showers (no natural light)

Medium large room for youth activities (no natural light)

Medium small room for Catholic Charities (no natural light)

Two nice, naturally lit rooms for Sunday School

One more small room for meetings/Sunday School (no natural light)

Atrium with main staircase and with green house capabilities (extending up three floors)

 

Even though it is big, when you try to get everyone in it will be overcrowded. What Fr. Dan likes about the house is the overall exterior style, and the spaciousness of the interior.  It is not just another modern Russian oblong box with no distinguishing feature.  It has a unique form, with the soaring skylight that will have a cross on the very top.  Most modern Russian buildings have cramped, dark corridors, but this building, with its three-story atrium gives an impression of light and warmth and openness.  There is also an elevator shaft, but for now we will have to wait for the generosity of a donor for that! in the meantime it has been walled up with sheet rock.

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Please consider donating for the upkeep of our new rectory/parish center building.

Thank you for your gift for the needs of the restoration of the faith in Russia. May God reward you for your generosity!

If you wish to make your donation online, please do so on our Donations page, then drop us an email at usoffice@vladmission.org to let us know it is for the purchase of a brick.

Current conditions of landscaping around Most Holy Mother of God Cathedral. We are in need of landscaping donations. A generous donor has already given us $4,000 to create a Garden of the Immaculata. Total estimated costs to improve the grounds around the Cathedral are $20,000 which will include restoration of the fence and cement work.