A Message from Fr. Philip, Vice-President of Mission Advancement:

When I was twenty years old and a summer employee of Marquette Cement in Oglesby, one of my fellow workers who knew I was hoping to join the monastery asked how much money I would make as a monk. I told him I wouldn’t receive any salary. He thought that was pretty terrible and said I was nuts! I responded rather naively, “But I won’t have to worry about money!”

For most of my monastic life that was true, I didn’t have to worry about money. When I became Superintendent, I discovered while faith is the foundation of my life, I could do a whole lot to improve the Academy with more money! I am grateful to Fr. Ronald and the entire development staff who worked so hard to raise funds, enabling us to maintain a quality educational program in the Academy, and to support the various works of the Abbey.

I have now been entrusted with the mission of helping to raise funds to support the good work of the Academy and Abbey. I hope all of you understand how crucial your support is in helping us to continue our various missions. Now I am asking you to make an investment in our future. I can’t think of two more important works than preparing teenagers to enter the world with a solid educational and faith background and spreading the gospel by our way of life and preaching.

When you were a student at St. Bede, the monastic community paid a significant percentage of the cost of your education, plus many alumni supported you with their gifts. I now ask you to return the favor by making an investment in our missions of education and of spreading the gospel. Only with your significant help can we continue our good works.

Please continue to support us, and know that God not only loves a cheerful giver, he promises to richly bless those who give. Thank you for all you’ve done and let us continue to work together to help St. Bede grow and prosper. When you see the smiling faces of our students pictured on this site, and read about their success, know that you helped make this possible. May God bless you and all those you love.