Mount Calvary Retreat House in Santa Barbara, a spiritual home to many members of the dioceses of California and Los Angeles, will be rebuilt after it was destroyed by the Tea Fire, which is still smoldering almost a week later.
 
The Order of the Holy Cross, which runs Mount Calvary, had a priory in Berkeley until earlier this year. Many of the brothers moved to Mount Calvary when the priory closed. The large Spanish-style house was situated in the Montecito community on a ridge 1,250 feet above Santa Barbara.
 
“We all feel kind of numbed, shocked, by the whole thing,” said Brother Nicholas Radelmiller, prior. About 25 guests who were staying at the retreat center left at 6:00 p.m. on Nov. 13, Br. Radelmiller said. Shortly afterwards, he said, “we looked out our refectory window and could see flames a ridge away. They were getting bigger and bigger. We did the dishes and decided we had better leave, so each of us packed a little suitcase and left.”
 
In an interview with the Episcopal News Service of the Diocese of Los Angeles, Nancy Bullock, program director of Mount Calvary, said the brothers and staff were able to leave with some of the hilltop retreat house’s valuable art treasures, as well as computer records, “but so much is lost.”
 
Many of the furnishings inside the 20,000-square-foot retreat house were priceless. “It’s in the millions of dollars. I just don’t know what to say,” Ms. Bullock said. “There was the beautiful gold altar, from 17th century South America, and the 1652 painting of Jesus healing the paralytic, a painting of our founder, as well as the brothers’ personal belongings.”
 
Firefighters were still struggling the following day to contain the blaze, which had destroyed more than 400 houses and reportedly claimed 13 lives.
 
The neighboring St. Mary’s Retreat House of the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity, to which the brothers have evacuated, was also briefly endangered by the fire. Penny Hurt, an assistant to Sister Abigail at St. Mary’s Retreat House, described the brothers as shaken by the ordeal, especially since they still have not been able to visit the site since the evacuation.
 
“We tried to get up there last night but the police weren’t letting anyone into that area,” she said. “All of that area is gone now, it’s terrible. We’re just so glad the sisters can offer them refuge.”
 
“It is a lovely gesture by St. Mary’s,” Ms. Bullock added.
 
Expressions of concern and offers of assistance have poured in to the diocese and to nearby parishes. Bishop J. Jon Bruno of Los Angeles has been in close telephone contact with clergy leaders in the Santa Barbara area and has asked the prayers of the diocesan community and the wider church for all those affected by the fire. The bishop and staff of the diocese have pledged their support in assisting the coordination of fire recovery efforts. Checks, payable to the treasurer of the diocese and earmarked “Montecito Fire Recovery,” may be sent to the Bishop Bruno’s office
 
At Santa Barbara’s Trinity Church, rector and co-dean the Very Rev. Mark Asman has met with staff and volunteers to assess the situation and crisis response. Dean Asman said that Trinity’s rectory and parish house were able to accommodate the brothers overnight Nov. 13.
 
Pacific Church News Service of the Diocese of California contributed to this report.
 
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