Little Portion Friary in Mount Sinai to close as expenses rise, membership falls

The Little Portion Friary in Mount Sinai, a local landmark that has attracted thousands of the faithful for retreats, Masses and prayer services since 1929, is closing its doors, the Franciscan Brothers who run it have announced.

The decision comes just over a year after Suffolk County and Town of Brookhaven officials paid $4.4 million to buy 44.3 acres owned by the brothers at the site to preserve it as open space. Some officials had hoped the purchase would allow the brothers to keep operating the friary on a remaining 20-acre parcel.

Four brothers, members of the Society of St. Francis and affiliated with the Episcopal Church and the Worldwide Anglican Communion, are stationed full time at the friary. The group has only 11 members in the United States, including four over age 80, and operates two other houses in Los Angeles and San Francisco, said Brother Jude Hill, head of the group in the United States. There are 138 members worldwide.

Money went to health care

In an interview, Brother Jude said refurbishing the friary to bring it up to code as a retreat house would have cost an estimated $3.4 million, and that most of the money from last year's land sale was put into a trust fund to pay for aging members' health care.

He said the cost -- and the group's shrinking ranks -- led to the decision to close the friary and consolidate operations in California.

"This is the hardest decision that we, as a province, have ever had to make," he said, adding that the group studied the matter for five years. "It was not a quick decision. It was one we were forced into, like many other religious communities."

Still, Brother Jude sees a measure of hope in the consolidation. Some prospective new members say they want to work with the urban poor and homeless in California.

"Hopefully, it will be a new beginning for the community," he said. "We look at it as a challenge: God is calling us to something new."

The Franciscan brothers plan to retain a cemetery on the Mount Sinai property and the road accessing it, Brother Jude wrote on the group's website. He said the sale process is expected "to take some time."

Legis. Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) said Little Portion Friary's closing "will be a huge loss to the community."

"It's a beautiful place," Anker said. "It's a historical presence in our community. It really is sacred ground."

The friary gained fame locally for a number of things, including the 90 loaves of bread the brothers bake most Fridays starting at 5:30 a.m. and sell to the public. It works on the honor system -- people leave their offerings in a can in the bakery and take their loaf.

Popular outdoor maze

The center also has a popular labyrinth -- a circular outdoor maze people walk through as they pray and meditate -- and holds frequent workshops on spirituality, open to all.

At one point, Brother Clark Berge, the group's international head who now lives part time at Little Portion, became involved in the struggle of Latino immigrants in Farmingville who were fighting against discrimination and hate crimes.

"People were in awe of their presence," Anker said, referring both to what the brothers wear -- sandals, brown robes and rope belts -- as well as their words and deeds. "They're going to leave a void."

Some local officials said they were surprised by the group's decision. "I'm disappointed," Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner said. "This comes as a complete surprise. It was our understanding this was going to provide them with, obviously, almost $4.5 million to straighten out whatever financial problems that they were having."

Bonner and other officials said the county and town purchased the land because it is environmentally sensitive and discharges more than 25 million gallons of water annually into the aquifer and nearby Mount Sinai Harbor.

Anker said she will move to have Suffolk County acquire the remaining land as protected open space. "I'm sure my constituents would rather see open space than a McMansion," she said.

It is the second well-known spiritual center on Long Island to close in recent years.

The St. Ignatius Retreat House in Nassau County's North Hills, run by the Jesuit order of Roman Catholic priests, was demolished last December after it was sold to a housing developer. That 87-room Tudor-Elizabethan mansion was completed in 1920 by a Catholic couple, Nicholas and Genevieve Brady, who were major philanthropists.