Thank you, generous benefactors,

the Church Roof is complete.  Roofing continues on the other building areas. The Structure continues toward completion,

paving the way for Phase II. 

July 2026

For your interest the wall and roof structure components are described below.

Deo Gratias!

November 2026

November 2026

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Construction Materials

WALLS

The earthquake-resistant reinforced concrete structures are completed with infill walls made of approximately 51-centimeter-thick brick blocks, constructed using a TRIS T2D system that includes a 12-centimeter-thick intermediate layer of thermal insulation.

ROOF

The church roof is complete. After the double framework of wooden beams, the roofs are then covered with tongue-and-groove boards, Neopor panels, and OSB for winter thermal insulation and ventilation;

The upper section is finished with insulation sheathing and crisscrossing battens for laying the roof tiles. Bird-proof grilles are installed at the roof ridge and along the eaves to ensure ventilation. As we mentioned, the church roof is now complete. Work is now nearing completion on the roof of the section housing the nuns’ apartments.

The church’s apse dome, made of reinforced concrete, is currently under construction. It is a complex structural and architectural project that requires rigorous planning, from the geometric carpentry to the pouring and curing of the concrete.

Since it is a curved shape (a quarter sphere), the structure is subjected primarily to compression (membrane stresses) and tension along the lower parallels (base ring). The geometric layout and formwork (the carpentry) is the most artisanal and delicate phase. A “mold” (formwork) must be created to support the weight of the fresh concrete; for this purpose, a temporary support structure (the formwork) is built (using wood or metal tubing) that perfectly follows the internal curvature of the apse.

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Go to Photos through July

 

What is a Stella Matutina Camp?

“Stella Matutina” — the Morning Star — is one of the oldest and richest Marian titles, one we use in the Litany of Loreto.

This phrase, drawn from Ecclesiasticus, is applied to Our Lady as the one who appears just before the dawn: visible while it is still dark, heralding a light greater than herself, and giving hope and direction to those still traveling in the night.

The spiritual image

  • She precedes, she does not replace. The morning star is not the sun. Mary’s whole significance, in this title, is that she points beyond herself to Christ, the “Sun of Justice” (Malachi 4:2). A camp is Marian in method, but ordered entirely to Christ as the end.

  • She shines in darkness. The morning star is seen before the light comes, when things are still obscure. Mary announced Christ’s coming before it was fully manifest — and by her ongoing role guiding souls through life to heaven above.

  • She gives hope to those still journeying. Sailors and travelers used the morning star to know dawn was near even while surrounded by night. If things may be dark now, the light is coming, and Mary, steadfast with love and hope, leads us to the light.

  • Smallness and humility. Unlike the sun, the morning star is faint — a small, quiet sign rather than an overwhelming one. Through Mary, children and youth are naturally drawn to littleness, hiddenness, and quiet fidelity to virtue in a spirit of love, grace, joy, and fraternal charity.

The camp’s spirit

  • Formation ordered to Christ through Mary — devotions, recreations, and daily life at camp through Mary point to the Sun she precedes.

  • Our Hope and joy living in the world — through our faith, hope and joy, we carry our examples into the world the way the morning star gives courage to travelers still in night.

  • Rising early — morning and night prayers, early Mass,  Angelus, rosary, a rhythm of life tuned to the natural day as a symbol of the spiritual one.

  • Quiet, humble witness — the star is small and precedes something greater, and so we teach humility and fidelity to virtue preparing the way through Our Lady to Our Lord.

  • Mary as model and guide — our model of virtue and formation of character cultivating purity; our guide to the light, to the Most Sacred Heart; to God Almighty, author of Heaven and Earth.  Deo Gratias!

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Deo Gratias!

The Consoling Sister
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Sacred Heart of Jesus

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