Ecclesia Docens Institute is in the business of education and striving to sanctify. While that can be done to some extent online via the app and through seminars given in various locations here and there (when and where our offers are accepted—and if our supporting priests who are stationed elsewhere have permission from their superiors to go), there is a great deal more, one might even say endlessly more, that can be accomplished with a focused, ecclesiastical team presiding at a central, physical location, especially one equipped and located like LaSalle Retreat Center, built in 1886 and maintained until the present day.  

 

The physical location allows for the reliable and predictable preaching of retreats (EDI wants to preach various types of new retreats), seminars, and highly sought-after Couple's Getaways that have already been proven to be hugely successful. Family camps are also a popular request that isn't being fulfilled. EDI is happy to provide the solution. There are also many aspects of this particular location that cannot help but contribute to making our retreats and seminars more powerful and efficacious right from the start. LaSalle already offers many relevant strengths, such as beautiful outdoor stations of the cross, multiple religious grottos—some of which are over a century old and have altars for celebrating Mass, Catholic symbolism built directly within the architecture itself, and a Catholic cemetery where past Christan Brothers of the Center are buried. Being a sort of historical religious landmark, LaSalle offers the sense of old Catholic traditions that can help one feel safe and meditate more easily. 

 

Last, but certainly not least, having our own location would allow us to provide a sanctuary for suffering priests. LaSalle, in particular, certainly gives us room to fulfill this mission. This is an apostolate very dear to our hearts. Sometimes priests need to get away from the daily grind for a minute—just like the rest of us. Without a reliable option to truly do so today, many are experiencing extreme discouragement and are on the verge of burnout with no hope for relief. We cannot afford to lose our priests to something that could be so easily avoided! Located on the outskirts of St. Louis, LaSalle Retreat Center offers numerous opportunities for all kinds of different people that can help one eliminate, or at least very greatly alleviate, pain and stress, and enable them to confidently reclaim their mental, emotional, and spiritual balance. 

 

Be assured that even without a location, we can still make a great difference. However, with a location, especially one enriched like LaSalle, our potential to make a difference, both spiritually and financially, multiplies tenfold, if not more. In this scenario, having more time to devote towards helping our priests, expanding the app for the Faithful, and providing different events, we predict being able to become completely self-sufficient well within 2 years' time at which we would like to initiate multiple charities for both clergy and faithful alike. Also, St. John Baptiste de la Salle is the patron saint of teachers. Since EDI's primary aim is to support our most precious teachers of all, those teachers of Truth Itself, this place holds more relevance for us than any other place we've found.