Nuns Building Citadels and Civilization
(with the Help of Bitcoin)
An observer of modern culture paying even the slightest attention might aptly compare today’s world to the sixth and seventh centuries in the Roman Empire. This was a period of cultural decline, where barbarian invasions destroyed cities, libraries, laws, and even governments. During this time, it was medieval monastics, such as St. Benedict, who preserved and built up Western Civilization. The monks did this by preserving ancient texts, saving agriculture in Europe, and preaching the Gospel.
Today, it is the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, a monastic order of nuns that follow the Rule of St. Benedict, who are doing their part to build up a civilization in the midst of cultural rot. And they are doing it with the help of bitcoin. These traditional Catholic nuns buy, receive, and hold bitcoin in cold storage on behalf of their monastery. Founded by Sr. Wilhelmina Lancaster in 1995, they survive on self-sufficiency and financial support from around the world. Home to sisters from native lands as diverse as Mexico, England, Germany, the Netherlands, and Lithuania, you could argue that bitcoin is their ideal money.
In the fall of 2022 I had the unique opportunity to make a pilgrimage to the monastery in Gower, MO and record a podcast about the experience. While traveling through the hills north of Kansas City, I wondered, what could possibly be the connection these nuns have to bitcoin? Fr. Matthew Bartulica, Chaplain of the monastery, put it to me this way:
The monastic life is probably the greatest example of low time preference! It’s all about passing on the traditions to future generations… This also has a huge impact on the culture, because it’s not all about satisfying one’s immediate desires, but building a better future. Today’s world doesn’t offer much hope because nothing is valued, partially because the money is broken, just like it was in Ancient Rome. The Benedictines helped rebuild civilization 1500 years ago and I believe that the life of the Abbey is like a citadel, a popular term with bitcoiners, that will help to rebuild civilization in the 21st century.
Fr. Bartulica is the orange-pilled, Latin mass Catholic priest at the monastery. He ably references Saifedean Ammous, author of “The Bitcoin Standard” on issues such as fiat architecture and fiat food. I was introduced to the priest by a mutual friend; “you’re a Catholic who is into bitcoin… you’ve GOT to meet this priest!.”
It was Fr. Bartulica who set the sisters up with hardware wallets and taught them how to send, receive, and get on the path toward financial sovereignty. He is on a mission to convert local Catholic parishes to a bitcoin standard. So far, the Benedictines of Mary have been most ready and able.
And you can see some parallels to the way these nuns live and the bitcoin ethos. The Sisters walk the walk by dedicating their lives to the long term, even the eternal. Following the model of ora et labora (“work and pray”), they demonstrate low time preference by praying eight times a day and raising their own cattle, chickens, and produce. These nuns even release award-winning and soul-lifting chant and hymn music.
Mother Abbess Cecilia is the young and vibrant abbess of the monastery, and says it this way:
What we are doing is building up civilization. We are hanging onto the traditions of the Church and the traditions that built up western culture. We are stable, we have order, we know what we're supposed to do and we do it every day. We do it with love, with diligence.
One thing I was struck by immediately when visiting the monastery is the brand new awe-inspiring church building that dominates the grounds. My diminished expectations had prepared me to drive up to a modern utilitarian building, as (disappointingly) can be expected from any average suburban church today. Instead, the sisters built an architecturally beautiful structure that includes hand painted murals, Italian marble, vaulted ceilings, and stained-glass windows.
This was possible thanks to generous bitcoin donations made in 2017. These donations allowed the Benedictines to build a Church for the ages without the burden of debt financing. Mother Cecelia described to me her first encounter with bitcoin in 2017 this way:
They (their bitcoin benefactors) knew we had a need to build the Church and, boy, did that help us! I mean, wow, what a blessing. Without it, I don't know if we'd still be paying off a loan on this beautiful building.
So despite the reputation that bitcoiners have as “miserly hoarders,” generosity shone through. The sisters were able to use bitcoin to procure resources for the purpose of building their Church.
We have had such beautiful success with several very large bitcoin donations to help build this house of prayer. If I were someone who had means, I would want to assist in making tangible goods, not something that is slapped up to last for 50 years… Something that's going to last, something that will be passed down from generation to generation, to last a thousand years, this beautiful monument to God's glory.
- Mother Cecilia
At first glance, it may seem incongruous to see traditional Catholic nuns embracing bitcoin, (i.e. nuns who wear the full habit), but technology has assisted them in seeing significant growth in their order of religious sisters.
Many young women have discovered the Benedictines of Mary by searching for Catholic (particularly traditional latin mass) monasteries online. The internet, and now the bitcoin network, have also made it possible for generous benefactors around the world to easily play a role in building a monastery for the ages. Their music has now been streamed over 3.5 million times on platforms such as spotify. The Sisters’ prudent embrace of technology has benefited the growth of the order.
We may look it, but we are certainly NOT Amish.. To say that the technology is somehow evil in and of itself, no, that's not accurate at all. Can it be used for evil means? Of course it can. But regarding the use of bitcoin, we understand how fragile the dollar is.
- Mother Cecilia
My favorite part of the trip, beyond the spiritual benefits, was witnessing the number of things the nuns do to prepare their own food. The sisters treated me to a lunch of vegetable beef soup, homemade rolls, and butter, all produced on site. The conversation was over ideas on honest money, how the Church could benefit by adopting bitcoin, and the health benefits of raw milk.
Who knows how to farm anymore? This is one thing we do and are hopefully getting better at every year, just self sustaining. So we can work closely with the ground, the soil, and God's creation, and produce our own food right here. It's really a beautiful thing.
- Mother Cecilia
While admittedly foreign to many of us living in the clown world (including myself), the desire to join traditional religious life is growing. The Benedictine sisters currently host over 150 visiting women from around the world every year to discern the process of joining their order. Out of these women, around 10 will take permanent vows. As a result, their space is bursting at the seams and plans are in the works for another new monastery to be constructed in southern Missouri.
(The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles accept BTC donations on their website)
It may be the case that the importance of traditional religious organizations, such as the Benedictines of Mary, adopting bitcoin will become more essential as the creeds they profess grow more retrograde in the eyes of mainstream wokeism. The Benedictines of Mary are familiar with their unpopularity in the eyes of our conformist culture and have even been targeted with shootings in recent years. One can imagine this sort of sentiment carrying over to use of the traditional financial system, as in the Canadian truckers situation in early 2022, even for a group of unassuming religious sisters.
While churches and monasteries exist to stand as a refuge against a declining culture, their own finances are still at the whim of the traditional banking system. The permissionless nature of bitcoin ensures that these spiritual citadels, should they choose to adopt it, can be immune to financial censors while simultaneously interacting with the global monetary network.