May 13, 2022: Announcing the creation of Friends of the Angels. When we learned that the Dominican Order might no longer be able to maintain the Monastery of the Angeles in Hollywood, and that the land might be sold for private use or redevelopment, we came together to find a way to keep this special place intact and accessible to the community. Please visit the Friends of the Angels website to learn about how the Monastery of the Angels can be preserved as a sacred space, and how you can be a part of its future. (In June 2022, a press release confirmed that the Monastery of the Angels has been suppressed by the Holy See, and no longer exists On August 14, 2022, we found the chapel locked in the middle of a Sunday afternoon and made this video.)
December 28, 2021: This post appeared in a slightly different form in our newsletter.
We were approached months ago by good friends of the cloistered Dominican nuns who live at The Monastery of the Angels with whispered worries that after being hard hit by the pandemic, the nearly 100-year-old community was about to be shuttered and the surviving, aging nuns shipped off to other states or nursing homes.
These friends knew of our involvement in historic preservation battles—and certainly, the 1947 campus by master architect Wallace Neff is worthy of preservation. But they also hoped we might have ideas about keeping the monastery in Hollywood and the nuns together. Could we help? As trained medievalists who care about community, Hollywood history and vulnerable old people, how could we not at least try?
So we’ve been talking with experts and advocates, learning the governing structure of Catholic religious orders, how Canon Law dictates the fate of the people and the property under its control, that recent U.S. Federal law prohibits landmarking places owned by religious groups, and the difference between the Supression (closure) of a monastery and any subsequent sale of its real property.
Thanks to the friends of the Dominican sisters, a petition is circulating demonstrating support for them remaining in Hollywood. We signed, and hope you will, too.
Although we’re not Catholic, we’re sweet on the monastery. Years ago, we brought a tour group to hear the nuns sing in the chapel, and to shop for their famous pumpkin bread and other delights.
We’re fascinated by the wide variety of old religious sites dotting Beachwood Canyon, from the Hindu ashram Vedanta to the Theosophical commune Krotona, from Monastery of the Angels to the Protection of the Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church. Together, they reflect back some of the luminous light of possibility that drew seekers to Hollywood when it was just a sleepy country village on the edge of the city.
These seekers looked forward and backward: at Krotona they developed vegetarian recipes and studied Esperanto dreaming that a single world language could bring world peace; at the Monastery, modern American women chose a medieval lifestyle behind iron grates. Although the Krotonan Theosophists soon moved on to Ojai, they left esoteric apartments behind. The nuns, however, stayed put in Hollywood and held fast to their ancient traditions.
In the Los Angeles Times, spirituality reporter Deborah Netburn has a wonderful story (archive link) that describes the monastery’s possible closure, some of the people who are advocating for it, and what could happen next. We’re grateful that the worried whispers have reached the press, and that we were able to suggest a solution based on what we’ve learned:
After meeting with canonical law experts Thursday, Schave and Cooper said there may not be much the community can do to keep the remaining Dominican nuns from leaving the monastery. However, they do see a path forward. “It is our sincere hope that Archbishop Gómez can be empowered to invite another contemplative community to make a home at the Monastery of the Angels, so that there can continue to be a spiritual Catholic presence in the Hollywood Hills,” Schave said.
Although the Dominican leadership told the Times that the decision had already been made, we understand they have yet to hold a final vote on shutting down the monastery, but that it will happen very soon. This decision will be made now not in darkness and obscurity, but with the awareness that the whole world is watching. A little sunlight can never hurt. And neither can a prayer or two. We’ll let you know what happens, and update the story with press clips and other news below.
Press clips:
Los Angeles Times (12/3/2021): Neighbors fear Hollywood’s hidden convent is about to go up for sale.
Angelus (12/4/2021): As nuns depart, locals hope to keep iconic Hollywood monastery open.
Religion News (12/10/2021): Residents fear sale of Monastery of the Angels, beloved Hollywood home to cloistered nuns (story syndicated in the Washington Post).
ABC / Associated Press (12/11/2021): Pope cites new book on nun abuse in warning to superiors – Pope Francis is drawing attention to a problem that the Vatican has long sought to downplay: the abuses of power by mother superiors against nuns who have little recourse but to obey.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany (12/16/2021): Stadt ohne Engel Aufregung in Hollywood: Das fast 100 Jahre alte Kloster “Monastery of the Angels” soll geschlossen werden. (Translation here.)
Fox 11 (12/21/2021): This is a sweet local news piece about late councilman Tom LaBonge’s family and friends giving away the nuns’ pumpkin bread in his memory, but they failed to mention the threat that Monastery of the Angels may be closing. Is that what Tom would want?
Vocation Blog (6/22/2022): A press release confirms that The Monastery of the Angels no longer exists. “The Dominican Nuns of the Monastery of the Angels in Los Angeles, CA, have announced that the Holy See officially approved the suppression of their monastery, and the sisters’ subsequent request to merge with the Dominican Nuns at Corpus Christi Monastery, Menlo Park, CA.”
Dominican Friars (3/9/2023): An extraordinary press release announces that the Western Dominican Province and the North American Association of Dominican Monasteries have partnered to launch a public process seeking future options for the restoration and use of the Monastery of the Angels. An RFP will be available on April 2, 2023. We seem to be briefly referenced in the announcement: “Their chapel and grounds are a place of prayer and refuge for the neighborhood, and their bread and candy business is a staple of Hollywood tours.” As trained medievalists, preservationists and Angelenos, we are honored to play a role in what as far as we know is the first RFP ever issued for the development of a Dominican monastery! We know that our UC Santa Cruz art history professor Jasper Rose is proud of us.
Religion News Service (3/10/2023): Alejandra Molina reports on the forthcoming RFP, with a hopeful closing quote from our Friends of the Angels colleague Brody Hale: “I have not seen anything quite like this for a former monastery property. This is obviously far better than that. I hope they will choose an option that will allow the monastery to remain a Catholic sacred space.”
Los Angeles Times (3/18/2023): In a front page California Section feature, Deborah Netburn writes, “Now, in what some say is a modern miracle, it appears the Monastery of the Angels may be preserved after all.” Of our plan for Friends of the Angels to answer the Dominicans’ RFP, Kim Cooper says “Whenever we take people on that property, we see how they slow down and have peace and feel welcome. L.A. is a giant pool and the water is cold and deep. There are a few reefs to land on, and the Monastery of the Angels is one of them.” And Richard Schave adds, “Hollywood was founded as a city of gardens and churches. Now we have an opportunity to go back to the roots of Hollywood.”