CARMEL MEN'S WORK DAY
FROM: FRI NIGHT - March 28th, 2025 (Optional carpooling from Pittsburgh area to near Gettysburg)
TO: SAT NIGHT - March 29th, 2025 (Arrival back home)
DURATION: Friday Night & Saturday Day (Optional Sunday)
WHO: Men interested in doing manual labor for God
WHY: Carmelite nuns need our help to build their medieval monastery so they can pray for us
COST: Hotel + Lunch
LOCATION: 327 Water St., Fairfield, PA
FROM: FRI NIGHT - March 28th, 2025 (Optional carpooling from Pittsburgh area to near Gettysburg)
TO: SAT NIGHT - March 29th, 2025 (Arrival back home)
DURATION: Friday Night & Saturday Day (Optional Sunday)
WHO: Men interested in doing manual labor for God
WHY: Carmelite nuns need our help to build their medieval monastery so they can pray for us
COST: Hotel + Lunch
LOCATION: 327 Water St., Fairfield, PA
EVENT OVERVIEW
Join us for a weekend of manual work, Mass, and fellowship as we volunteer to help the Carmelite nuns build their new convent. We’ll depart Friday evening and arrive around 10:00 PM, then check into shared hotel rooms in Gettysburg (4–6 per room). Saturday begins with free hotel breakfast around 7:00 AM, followed by Latin Mass at the Carmel, just 15 minutes away.
Work begins after Mass, with a pizza lunch break, and continues until around 5:00 PM. Anyone staying a second night will return to Gettysburg for showers, dinner, and fellowship—beers, cigars, restaurants, and sightseeing. On Sunday, we will wake around 8:00 AM and head back to the Carmel for High Mass, followed by an optional brunch in town before packing up and heading home. The total cost is $70, which covers one night at the hotel, one continental breakfast, and Saturday’s pizza lunch. For $120, you can extend your stay for a second night at the hotel, enjoy another continental breakfast, attend Sunday Mass at the convent, and take advantage of the opportunity to work longer on Saturday.
No experience is required—just a willingness to work hard and learn alongside other men.
You won’t be building the monastery buildings themselves, but you will be getting your hands dirty with meaningful outdoor labor to support the Carmelite nuns and their convent. Tasks will include mowing, weed-whacking, brush clearing, wood splitting, chainsawing, painting, landscaping, planting, light carpentry, fencing, and other property upkeep.
Why It Matters:
This is real, gritty, hands-on work to help build up the grounds of a traditional, medieval-style monastery. These sisters dedicate their lives to prayer for the world and especially for priests, and we have the opportunity to serve them in return.
You’ll be learning or sharpening practical skills that carry into your own life—home projects & property care.. Best of all, you’ll do it shoulder to shoulder with other Catholic men, building camaraderie, faith, and grit together.
NOTE: We have received special permission from the Mother Superior to work inside the enclosure of the Carmelite convent. Out of respect for their way of life, we ask that all volunteers maintain a reverent and respectful demeanor while on the property. The traditional Carmelite vocation is one of secrecy and contemplative prayer, so we kindly ask volunteers not to engage with the nuns and to avoid entering any areas of the enclosure that are not directly related to our assigned work. A local caretaker will be present to guide us throughout the day, direct work assignments.
Possible Tasks Include:
Important Notes:
Click here to learn more about the nuns
Join us for a weekend of manual work, Mass, and fellowship as we volunteer to help the Carmelite nuns build their new convent. We’ll depart Friday evening and arrive around 10:00 PM, then check into shared hotel rooms in Gettysburg (4–6 per room). Saturday begins with free hotel breakfast around 7:00 AM, followed by Latin Mass at the Carmel, just 15 minutes away.
Work begins after Mass, with a pizza lunch break, and continues until around 5:00 PM. Anyone staying a second night will return to Gettysburg for showers, dinner, and fellowship—beers, cigars, restaurants, and sightseeing. On Sunday, we will wake around 8:00 AM and head back to the Carmel for High Mass, followed by an optional brunch in town before packing up and heading home. The total cost is $70, which covers one night at the hotel, one continental breakfast, and Saturday’s pizza lunch. For $120, you can extend your stay for a second night at the hotel, enjoy another continental breakfast, attend Sunday Mass at the convent, and take advantage of the opportunity to work longer on Saturday.
No experience is required—just a willingness to work hard and learn alongside other men.
You won’t be building the monastery buildings themselves, but you will be getting your hands dirty with meaningful outdoor labor to support the Carmelite nuns and their convent. Tasks will include mowing, weed-whacking, brush clearing, wood splitting, chainsawing, painting, landscaping, planting, light carpentry, fencing, and other property upkeep.
Why It Matters:
This is real, gritty, hands-on work to help build up the grounds of a traditional, medieval-style monastery. These sisters dedicate their lives to prayer for the world and especially for priests, and we have the opportunity to serve them in return.
You’ll be learning or sharpening practical skills that carry into your own life—home projects & property care.. Best of all, you’ll do it shoulder to shoulder with other Catholic men, building camaraderie, faith, and grit together.
NOTE: We have received special permission from the Mother Superior to work inside the enclosure of the Carmelite convent. Out of respect for their way of life, we ask that all volunteers maintain a reverent and respectful demeanor while on the property. The traditional Carmelite vocation is one of secrecy and contemplative prayer, so we kindly ask volunteers not to engage with the nuns and to avoid entering any areas of the enclosure that are not directly related to our assigned work. A local caretaker will be present to guide us throughout the day, direct work assignments.
Possible Tasks Include:
- Chainsaw Work: Cutting trees, clearing brush, and prepping logs for other use • Heavy Machinery: Assisting with or operating small-scale equipment
- Wood Splitting: Processing firewood for heating and use around the property • Land Clearing: Removing rocks, branches, and debris to prepare farmland
- Landscaping: Raking, hauling, digging, planting, and general beautification
- Painting & Repairs: Helping improve existing structures or prep new ones
Important Notes:
- Volunteers are welcome to find their own accommodations or drive in Saturday morning in time for morning Mass at the Carmel.
- All volunteers will be asked to sign a liability waiver upon arrival.
- Hotel rooms have a limited number of beds—volunteers should plan to sleep in sleeping bags on the floor (you can bring a cot).
- We typically try to plan volunteer trips to the convent on he first weekends of. March, June, September, and November, so keep a look out for those trips ahead of time as well!
Click here to learn more about the nuns
ESSENTIAL PACKING LIST
- Set of dirty work clothes and sturdy footwear
- Set of casual clothes (for driving and dinner)
- Dress clothes for Sunday Mass (Saturday Mass will be in work clothes)
- Sleeping bag
- Pillow
- Phone/charger
- Wallet
- Water bottle
- Snacks
