The sisters who operate the Marie Joseph Spiritual Center in Biddeford Pool plan to sell the building and close in June. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
The Marie Joseph Spiritual Center, a popular destination for religious retreats and one of Biddeford Pool’s most recognizable landmarks, will close in June.
The Sisters of the Presentation of Mary can no longer afford to keep up the 130-year-old property and have decided to sell it, said Sister Annette Laliberte, the group’s treasurer.
Perched on the shore overlooking a cove, the center is eight miles from the city’s downtown and is currently home to 13 nuns.
Built in the 1880s, the building was originally a stately seaside summer hotel and was a popular tourist destination for decades.
It has been owned and operated by the sisters since 1948 when they opened Marie Joseph Academy, a Catholic school for girls. After 30 years, it became a spiritual center used for retreats and a variety of other programs.
The sisters have 100 nuns among their ranks in New England, where they have operated since 1886, and have worked with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland for more than 75 years, Laliberte said. Once sold, the nuns will move to one of their other properties in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
The news has been difficult for the sisters, staff and guests and they will spend the remaining months operating as normal as possible, Laliberte said. Six prayer retreats are scheduled through the end of June.
Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant said he was surprised by news of the closure. He has never attended their retreats but said he remembers going there as a child to pick up his aunt, who was a nun, for a family visit. It was common to see nuns walking along the beach, he said.
There is a lot of history in the building, Casavant said, and it will be interesting to see what happens after it is sold.
The Sisters of the Presentation of Mary have owned the Marie Joseph Spiritual Center in Biddeford Pool since 1948. But the costs to keep it running are too high for the 13 nuns still living there. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
“It’s important the people of Biddeford Pool have some say in what happens because it’s such a close-knit community,” he said.
The closure is the latest example of a religious order shutting its doors in Maine. In 2018, the last two nuns living at the Monastery of the Precious Blood in Portland moved to New Hampshire.
Portland developer Josh Soley bought the home for $1.66 million with the intention of renovating it into affordable housing and later offered space to asylum seekers.
The Biddeford property is assessed at nearly $2.9 million, according to city records. It has 48 rooms that can accommodate up to 50 guests, two dining rooms, a lounge and a library.
But the aging building needs upgrades and repairs that will total more than $1 million, a cost that is not feasible for the group to bear, Sister Helene Cote said in a letter to supporters. It has been difficult to find contractors and the work would require the center to close for an extended period of time, she said.
It’s also been difficult to hire enough staff to keep their programs running, she said.
“When we first started the retreat center, the Sisters did everything, and now we are an aging community and not able to do all we did,” Cote said. “We are entering the busiest time of the year and despite efforts to hire employees, the center is currently understaffed.”
Cote said the decision was made with much anguish and she acknowledged the closure would be difficult for supporters and the 16 laypeople who work there.
“The staff we have is very dedicated and hardworking, and we are so grateful for who they are and all they have done,” Cote said in a statement. “They embody the spirit of generous hospitality and care of others.”
As a religious community, it has always been important to have sisters at the center, but they are aging and diminishing in numbers, she said.
“As we look to the future, it will not be long before we would not have Sisters available to be that prayerful presence at the center,” she said. “With all of these various issues we cannot but realize that at this time in our history operating the retreat center has come to an end. With faith and confidence in the Lord we know that he continues to lead us on our journey.”
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