Securing Sacred Ground: The Story and Mission of Sanctus Ranch

This sounds like a worthy endeavour. I wish I could afford to support it. Of course, it's being maligned and attacked by the modernists in the Diocese.

From One Peter Five

By Dan Sevigny

In a world where traditional Catholic values are increasingly challenged, Sanctus Ranch stands as a beacon of faith and reverence—a sanctuary where souls can retreat from worldly pressures and experience the authentic love of Jesus Christ. Today, this sacred refuge faces an unprecedented crisis, one that threatens its very existence and the vital mission it serves.

Sanctus Ranch was founded in 2016 as an answer to a spiritual calling received by my wife Jennifer and I, who alongside our six children, committed our lives to this sacred endeavor. What started as a vision quickly blossomed into a thriving retreat center, hosting 42-46 weekends annually and welcoming 80-100 faithful visitors each retreat. For years, the ranch provided a beautiful, holy place where people could experience Our Lord in an atmosphere of reverence and tradition.

Like many missions, Sanctus Ranch faced severe challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without established financial reserves, our fledgling retreat center struggled to survive. Yet through faith, grace, and the generosity of supporters—including the original property lenders—the mission persevered through the storm until retreats could resume, albeit with smaller groups and reduced revenue.

Utilizing the talents the Lord had given me, the pandemic created an opportunity to be creative in our approach to survival. We restructured our business, and by God’s grace, we were able to take the next step in our calling. In 2022, the Spiritual Retreat Foundation, a non-profit organization, now renamed the Restoring Christian Culture Initiative (RCCI), officially took over operations at Sanctus Ranch. My wife Jennifer and I serve on the board, and I took on the role of Executive Director to guide the organization’s development. 

In May 2023, faced with skyrocketing tuition costs at our children’s Catholic school, Jennifer and I discerned another calling—to establish Lumen Christi Academy, a private micro-school on the ranch property. This educational initiative aims to provide authentic Catholic education for students from third through twelfth grade. The school has flourished, growing to 28 students, with families from across the country expressing willingness to relocate just to be close enough to send their children to Lumen Christi Academy.

Simultaneously, Divine Providence brought devoted priests to Sanctus Ranch—clergy who had been marginalized for their commitment to the reverence of the Traditional Latin Mass. These faithful servants found not only sanctuary but purpose, honoring their vocations as teachers at Lumen Christi Academy.

The presence of these priests, however, sparked persecution from the local diocese. This opposition culminated in an unjust prohibition against Catholics attending the retreat center and the school. Most devastating was the illegal cancellation of over half a million dollars worth of retreat contracts—bookings that had been reliable sources of income for years.

Despite these spiritual and financial attacks, our family continued the mission through the grace of God  and the generous support of benefactors. By late 2024, we achieved our strongest position ever, even beginning construction on a 10,000-square-foot school building to expand Lumen Christi Academy to serve kindergarten through twelfth grade for the 2025-26 academic year.

The forward momentum came to a devastating halt in early 2025 when our organization experienced losses exceeding $50,000 per month in January, February, and March. These mounting financial pressures, in large part a result of unethical actions by former staff, led to the heartbreaking decision to lay off all staff at the end of March 2025.

While the long-term plans for both the school and retreat facility remain promising, the immediate cash flow crisis threatens to extinguish years of sacrifice and devotion. Years of persecution have prevented the mission from meeting rent obligations to the parent organization that owns the Sanctus Ranch property.

What makes Sanctus Ranch irreplaceable is its role as a refuge for authentic Catholic tradition, a vision that Jennifer and I have nurtured alongside raising our six children in this faith-filled environment. This property, located on over thirty-two acres in the beautiful Texas Hill Country, is just 45 minutes from San Antonio where we have been able to build over forty-thousand square feet of buildings under roof. The heart of this property is the Regina Chapel, a 200-person traditional chapel, in which we are blessed to have the Traditional Latin Mass offered daily. On Sunday’s we regularly welcome over 100 faithful to worship the Lord in this Sacred Space. The ranch has become a center for community life as well, hosting post-Mass gatherings, conferences with renowned speakers, and deeply meaningful retreats.

As one supporter noted, “You are building at Sanctus Ranch what people want to build all over the country to preserve the authentic Catholic faith.” This oasis of tradition now stands at risk of disappearing entirely.

To preserve this vital mission, the non-profit has launched the “Securing Sacred Ground” capital campaign with the goal of purchasing the property outright. It is imperative that the non-profit organization acquire the property directly to ensure the long-term sustainability of both Sanctus Ranch and Lumen Christi Academy. The campaign unfolds in four critical phases, beginning with an Emergency Response Fund of $150,000 to address the immediate cashflow crisis, allowing the school year to be completed and establishing financial stability for the larger fundraising effort.

The second phase seeks a Leadership Donor Commitment of $1 million in escrow to make a formal offer to purchase the property. The third phase aims to raise an additional $1 million, representing 50% of the remaining funds needed. The final phase will secure the last $1 million to complete the $3 million cash portion of the purchase, with an additional $1 million in seller financing.

This is a bold undertaking, but the faithful have always been called to be bold in the preservation of the faith. We have placed this campaign under the guidance and protection of St. Joseph, Terror of Demons. We choose St. Joseph to intercede for us as we know that this battle is spiritual. The attacks, spiritual and financial, are confirmation that what is happening here on this property matters eternally.

The Restoring Christian Culture Initiative (RCCI), which operates Sanctus Ranch and Lumen Christi Academy, is guided by a profound mission: “The Restoring Christian Culture Initiative actively engages in the formation of faith, education of youth, and restoration of traditional values through integrated programs that cultivate authentic Christian community that prays, learns, works, and lives in communion with God’s created order.”

This mission has never faced a greater test than now. Without immediate support, all the blood, sweat, and tears poured into this mission by my family, along with countless faithful supporters, will cease.

If you believe that traditional Catholic values deserve preservation, that the Traditional Latin Mass must be protected, that displaced priests deserve a place of refuge, that authentic, unapologetically Catholic education should be accessible to families, and that sacred spaces like Sanctus Ranch are worth fighting for, then your support is urgently needed.

Visit https://thercci.org/crisis to learn more about how you can contribute to the Securing Sacred Ground campaign and help preserve this irreplaceable Catholic sanctuary for generations to come. Your generous support—whether financial contributions, prayers, or spreading awareness—will help ensure that this beacon of faith continues to shine brightly in a darkening world.

The time to act is now. Together, we can secure this sacred ground for Christ and His Church.

Editor’s note: hear more from the author here: