LeVoys provide a Santuary for others
ELLISON BAY — In a world filled with noise and often confusion, Lee and Hugh LeVoy have found a place they call Sanctuary — and are willing to share it with others.
Lee and Hugh LeVoy (Monica Sawyn | For The Compass)
The couple, who once lived in Chicago but who vacationed and finally moved to Door County, believe that there is a hunger in people for silence and solitude that mirrors their own, and that people long for an opportunity to meet their inner selves and even to learn to listen to the voice of God.
“There are seekers out there,” Lee said.
For the LeVoys, “Sanctuary” actually means their whole experience of acquiring 17 secluded acres in the woods not far from Rowley’s Bay, where they can watch sunsets from their living room picture window and enjoy the play of nature across the expanse of meadow and trees. But for the visitors who come, Sanctuary is the small, private cabin attached to the LeVoys’ home, a place where they can spend a day or a week, caring for their own needs and enjoying the silence.
They can also meet for spiritual direction with Lee, who received certification from the ecumenical program called the Institute for Spiritual Companionship, and is a member of Spiritual Directors International.
“Sometimes that just involves having a cup of tea together and listening to them talk,” Lee said. “But most of the time, people just want silence.”
Hugh keeps the cabin in tip-top shape, lays the fire from his supply of wood and tends to the other physical duties that are part of hospitality.
Lee began her own journey in personal retreats when she was a pastoral minister at a parish in Niles, Ill., working with a parish nurse.
“The nurse told me, ‘You need to take care of yourself when you work for the church. You should have a spiritual director and you should make a retreat.’”
Lee found a spiritual director who had a hermitage on her own property and she stayed with her for 11 years. It was where she learned to love being alone.
“I had a hunger for solitude, and it was holy ground for me to be there,” Lee said.
When the couple moved to Ellison Bay in 1999, she missed that opportunity to get away and knew there might be other people who wanted the same thing. She and Hugh agreed that their Sanctuary cabin would be something to share with others.
The cabin the couple offers to others for a nominal fee was actually the first phase of what they built in 1986, and where they stayed during their vacation trips from Illinois with their three children. Eventually, they added a garage, three bedrooms, and finally, the portion of their home where they now live, said Hugh, who was principal at the former Corpus Christi School (now St. John Bosco) in Sturgeon Bay, when they first moved north.
The cabin, with a living-kitchen space, a bath and one bedroom, has a separate entrance. Because of the couple’s long driveway and secluded location, the cabin is available to others only March through November, but Lee herself uses it any time of the year when she needs the solitude to listen to that still, small voice.
The couple doesn’t wait for “cabin time,” however. Lee gets up an hour before Hugh and has an hour of solitude when she says morning prayer. Hugh has his own prayer time. They pray together at meals, but Lee said their individual prayer styles, and their personal need for quiet time, makes private prayer more workable for them.
In their parish, Lee began the Christ Renews His Parish program several years ago, which has spread to other parishes in the diocese. Lee also introduced morning prayer to the parish every Monday because there is no Mass that day, and Hugh acts as moderator for that once a month, taking turns with other parishioners.
Meanwhile, others come to Sanctuary for their own spiritual renewal. They include two religious sisters who make it a yearly trip, spending their time praying, reading and journaling. An artist comes twice a year, more for a creative getaway, but still finds it a time to listen to an inner voice. A pastor and his wife make a yearly trip, and a young minister and his wife came with their three children. Diocesan staff members have also been guests.
Those who come bring their own books and materials they want to use, and cook their own food. They can walk the half mile to Rowley’s Bay, or bike to Newport State Park or Europe Bay, on Lake Michigan. Or, they can just do as Psalm 46 suggests: “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Your Catholic Neighbors
Names: Lee and Hugh LeVoy
Parish: Stella Maris, Sister Bay site
Ages: Lee, 68; Hugh, 75
Favorite Bible characters: Lee, Mary Magdalene; Hugh, Moses
Words to live by: Lee, Psalm 90:14; Hugh, “Shepherd me, O Lord, from all my doubts and fears, from death into life.”
Related Posts:
- Knitter stitches purls of wisdom
- Every month is her month of the rosary
- A piano man on a mission
- A vocal approach to volunteering
- Mother of 12 finds a new calling
The post LeVoys provide a Santuary for others appeared first on The Compass – Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Green Bay.
