Peconic Land Trust Signed December 7, 2023

Peconic Land Trust Signed: Part of the Motherhouse Grounds Will Be Preserved

After years of work and study, the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville have signed documents creating an agricultural conservation easement on 10.4 acres of our Motherhouse property in partnership with the Peconic Land Trust. This action will preserve this portion of the land from development in perpetuity.

Two quotes can help us understand the motivation behind this action. In 2001 the Congregation approved a statement entitled A Land Ethic. It stated in part,

“As our consciousness of being part of the living world grows, we see ourselves as connected to all that lives, breathes, and exists. We come to realize that our ancestry includes all forms of life, all the stars, the galaxies, and even the fireball at the heart of time. We come to know that there is a single sacred community of Earth which includes all its component members both human and other than human, and that land has its own unique interiority and is not simply something we control.”

A Land Ethic

Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si’, reminds us of our place in creation,

“Our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us…This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her.”

Laudato Si’ 1,2