PART II
MARYVILLE, TN — A remote, mountainous ridge in Blount County is becoming the permanent motherhouse for two small Catholic contemplative communities. The Benedictine Daughters of Divine Will and the Benedictines of Divine Will (OSBDV) are building a new monastery complex on Little Mountain, bringing a unique spiritual order focused on Eucharistic adoration and the teachings of Italian mystic Luisa Piccarreta to the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.
The Little Mountain Development
The proposed development, situated at 2947 Allegheny Loop Road (Map 136, Parcel 027.00), underwent site plan review by Blount County Senior Planner Cameron Buckner on January 25, 2024. According to the planning documents, the project consists of two private residential monasteries—one for the Daughters and one for the monks—and a supporting chapel. Once architectural plans are finalized, the residential structures are anticipated to be in the 6,000-square-foot range, while the central supporting chapel will span approximately 3,000 square feet. I secure environmental Records Achieve is also being planned for the site. Residents have referred to this record achieve as a “bunker”. It does not appear to be a survival bunker as rumored but a records storage facility. Also possibly being considered are future retirement / on compound vacation homes for benefactors.
Designed for a low-density, contemplative lifestyle, the structures will share an internal dirt loop road off Allegheny Loop Road. The site will utilize private utility infrastructure, including a designated water well, electric boxes, and localized on-site septic drain fields. Due to the rugged, steep topography of the Little Mountain site, which features highly varied elevations and mountainous ridge lines, soil mapping conducted by soil scientist Mitch Myers was required. The soil survey identified Allen and Junaluska soils in the active development zones, confirming that the terrain has sufficient septic feasibility despite steep slopes and the potential for subsurface rock pinnacles.
By December 2024, the community reported that its construction permits were approved and ground had been broken for underground plumbing.
As of September 2026, work on the site seemed to slow under unconfirmed rumors of funding troubles.
Land Ownership and Acreage History
The monastery complex will sit on a 100.5-acre (specifically on two 100.509-acre, or 4,378,193-square-foot) undeveloped tracts carved out of a larger mountainous property. The property’s transfer to the order has a history tied closely to its expansion. In October 2022, the monastic community reported that two private benefactors, who had recently become Oblates of the order, purchased a 124-acre property on top of the mountain in the Diocese of Knoxville. Inspired to support the order, the benefactors donated a substantial portion of this land to the Benedictines of Divine Will.
An official boundary survey and plat for the property, completed on February 19, 2021, by Registered Land Surveyor Timothy D. Robinson, indicates the parcel was surveyed for former property owner David Connors. Property records show the land passing from John McArther to David Conners to Thomas Gilman to Little Mountain, LLC and onto today’s owner Little Mountain Foundation. The land is bordered by fourteen (14) neighboring properties.
Because the planned religious facility sits on a tract larger than three acres in an R-1 (Rural District 1) zone, local zoning regulations required a formal Site Plan review and approval by the Blount County Planning Commission before any building permits could be issued.
History and Roots of the Monastic Orders
The Benedictine Daughters of Divine Will and the Benedictines of Divine Will, OSBDV, were originally established in Europe within the Diocese of San Marino-Montefeltro, a jurisdiction covering the Republic of San Marino and surrounding Italian territory.
The order’s co-founder, Mother Gabrielle Marie Breaux, began her religious life as a Poor Clare of Perpetual Adoration, learning for 33 years under Mother Angelica, the famous foundress of EWTN. Mother Gabrielle Marie served as Novice Mistress for 16 years and Vicar for 9 years before discerning a new path. Following a sabbatical in 2009, she collaborated with Fr. Jacques Daley, OSB, and Fr. Elijah John Joseph to establish a new Benedictine family dedicated to Eucharistic adoration and the spirituality of Luisa Piccarreta.
The sisters were canonically erected as a Public Association of the Faithful on April 12, 2011, by then-Bishop Luigi Negri. The men’s community was subsequently established on December 20, 2014, by Bishop Andrea Turazzi. In 2016, the order added a lay branch, the Third Order of Benedictine Oblates of Divine Will.
The order officially relocated to East Tennessee on December 12, 2022, on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. During a historic ceremony at the Knoxville Chancery, decrees formally establishing the public associations in the Diocese of Knoxville were signed by Bishop Richard F. Stika, Chancellor Deacon Sean Smith, Mother Gabrielle Marie, and Father Elijah. Mother Gabrielle Marie and a few sisters moved to temporary housing at 2425 Tipton Loop Road in Maryville in October 2023 to begin planting roots and oversee the construction of the permanent mountain monastery. Ongoing fundraising and building efforts are organized through the Little Mountain Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
The Piccarreta Theological Backdrop
The spiritual foundation of the Little Mountain build is the doctrine of “living in the Divine Will,” centered on the extensive writings of Italian mystic Luisa Piccarreta (1865–1947). A Third Order Dominican, Piccarreta claimed daily visions and authored approximately 10,000 pages of mystical texts across 36 notebooks.
Her writings have historically drawn intense theological examination. In 1938, her first three books were placed on the Catholic Church’s Index Librorum Prohibitorum. While her canonization cause was formally opened by the Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie in 1994, the process was temporarily suspended in January 2024 by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints due to doctrinal, Christological, and anthropological reviews.
In June 2024, the Dicastery issued a nulla osta, allowing her canonization cause to resume, stating it found no doctrinal errors of a nature that would prevent her cause from proceeding. Although a December 3, 2024, Vatican letter warned against the uncontrolled proliferation and potential manipulation of her texts, the June ruling successfully cleared the primary canonical hurdles for the Maryville communities. Under current Vatican guidelines, the monks and sisters on Little Mountain will continue their contemplative lifestyle, remaining in close communion with local bishops while utilizing authorized critical editions of Piccarreta’s writings.