The Brothers and Sisters of Charity need dedicated servants and handmaidens for Jesus. Come join us in our revolution.

The Brothers and Sisters of Charity, a Public Association of the Faithful, was founded by John Michael Talbot in 1980. We are a Catholic-based community of celibate brothers, celibate sisters, singles who can marry, and families, called as a monastic and domestic spiritual family into deep love relationships with and in Jesus Christ. We share common work and recreation areas while retaining appropriate separate cloistered areas for each expression. Our primary founder is Jesus, our primary rule is Scripture, and love is our primary law. Most of the members of the monastic expression live here at the Little Portion Hermitage in Berryville, Arkansas. We also have an international ecumenical domestic expression consisting of single men and women and families, living in their own homes and sharing the same Rule and Constitution with the monastic expression.

One of the key words to describe our community is integrated. We balance contemplative and charismatic, stable (i.e.,living in one place) and itinerant (i.e.,traveling); solitary and communal; and eremitical and active ministry. Another major monastic integration is that of celibate men and women and families existing side by side without losing their uniqueness. It is exciting to see the radical gospel lifestyle at work for every state of life in one community raised up by the Spirit within the Church.

Most of the work we do here at the Little Portion Hermitage consists of gardening, care of livestock, office work, cooking, cleaning and maintenance of the grounds and buildings. Since part of our life deals with the manual tasks of making the community as self-sufficient as possible, you should be between the ages of 21 – 45 years, in good health, physically, emotionally and spiritually and debt free. Our local outreaches include volunteering at the Mission Clinic in Berryville; ministering at our Little Portion Retreat and Training Center, which is run mostly by local domestic members but with some involvement from the monastic community; and meeting various other needs of the local populations that come to our attention from time to time. Another ministry of ours is giving tours and simply being a loving presence to the hundreds of “pilgrims” who come to visit the hermitage every year.

To contact us, write to:
Little Portion Monastery
Attn: Vocations Director
350 CR 248
Berryville, AR 72616

or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it