The unexplained and miraculous trump the cynical and secular as an old-school monk tries to convert the pope's atheistic playboy nephew who now controls the beloved monastery and vineyard.

SYNOPSIS:

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Fr. Michael Gates, an older Franciscan priest, is panicked when a letter arrives from Rome. It seems his beloved monastery and vineyard are on the chopping block to be closed down and sold off.

To make matters worse, the pope is sending his own nephew, Peter Childs, who is an atheistic playboy type to oversee the dismantling process.

Fr. Michael and the "charismatic" monks of St. Lucia ( affectionately known as St. Lushes) are aided by miraculous and supernatural events as they must find a way to convince Peter not to close down the monastery.

St Lucia's main source of income is from their vineyard where they make their award winning communion wine used in churches throughout the world. The proceeds pay their bills and support the adjoining old convent and orphanage.

Peter Childs is a wild character who is known for gambling and womanizing. He arrives at the monastery in his usual drunken state with his prim and proper secretary (Sarah) in tow and a beautiful young floozy (Kandy) who he picked up at the airport on the way in from Rome.

Peter has his faults but he is an astute businessman and can see the possibility of marketing St. Lucia's award winning wines commercially. His ideas to close the monastery, "modernize" the wine making process and sell to the public would be a disaster in the eyes of the old school monks. But he has very little faith in their religion and religious matters in general, leaving them all at odds with each other.

In this pilot, a contest is suggested as a gamble of sorts appealing to Peter's worldly instincts. If the monks can produce as many barrels of wine using their old fashioned methods, as Peter's new-fangled grape crushing machine (The Grape-o-nator 550!), then he will allow them to appeal to Rome about possibly not closing them down. Things are further complicated by deception in the ranks as the nefarious Brother Horace has dealings in a side business selling some of the wine to a local bootlegger.

Over all the series would use humor to teach Christian love and forgiveness highlighting some of the great saints (weekly guest stars of a sort) and miracles of The Church.

With the recent financial success of feature films like "God's Not Dead" and "The Passion of The Christ" renewed public interest in religious programming for television is a smart bet.

Is Peter destined to slowly convert from his wild ways and eventually marry Kandy? Or will he finally acknowledge Sarah's unrequited love for him? Will the monks ever become more open to modern technology and learn to be less judgmental in their dealings with the public at large? What strange saints and supernatural events will intervene to keep the monastery from being closed down and sold off? Talk about must-see TV! You have to watch this series "religiously"!

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