Featured News

Washing Feet

These sacred days of our Lord's Paschal Mystery begin with a meal. Not just any meal but the very Passover meal which Moses commanded the Israelites to commemorate--the covenant of blood that the Lord God made with his Chosen People when he freed them from slavery in Egypt. Now the Son of God has … Continue Reading...

Welcome to Holy Cross Abbey

The Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Cross was born out of fire. When the monastery of Our Lady of the Valley in Valley Falls, Rhode Island, tragically and spectacularly burned to the ground on the night of March 21, 1950, the monks of the abbey were left without a home.

While the abbot of Our Lady of the Valley, Dom Edmund Futterer, labored to re-establish his displaced community at a new site at Spencer, Massachusetts, plans developed for a new foundation. Land was found in the ... Read More

A Note From The Abbot

20 April, 2014: CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! In may places this is the traditional cry of the faithful as they greet one another on Easter Sunday. It's a beautiful to honor the people we greet and to express our faith. CHRIST IS RISEN! That is no static idea. To say that is to recognize Christ alive and active in his people, that the resurrection is permeating … Continue Reading...

News from the Abbey

Gift Shop Closed This Week

Please note that the Monastery's Gift Shop will be closed this entire week. It will not be open for service from 21 April … [Read More...]

Easter Day Mass

The Easter Day Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Abbot Robert Barnes presiding, Fr. James Orthmann … [Read More...]

Easter Vigil

The Easter Vigil will be celebrated Saturday evening at 8:30 PM, Abbot Robert Barnes presiding and preaching. The Vigil's … [Read More...]

join-hdr

Take Part

You may join us here at the Abbey by a sojourn in our Retreat House for a silent retreat, as a visitor to our Gift Shop or as a family member visiting a member of the community. You can assist at Mass … Find Out More...

6072CoolSpringpan

Visit Us

  Whatever your faith or search may be, whether you want to pause for a moment in our church or join us for one of the monastic services or the mass, to visit our Monastery Gift Shop where our own … Find Out More...

retreat-hdr

Retreat House

"Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ, for He is going to say, 'I came as a guest, and you received Me'" (Matthew 25:35) Saint Benedict's Rule for Monasteries, Chapter 53 Rooms in our … Find Out More...

cem-hdr

Cool Spring Natural Cemetery

The Shenandoah River flows lazily along of the base of Virginia’s Great Blue Ridge here at Cool Spring Natural Cemetery nestled in Virginia’s northern Shenandoah Valley. Eagles and herons fly above … [Read More...]

history-hdr

History

The Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Cross may have been founded in 1950 but our roots run deep. It is not an exaggeration to boast a kinship to the New Monastery, as it was first called, the Abbey of … [Read More...]

(click to view the prayer schedule)