Featured News

Why Monastic Immersion?

Occasionally I am asked about this thing we call monastic immersion here at Holy Cross Abbey.  Seldom does someone ask because they are 'against it' or question its validity; it's more that people want to hear why people WANT to be immersed in monasticism?  What is it about monasteries and the Rule … 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

9 March, 2014: The first sentence of Chapter 49 of St. Benedict's Rule tells us  that, "The entire life of a monk should have the character of a Lenten observance." True to his spirituality, Saint Benedict speaks nowhere else in the Rule of any liturgical season or saint's feast. As he makes clear in this reference to Lent, it is no end in itself but culminates in … Continue Reading...

News from the Abbey

MIW closed with waiting list

We now have a waiting list for the March MIW.  Please let me know if you would like to be placed on that list in case we have … [Read More...]

Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent, 9 March, 2014

Readings: Genesis 2:7-9;3:1-7: Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11 What are these three temptations? Do they confront the … [Read More...]

Lenten Reading

Most of you are probably aware of the custom of Lenten Reading recommended by St. Benedict's Rule for monasteries. We read in … [Read More...]

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...]

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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...]

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