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Holy Cross Abbey

901 Cool Spring Lane Berryville, Virginia 22611

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Welcome to Our Lady of the Holy Cross Abbey

The monastery is a school of the Lord's service where Christ is formed in the hearts of the brothers and where in solitude and silence they aspire to that interior quiet in which wisdom is born. By generous hospitality they share with their fellow pilgrims the peace and hope which Christ has freely given.
(Constitutions of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance 3:2-3)

Read more about our life

Holy Cross Abbey

December 14, 2025

Our Monastery Chapel is, once again, open to the public for Daily Holy Mass and all the Divine Offices.

TheGift Shop is also open again and the hours are Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, from 2.15 until 4.15. On Saturdays the Gift Shop is also open from 10.00 – 12.00 Noon, and again from 2.15 until 4.15.

As in past years, our fruitcakes are selling quickly and will soon be gone. PLEASE NOTE: Our LARGER FRUITCAKES ARE PRESENTLY SOLD OUT. However, we hope to have some available by next weekend, 12/19/25. However, our Small Loaf fruitcakes are presently AVAILABLE.

In order to meet the high demand, our monks have devoted their time to baking extra fruitcakes. This means that our much-loved Chocolate-covered Fruitcake Slices—though dearly hoped for—will not be available this Christmas season. They are especially labor-intensive, and with limited hands in the kitchen, we simply could not produce them this year.

We are grateful for your understanding and continued support, and we wish you a blessed and joyful Christmas.

Our Retreat House is open but until further notice, access to the confessor/counselor will be very limited and not always guaranteed. For more information on safety measures being implemented in our Retreat House and for making a reservation, please email Carol Hensley at information@hcava.org Also, we will continue to livestream daily mass and the main offices of the day: Lauds and Mass at 7.00 a.m. (Sunday Mass at 10.00 a.m.); Vespers at 5.30 p.m. and Compline at 7.30 p.m. (Please be aware that the quality of both image and sound is far less than ideal because of technical limitations)

  • Anyone wishing participate virtually in our liturgies need simply Click Here to be redirected to our livestreaming page.

ONLINE SALES OF SOME OF OUR PRODUCTS

Fruit Cakes, (through our friends at DeFluri’s) Creamed Honeys, and Monastery Truffles can still be purchased online at: www.monasteryfruitcake.org

News

A Word from Our Cistercian Fathers

December 5, 2025

“Prepare a way for the Lord.” Brethren, we prepare the way of the Lord as we are bidden to do by walking along it; and we can walk along it only by preparing it.  However far you journey along it, the way is always waiting to be prepared, so that you must start afresh from the place you have reached and advance long what lies ahead.  You are led to do so because at every stage you meet … Continue Reading

  • Retreat House Openings
  • Fruitcake Update

Liturgy

Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Advent

December 14, 2025

Saint Augustine makes the interesting assertion that littleness is proper to great souls, whereas pride, is the misleading greatness of the weak. He goes on to add that the truly humble person has no wish to excel in things that are going to pass away but fixes his or her thoughts on things eternal. In this Augustine helps us understand what Jesus possibly meant by saying that among those born of … Continue Reading

  • Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the First Sunday of Advent
  • Abbot Joseph’s Homily for Christ the King

...more liturgy posts

From the Abbot’s Lectio Notebook

December 12, 2025

Approving an apparition of Mary as “authentic” comes only after careful and rigorous investigation by the Church. Our Lady’s appearance at Tepeyac was one that has been thus authenticated. However, there is a sense in which even authenticated Marian apparitions are inauthentic. By this I mean that visionaries never actually see Mary as she now truly is after the singular grace of her assumption … Continue Reading

Retreat House

Staying a few days at the Abbey's Retreat House is the primary way guests can get a taste of our monastic life, by entering into silence and solitude, the natural beauty of the setting, and the monastic liturgy throughout the day. Retreat House guests commit to maintaining the silence and contemplative environment of the place.

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Gift Shop

The first building many of our guests visit when they come to the monastery is the Gift Shop/Porter’s Cottage located at the end of the entrance road to the monastery.

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Bakery Products

If you’re local or able to make a trip to visit us, we would appreciate a visit the monastery in person and you can get your fruitcake at the best price directly from the Gift Shop.

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Donation

We must be intentional in making sure the ongoing financial support needed to keep the Abbey running is acquired. You can make a one time gift or, better yet, you can become a Sustainer.

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Cool Spring Natural Cemetery

Cool Spring Natural Cemetery is maintained and managed by the Cistercian Monks of Holy Cross Abbey where, for over sixty years, monks have lived on land made sacred by their lives of worship, prayer, and hospitality offered to all who visit. The cemetery thus constitutes a tangible extension of the monks’ life of worship, prayer, and their long tradition of hospitality.

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Holy Cross Abbey

901 Cool Spring Lane
Berryville, Virginia 22611-2700
Phone: (540) 955-4383

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