Our Lady of the Holy Cross Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery of the Cistercian Order, following the Rule of St Benedict.
Our Prayer and The Hours of Our Days
“Let nothing therefore be put before the Work of God.”
– Saint Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries Chapter 43
The Work of God, also known as the Divine Office, is the ancient, liturgical, and communal prayer around which the life of a monastery revolves. At Holy Cross Abbey, then, as in every Cistercian monastery, the monks rise long before dawn for the night Office of Vigils, followed by some hours of silent prayer and Lectio divina. The Office of Lauds and the offering of Mass bring an end to the “great silence” and begin the day in praise of God. After the morning’s work and simple noon meal the Meridian provides an hour for rest or reading, followed by Mid-Day Prayer and the afternoon’s work or study. The monks’ day comes to a close with the evening Office of Vespers, a light supper, and a time of quiet before the community’s final prayer together, the Office of Compline. Then, as the monks retire, the silence of the night begins, deepening that stillness they observe throughout the day.
Lectio Divina is the contemplative reading of Scripture or other spiritual reading, leading to meditation, reflection, and opening our minds and hearts to the gift of contemplation, whereby God freely reveals himself and his will to us. Each month, we post a selection from the Cistercian Fathers, found among our Liturgy posts, who wrote out of this rich tradition of a life immersed in Scripture. The Abbot’s Lectio posts can be found here.
The stillness and unchanging rhythms of the monastery provide for each monk an environment in which to respond to the living God in prayer, in the Scriptures, and in the ordinary experiences of community life. We invite you to join us in this rhythm of prayer.
Our Work
“Idleness is the enemy of the soul. Therefore the brethren should be occupied at certain times in manual labor, and again at fixed hours in sacred reading.”
– Saint Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries Chapter 48
Manual labor is characteristic of Cistercian life. We work to realize our own financial support like the vast majority of persons who shoulder difficult conditions to earn a living. For the monks of Holy Cross Abbey this work includes the care of the land and buildings and the service of the community and our guests, in addition to the operation of the Monastery Bakery, Gift Shop, and Natural Cemetery.
Hospitality and Prayer
Hospitality is as important a facet of monastic life as work. We welcome guests both in our Retreat House and Gift Shop / Porter’s Lodge. Most important of all, however, is sharing our prayer life with you. Inviting you to pray with us and with the whole Church in the liturgies of the Mass and the Divine Office, and then inviting you to join us in person, is the best way for us to share with you what is most precious to us.
A great place to start is to VISIT! This website is also an expression of our monastic hospitality in the spirit of St. Benedict. We are slowly learning about new conditions in our culture and new ways to allow our monastic culture to have its impact on our world. Let us pray together that God’s kingdom may truly come.
Our Monastic Family
Those inquiring about our life may find insight by reading our history: the story of this community; the 900 years of Cistercian history, to which we belong; Cool Spring Farm; and a thumb-nail sketch of the Cool Spring property, its place in the Civil War, and the Cool Spring House.
Under Join Us, you can discover various ways of connecting with our life. First there is a description of our Monastic Life. Then there is material on our Vocation and how to begin the process of discerning a monastic vocation. But you don’t have to be thinking of a monastic vocation to spend some time with us. All are welcome in the Retreat House, and men who have the capacity for it can consider making a retreat within the community, under the Monastic Experience.
There are others who do not directly belong to the monastic community of Holy Cross Abbey, but who nonetheless are part of our monastic family. Be sure to look at the Lay Cistercian Page to learn more about these people and their way of life.