Wednesday 17 October was definitely a first for the monks of Holy Cross Abbey. At approximately 11:00 AM we gathered with neighbors, friends, employees, the press and invited notables to consecrate Cool Spring Natural Cemetery and to bless the fields along the Shenandoah now being worked by the Zurchmeides of Great Country Farm (Bluemont). We have […]

This past week we celebrated several martyrs. Saint Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, wrote a series of letters to the major Churches of his day on his way in chains from Antioch to his martyrdom in Rome. He eloquently describes the fruitfulness of the martyrs’ self-giving in death, united to the death of Christ. The North […]

The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Abbot Robert Barnes presiding and preaching.

From a Chapter Talk by Abbot Robert Barnes: A couple of weeks ago, Soren Johnson, from the Arlington Diocese came out to see me. Bishop Loverde has appointed him as his special assistant for Evangelization and Media. Soren will travel to the parishes in the dioceses to help organize on the parish level the new […]

The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Fr. Vincent Collins presiding and preaching.

I don’t claim to suggest any fool-proof methods or one-size-fits-all-solutions on this post. I’m just sharing some practices that help may and probably will be  useful to some other people. I suspect there there is no ONE answer to the question, “How can I quiet down?” Think of medications and side effects. There’s no universal cure that works […]

The Guest House reservations filled up quickly for the months of October and November–much to the frustration of many of our regular visitors. Therefore you may be interested to know that, because of cancellations, there are openings again for the weekend (Friday PM through Sunday noon) of November 16-18. To make a reservation, either call […]

Come, follow; seek him. Do not let that unapproachable brightness and glory hold you back from seeking him or make you despair of finding him…If you can believe all things, all things are possible to him who believes…The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart…Believe and you have found him. Believing […]

The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Fr. James Orthmann presiding and preaching. It is the first Sunday of the Month and Eucharist Adoration will be observed from 4:00 PM until after Vespers (approximately 5:50 PM). All are invited to join us.

OK, this is the tricky one. There’s no quick fix for this and a quiet mind requires sacrifice. There’s no way around that. I think the first sacrifice is the biggest: my expectations. This is what I mean: do I expect interior silence to make me so serene that I float through life untroubled, undisturbed? […]