If you’vbe been wondering what a retreat might be like at Holy Cross Abbey or have been meaning to get back out here, during July and August, the Retreat House still has plenty of vacancies to accommodate your retreat. If you were concerned about visiting during a heat-wave, every room is air-conditioned as are all the […]
St. Benedict and his Rule
St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries orients the lives of countless men and women, be they monks, nuns, oblates, lay people; be they saints, penitents or strugglers; whether they live today or a thousand years ago. Why is this? How is it possible that this way of life, first articulated in the Sixth Century, still speaks […]
A thank you from the community and the website
Thank you to all who were able to brave the the record high temperatures this past Friday to celebrate the Mass of the Resurrection for Fr. Edward McCorkell. It was a fitting celebration of his life and monastic vocation. A number of readers have offered this website their tributes to Fr. Edward and you can view those […]
Wednesday, 11 July: the Solemnity of St. Benedict
The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM; Abbot Robert Barnes will preside and preach. It is a non-workday and we follow the Sunday schedule. This Wednesday we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Benedict, known as the Father of Latin Monasticism and the the Patron of Europe. You may find more information on St. Benedict […]
A Word from the Cistercian Fathers
This is a new feature that will appear once a month. One of the Lay Cistercians of Holy Cross Abbey selects texts from the writings of the Twelfth Century Cistercian authors; this began as a celebration of our tradition in monthly emails to the other Lay Cistercians and is now being shared with the Abbey’s Website. […]
Sunday, 8 July, 14th Sunday, Year B
The community mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM; Fr. Vincent Collins will preside and preach. As regulars to the Sunday Mass would have noticed, we’d been having some problems with the air-conditioning in the Abbey church. The problems have been solved and the air-conditioning is functioning well again. We can now offer our visitors a […]
Fr. Edward McCorkell, 23 April, 1926-2 July, 2012
Fr. Edward died peacefully at the age of 86 in Carroll Manor Nursing Home in Washington, DC, where he resided for two years. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, 23 April, 1926, George Joseph McCorkell was the second of three children of George Francis McCorkell and Emily Forde McCorkell. His older sister, Nancy had entered the […]
Schedule for Fr. Edward’s Funeral
Thursday, 5 July, 2012 at 5:15 PM: Fr. Edward’s body will be received by Abbot Robert Barnes and the community into the Abbey Church. A prayer is offered and our brother is welcomed one last time into choir, where he once offered daily worship. Vespers from the Office of the Dead is celebrated at 5:30 […]
Fr. Edward McCorkell, 23, April, 1926-2 July, 2012
Please remember in your prayers the repose of the soul of Fr. Edward McCorkell. Fr. Edward had been a resident at Carroll Manor, a nursing home connected to Providence Hospital, Washington DC, for about the past three years. Abbot Robert had received a phone call from Fr. Andrew on Sunday evening that Fr. Edward was failing […]
Guest House Reservations Resume Monday, 2 July
You may resume placing your Guest House reservations during regular work hours beginning Monday, 2 July. You can contact Carol Hensley to plan a retreat at Holy Cross Abbey by phoning her at 540-955-4383 or emailing her at: information@hcava.org There are plenty of openings for July and August, so reserve your retreat now while the […]