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901 Cool Spring Lane Berryville, Virginia 22611

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Wednesday of the 22nd Week of the Year

September 6, 2023 by Fr Joseph

 A crucial aspect of our growing union with Christ is becoming aware of, and breaking, our unhealthy attachments—usually to the passing things and values of this present world. Perhaps someone may wonder if God can ever become an unhealthy attachment? The crowds, described in today’s gospel, offer a clue: We are told that they sought […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Wednesday of the 21st Week: Saints Warren & Amadeus

August 30, 2023 by Fr Joseph

The greater our deficits in true self-knowledge, the greater our tendency to judge and harshly condemn others. This tendency underscores the fact that true self-knowledge includes a deep awareness of our own inherent weaknesses and propensity for sin—either by offending against love of God and/or love of neighbor. Accordingly, the deeper we know ourselves, the […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Friday of the 19th Week of the Year

August 18, 2023 by Fr Joseph

Having been born into a sinful world—and ourselves afflicted with Original Sin from our birth—we tend to simply accept much of the dysfunctionality of our world and society as “normal,” or as just the way things are. In doing so, we need to be reminded—like the Pharisees—that this was not how it was in the […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Saturday of the 18th Week of the Year

August 12, 2023 by Fr Joseph

In what is something of a paradox, our quest for inner peace and happiness is such that when it is attained—even only partially—it exposes us to spiritual danger. And this is because the peace and cessation of the struggle can induce complacency. Then by careless neglect of inner vigilance we expose ourselves to the attacks […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Tuesday of the 18th Week of the Year

August 8, 2023 by Fr Joseph

Memorial of Saint Dominic: In his list of the seven principal vices, Saint Gregory the Great doesn’t list Pride. Instead, he understands pride to be the source and instigator of all the vices. This is no less true of envy and jealousy—manifested so clearly in Miriam and Aaron’s sarcastic-sounding question: “Is it through Moses alone […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Wednesday of the 17th Week

August 2, 2023 by Fr Joseph

In his catalogue of Tools for Good Works Saint Benedict includes his caution: Do not aspire to be called holy before you really are, but first be holy that you may more truly be called so. And in this Benedict is warning against an unhealthy preoccupation with self that is overly concerned with creating a […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Fifth Week of Easter

May 9, 2023 by Fr Joseph

Notwithstanding the total gratuitousness of God’s grace and salvation, the peace that Christ offers does come at a price—namely, living in total harmony with God’s will. Or, as Jesus expressed it: Doing just as the Father has commanded me. In contrast, the peace that the world offers, depends on realities outside ourselves and, especially, on […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Fourth Week of Easter

May 6, 2023 by Fr Joseph

Philip, to see me is to see the Father: To look upon the face of Christ and see the Father, has little to do with gazing upon his physical features—however noble these may be. Rather, it is to behold in every action and in his every word, the Love that is the Father’s very essence […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Friday, 3rd Week of Easter

April 28, 2023 by Fr Joseph

As Cistercians we are well aware of Saint Benedict’s warnings against bitter zeal—the kind that fueled Saint Paul’s earlier persecution of the church. It is well to remember, however, that the spiritual energy associated with zeal is fundamentally neutral. It is the objects or goals towards which zeal is directed that determine if it is […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Friday in the Easter Octave

April 14, 2023 by Fr Joseph

Today’s gospel is reminiscent of another occasion when Jesus asked Peter to put out into the deep and lower his nets for a catch—after a similar fruitless night of fishing. A significant difference is that on that earlier occasion, Peter was somewhat reluctant, explaining: Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

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Weekdays
3:30 - Vigils
7:00 - Lauds
~7:25 - Mass, after Lauds
10:00 - Terce (private)
12:20 - Sext
2:00 - None
5:30 - Vespers
7:30 - Compline

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3:30 - Vigils
7:00 - Lauds
9:50 - Terce
10:00 - Mass
12:20 - Sext
2:00 - None (private)
5:30 - Vespers
7:30 - Compline

Testimonials

Many, many thanks to Holy Cross Abbey and all the monks for being a beacon of light and hope in our world. I am so very, very grateful for being able to come for yearly retreats. That time with God nourishes me throughout the year, always.

-Dawn Peck, Lexington, VA


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901 Cool Spring Lane
Berryville, Virginia 22611-2700
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