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Saturday of the 2nd Week of Lent

March 22, 2025 by Fr Joseph

As monks our vowed commitment is ordered towards ongoing conversion. The word “ongoing” reminds us that conversion is a process—usually a long one—and not a single moment or decision. So, although some of us may have experienced a powerful and distinct moment of conversion, and a definite turning towards God, the story of the Prodigal […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Saturday of the First Week of Lent

March 15, 2025 by Fr Joseph

In his life-changing encounter with God at the burning bush, Moses was privileged to learn God’s name: I am who I am. This simple name affirms that God is not defined by anything or anyone that might be thought outside himself. On the contrary, all that exists, and is not God, is but a manifestation […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Wednesday of the 1st Week of Lent

March 12, 2025 by Fr Joseph

As Christians we credit God with gracing humanity with freedom—freedom, even to reject his love and the salvation he offers so freely. Jonah’s experience, however, seems to challenge this notion of inviolable human freedom. For, he is literally coerced into delivering God’s warning to the people of Nineveh. Similarly, at Vigils this morning, we heard […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

March 8, 2025 by Fr Joseph

As fitting and urgent as the church’s so-called “preferential option of the poor” is, it is equally important to remember that this does not mean a simultaneous “preferential option against the rich.” Today’s account of Jesus’ call of a wealthy tax collector, Matthew, is not an isolated incident. And so, for example, he purposely sought […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Ash Wednesday

March 5, 2025 by Fr Joseph

Like so much else in our spiritual lives, the season of Lent can become just another annual routine which we go through the motions of observing but lacking real commitment or heartfelt zeal. For some this reflects a spiritual mediocrity they have come to find comfortable even if not ultimately satisfying, while for others it […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Saturday of the 7th Week of the Year

March 2, 2025 by Fr Joseph

Psychological and spiritual maturity are among the prized attributes of adulthood. Immaturity, childishness, and even childlikeness, on the other hand, are usually disdained and considered a sign of a failure to develop and flourish. However, for most—if not all—of us our progress towards full maturity and wholeness is anything but smooth, uniform, or orderly. Instead, […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Memorial of St. Peter Damian

February 21, 2025 by Fr Joseph

Jesus’ enigmatic statement according to which some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power, has been variously interpreted—usually in ways that don’t seem to directly involve us. However, recall that when the Pharisees asked when the kingdom would come, Jesus replied that the […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Saturday of the Fifth Week of the Year

February 15, 2025 by Fr Joseph

With their privileged intimacy and a loving and unobstructed access to God their creator, Adam and Eve had little excuse for reaching out and eating of the forbidden fruit. We, by contrast, begin our human existence estranged and largely ignorant of the One in whom we live, move, and have our being. Consequently, we have […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Saturday of the Fourth Week of the Year

February 8, 2025 by Fr Joseph

Pope Francis has repeatedly urged priests to go out in active evangelization rather than simply waiting for people to come to them. Today’s gospel speaks of the Apostles having done just that and as they reported all they had done and taught. However, this same gospel also introduces another key element in evangelization. And that […]

Filed Under: Abbot's Lectio Post

Memorial of Saint Agatha

February 5, 2025 by Fr Joseph

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews exhorts us to strive for peace with everyone. Striving, of course, is distinct from actually successfully living at peace with everyone, and is an acknowledgment of the great challenge involved in doing so. For some, the challenge lies in dealing patiently and compassionately with the weaknesses, failings, […]

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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Berryville, Virginia 22611-2700
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