This morning the conventual Chapter of Holy Cross Abbey voted Fr. Joseph Wittstock as our new Abbot. The election was declared by Dom Damian Carr, our Father Immediate and is presently being confirmed by our Abbot General, Dom Eamon Fitzgerald, in Rome. Dom Joseph was elected to a six year term. At noon today, the Chapter members will […]
Monastic Immersion Weekend in September
Many have inquired about the MIW (see the drop down menu Take Part on this home page)… now there are only four more spots left for the one Monastic Immersion Weekend scheduled for this year (September 16-18). Remember this is for men AND women so if you are interested I would send email quickly (companions@virginiatrappists.org) or […]
Abbot Robert’s Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, 24 April, 2016
Readings: Acts 14:21-17; Revelation 21:1-5; John 13:31-35 Sometimes you get lucky. Maybe it’s bingo and all the numbers called fall right onto your card. Or a truck pulls out of the very parking spot you wanted and you slide right in. Or the flashing lights on the state trooper’s car behind you on the highway […]
Fr. Joseph’s Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Easter, Year C, 17 April, 2016
Readings: Acts 13:14, 43-52; Revelation 7:9, 14-17; John 10:27-30 “Jealousy makes you nasty” is a phrase I remember from childhood–an accusation often sung in a taunting and shaming manner. Now whereas the childhood situations that provoked this taunt may have been trivial and inconsequential, jealousy in adults can be anything but inconsequential. We heard a powerful […]
Fr. Joseph’s Homily For Easter Sunday, Year C, 27 March, 2016
Readings: Acts 10:34, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9 Where the Hell is God, sounds like a rather irreverent title for a book written by a Jesuit! And yet the popularity of Richard Leonard’s book suggests that his question resonates with many suffering Christians who, in their spiritual darkness and confusion, desperately seek a God who […]
A last word…
This is actually the final follow-up to that Merton talk last year. To think we observed that anniversary year of Thomas Merton the week of the terrorist attack in Paris and I’m finally concluding this after the attack in Brussels! That speaks volumes about the wounded world we live in. Do I want to live as […]
Holy Week Schedule at Holy Cross Abbey, 2016
24 through 27 March: THE SACRED TRIDUUM Friday, 25 March: Good Friday–4:30 PM–Good Friday Service with the celebration of the Lord’s Passion according to St. John, Veneration of the Cross and Holy Communion Saturday, 26 March: Holy Saturday–8:30 PM: Paschal Vigil with Blessing of the Paschal fire, Vigils Readings, Mass and Renewal of Baptismal Vows […]
Why Are They So Slow?
At every celebration of the Eucharist, guests will find a small container of hosts and a paten on a table near the guests’ seating. Anyone intending to receive communion would put a host in the paten–their offering to the gifts prepared after the Liturgy of the Word. On some Sundays, especially during holidays and certain […]
Event Registration Reaching Capacity
If you are interested in attending either the Women’s Monastic Immersion Weekend April 8-10 or St. Benedict for the Rest of Us April 17 you will want to register quickly. Both programs are getting close to capacity. To do so: for the MIW send an inquiry to companions@virginiatrappists.org then a $100 deposit to my attention […]
Observing Lent
When I was in Catholic grammar school in the 1950’s we were expected to memorize a lot of information for catechism class. Most of us could rattle off the norms for Lenten Observance by rote even if much of that information was not interiorized–as kids not too much was expected of us. The great pitfall, addressed […]