Fr. James Orthmann keynoted the Merton at 100 lecture Sunday November 15th.  Well over 60 people came to the Retreat House Chapel for a talk called “Monk as Marginal Person.”  Fr. James suggested that this simple reference, that Merton made in his last talk in Thailand, was less an indictment of monks for having left the […]

I imagine, though I’m not sure of this, that most of our readers actually remember when Thomas Merton was alive and living at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky. You may remember noting when his next book was published, what the reviewers said and how quickly you purchased your own copy. If you still have that original […]

If you registered for the Merton event on November 15th and now find you can’t make it, please send email to companions@virginiatrappists.org and let us know.  We have a waiting list of 50 people who would like to attend, so if you are not going to make it please inform us so we can give […]

Some of you will recall the event we had in August, to introduce the film Saving Grace, Saving Place. If you wanted to attend then but were unavailable, you have another opportunity this Saturday, 7 November to meet the film makers. The event will begin at 2:30 PM in the Abbey Church; Abbot Robert Barnes […]

We’ve been reading in the refectory a small book by Abbot Francis Acharya of Kurisumala, our monastery in Southern India. Abbot Francis died just a few years ago. By birth and monastic profession he was from Belgium, born Jean Mahieu. Eventually he would found a Catholic monastery in India, adapted to Indian culture and its […]

We sincerely apologize to all our friends who are unable to attend the Merton event.  Some have written to say they responded within 24 hours and… well, truth is the event ‘sold out’ (interesting way to describe a free event) within two hours of posting the announcement and sending out the e-newsletters.  Kind of like […]

Thank you for your inquiries about our Bakery products at Holy Cross Abbey. Our fruitcakes are for sale only at our Abbey Gift Shop. We are not able to ship our fruitcakes at this time. The fruitcakes available are our regular 2-1/2 pound round cake and we have a new size, a 1-1/2 pound loaf […]

  SORRY BUT WE ARE ‘SOLD OUT’… +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s birth the monks of Holy Cross Abbey will hold a free lecture, conversation and reception on November 15th in the Retreat House chapel.  This event-with extremely limited seating-is entitled “Monk as Marginal Person” and will include opening comments from […]

This is probably my final post on the Encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home. I do realize that I may have worn our my welcome a few posts back. And then, with Pope Francis long ago arrived at and departed from these shores, I must seem to be beating a dead horse.  Worse still, […]

I thought it might be worth while, especially after Pope Francis’ visit to the United States, to quote in full the two prayers that conclude the encyclical, Laudato Si’. The Holy Father is a plain-spoken man who does not express himself in the abstractions of “ecclesialese”. His two prayers are more comprehensible than a number […]