A fruitcake from Holy Cross Abbey is for those who appreciate quality products made from an old fashioned recipe, with choice fruits and nut meats in a brandy-laced batter. Our famous Trappist Fruitcake can be shipped to you, as well as creamed honey and truffles, but ONLY by going online to monasteryfruitcake.org. Shipments can be requested […]
GIFT SHOP HOURS
Please note that the Gift Shop will be closed for Thanksgiving and will reopen on Friday morning, November 23. Also, we are happy to assure fruitcake lovers that we have an abundant supply of both the larger and smaller cakes—along with many other products from our various monasteries. And whereas the larger round cakes are […]
STAINED GLASS WINDOW
Many inquire about the fate of the beautiful stained-glass window that used to be at the back of the chapel. It is presently undergoing restoration in a very delicate and painstaking process that has taken longer than originally anticipated. However, the good news is that it will be perfectly restored and its return is expected […]
Reflection for Saturday of the 30th Week
Readings: Philippians 1:18b-26; Luke 14:1, 7-11 When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. The tricky thing about today’s Gospel is that Jesus is not proposing a strategy or a technique to shape our behavior. Were I to choose the lowest place just […]
A Word from the Cistercian Fathers for November
O Lord Jesus, true Gardener, effect in us what you demand of us. For without you we cannot do anything. You are the true Gardener, the same Creator who cultivates and protects your garden. You plant by your word, water with your Spirit, give growth by your power. You were mistaken, Mary, when you thought […]
Reflection for the Monday of the Thirtieth Week
Readings: Ephesians 4:32-5:8; Luke 13:10-17 After this weekend’s latest violent tragedy in Pittsburgh, it’s appropriate that today’s gospel is set in a synagogue. Appropriate, as a reminder that Jesus was not a white man but a swarthy near-eastern Jew, that he didn’t worship in a Christian church but a synagogue; and that he was unarmed […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the Thirtieth Sunday, Year B, 28 October, 2018
Readings: Jeremiah 31:7-9; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52 I would draw your attention to one detail in today’s Gospel: Bartimaeus throws off his cloak and runs to Jesus. A poor man’s cloak may be his only possession. If he has to pawn it, the Jewish pawn-broker had to return it to him at sundown, so he […]
Fr. James’ Homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday, Year B
Readings: Genesis 2:18-24; Hebrews 2:9-11; Mark 10:2-16 Today we begin Chapter Ten of Mark’s Gospel, when Jesus begins to travel to Jerusalem. For Mark, the holy city represents the unwillingness to believe Jesus; to the religious leaders of this city, Jesus is the hick from Galilee. Acknowledging the opposition, Jesus initiates an extensive teaching on […]
A Word from the Cistercian Fathers for October
Not all those who have faith in some way have sufficient fervor and vigor in faith to be willing to relinquish everything. Many, indeed, are unwilling to renounce even the things that are unlawful! For this reason, it is not inappropriate to compare the Kingdom of heaven–that is, the Church–to a net. Once it has […]
Reflection for Monday of the 26th Week, Memorial of St. Therese of Lisieux, 1 October, 2018
Readings: Job 1:6-22; Luke 9:46-50 The doctrine of spiritual childhood is certainly fundamental to Therese’s thinking, though I wonder whether it suffers an imbalance because her memory was perpetuated by her older sisters who preceded her and outlived her in the same Carmel. In a sense, to them, so remained the “Baby.” Like myself, you […]