Readings: Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11 The community Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 AM, Fr. Vincent Collins presiding and preaching. The Shop will be open shortly after Mass. This Sunday is the first Sunday of the month and we begin the monthly Eucharistic Adoration at 4:00 PM and conclude with Benediction of […]
A Word from the Cistercian Fathers for March
It is fitting that I say a few words about prayer. The more efficacious it is, if done as it should be, the more skillfully does our adversary usually hinder it. Prayer is gravely hindered by cowardice of spirit and excessive fear. This often happens when a person thinks about his own unworthiness so much […]
Monastic Immersion Weekend News
The new church will be open and functioning so you are going to want to be part of the MIW class in 2017… But we are down to just a few rooms left for this retreat May (19-21). Monastic Immersion Weekends are the closest thing you can get to being a member of the community only […]
Eighth Sunday, Year A and Countdown to the Change in Schedule
Readings: Isaiah 49:14-15; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 6:24-34 The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM; this is the last time we will celebrate Mass at 11:00. The following Sunday, the First Sunday of Lent, the community Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 AM. This hour of celebration should help the challenges of our limited […]
An Opportunity
I’m posting here an opportunity and invitation that may interest a number of our readers–as I’d posted in the past. The Spiritual Direction Institute (SDI) is offering an informational session on Sunday, April 2, 2017 at 2:00 PM at the Church of the Incarnation, Charlottesville, in the conference room. The Spiritual Direction Institute offers a […]
Available Rooms in the Retreat House this Weekend
We still have three rooms available for this weekend, 24 to 26 February. With above freezing temperatures and a sunny Sunday predicted, this could be an ideal weekend for a get-away with God. Call Carol at 540-955-4383 or email her at information@hcava.org before the vacancies are taken.
Fr. James’ Homily for the Seventh Sunday, Year A
Readings: Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18; 1 Corinthians 3:16-23; Matthew 5:38-48 I hazard to say that today’s Gospel is the most challenging teaching for any Christian. As much as we propose practices and disciplines to identify ourselves as Christian, the touchstone of the Gospel is this exhortation to radical love, even loving my enemy. And each of […]
New Church and Monastic Immersion Weekend
First, you have noticed I have not posted new photos of the church. YOU HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE FOR YOURSELF. It is too beautiful for words, I think. So I have made a unilateral decision (don’t tell the Abbot) not to post any more photos until it is done and you are invited to […]
Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the Sixth Sunday of the Year
Readings: Sirach 15:15-20; 1 Corinthians 2:6-10; Matthew 5:17-37 Although scrupulosity as a spiritual and moral phenomenon is far less common than it used to be in pre-Vatican II Catholicism, it still occurs and can be extremely distressing to those whose spiritual lives are dominated by it. That gnawing, persisting sense of never truly being able […]
A Word from the Cistercian Fathers for February
Nightlong have I sought him whom my soul loves. It is a great good to seek God; in my opinion the soul knows no greater blessing. It is the first of its gifts and the final stage in its progress. It is inferior to none, and it yields place to none. What could be superior […]