At the end of September, from 28 September to 1 October, we had the pleasure of welcoming Dom Eamon Fitzgerald, our Abbot General, and his secretary, Fr. Simeon Leiva-Merikakis. Dom Eamon had been Abbot of Mount Melleray in Ireland when he was elected Abbot General by the General Chapter some seven years ago. Soon after […]

I believe past posts have made reference to the upcoming church renovations at Holy Cross Abbey. We now have a date, 24 October, when the work will begin. Of course that means that we will have to move out of the church for our liturgical celebrations. During the projected three months of work, we will […]

Readings: 2 Kings 5:14-17; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19 No one asks to be the victim of prejudice. Each of us has some touchy area in our identity that is easily wounded by someone’s prejudice. Tragically, this is inevitable in a pluralistic society. Pluralism was forced on ancient Palestine. The Jews were ruled by four […]

Readings 2 Kings 5:14-17; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19 The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Fr. James Orthmann presiding and preaching.

The community has announced that the Monastic Immersion Weekend in the Spring is scheduled for May 5-7.  If you are interested please send email to companions@virginiatrappists.org and tell us a little about yourself including your experience with retreats, Cistercian monasteries, Benedictine communities etc. MIWs fill up VERY fast so you are encouraged to inquire quickly.  […]

Happy the man in whose soul the Lord Jesus once set his feet of justice and mercy. There are two signs by which you can recognize such an individual, for he cannot but bear upon himself the imprint of these divine footsteps. These signs are fear and hope, the former presenting the imprint of judgment, […]

Readings: Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4; 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 17:5-19 The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Fr. Vincent Collins presiding and preaching. It is the first Sunday of the month and the monthly Eucharist Adoration begins at 4:00 PM, continuing through Vespers (5:30 PM) and followed by Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. […]

I hope this doesn’t seem like Christmas decorations going up the day after Hallowe’en but we know many of you already want to plan your Advent and New Year retreats with us. The first couple of weeks of December bring no surprises and there are still plenty of rooms available. But things get interesting after the Fourth […]

One thing we have learned since beginning to offer programs to the public is there is some ‘good stuff’ going on out there for laypeople and others interested in monastic life.  In these pages in the future we will try to focus on some of them (occasionally we promise) in case our friends have interest. […]

I can’t say that there was an overwhelming response to the post about revising the website, but of the few comments made, there was interest about hearing more from individual monks. On my own wish-list, I’d like to see a greater variety of points-of-view, more variety in the mode of expression than the contrast between […]