There is still very good availability on all weekdays and weekends in July. Even on those muggy or stormy summer days, our guests are refreshed by the awesome views down the valley or the dramatic storms that provide an ever-changing spectacle–viewed from the comfort of an air conditioned retreat house. The Abbey’s services, filled by […]

Readings: Ezekiel 17:22-24; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:26-34 Today’s First Reading, as well as the Gospel, directs our imagination to the image of a sheltering tree. Centuries of interpretation nudge us to think immediately of the Church. I’m not denying that application but such a correlation could be as lifeless as it is unquestioning. When […]

Readings: Ezekiel 17:22-14; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:26-34 The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Fr. James presiding and preaching.

Readings: Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8-9; Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19; John 19:31-37 The dictionary defines “sacrilege” as the profanation of the sacred. And thus for the Christian there is a sense in which all sin can be said to be a form of sacrilege in which the sacred temple that each one of us is, is defiled […]

This is an overdue post but one still worth publishing. The community Mass was celebrated at 11:00 AM, Fr. Joseph Wittstock presiding and preaching. The Mass concluded with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. Following Midday Prayer, the community retired to the refectory for a festive dinner. Yesterday had been the Memorial of St. […]

Readings: Exodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 Some ten-thousand years ago at the end of the last Ice Age, an accident of nature changed the course of human history. Two wild grasses cross-fertilized to form a hybrid, which in turn, crossed with another wild grass and so produced wheat. Unlike the wild grasses, the […]

This week Abbot Damian Carr, of St. Joseph’s Abbey, Spencer, Massachusetts, will come to Berryville to conduct the Regular Visitation of our community at Holy Cross Abbey. This periodic visit, stipulated by our Order’s constitutions, gives each monk the opportunity to speak to Abbot Damian and reflect upon the state of our life together. Dom Damian […]

Readings: Exodus 24:3-8; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 The community Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM, Fr. Senan Furlong, OSB, will preside and preach. Fr. Senan is a monk of Glenstal Abbey, County Limerick, Ireland and is spending the month of June at Holy Cross Abbey; this is the conclusion of his sabbatical year […]

I love you, O Lord, my strength; through you every hostile power yields to me, worm that I am, and the guile of the ancient Serpent is laughed to scorn by the angels you send to minister to us, so that his desire to hurt is turned to our advantage instead. I love you, Lord, my […]

Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Romans 8:14-17; Matthew 28:16-20 In today’s Gospel, Jesus acts like the welcoming host: when the eleven doubting disciples worship him, he draws closer to them. He accepts them and draws them into his mission, never pressing their doubts. What sort of host is he? When Jesus ascends to the Father, he appears […]