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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

There will be a change in the hour of the Sunday Mass beginning 5 March, 2017, the First Sunday of Lent. We will begin celebrating Mass at 10:00 AM, rather than 11:00 AM on 5 March. We hope to improve some practical arrangements in monastic housekeeping, respecting our limited personnel. One advantage for our visitors with […]

    Over 150 people attended the celebration of the burial  of Father Robert Barnes last Saturday at Our Lady of the Holy Cross…here are some pictures of the day along with our favorite portrait of Father Robert.  

On January 5, 1942, Robert T. Barnes was born to Mary Evoy Barnes and her husband, Robert Barnes, Sr., of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Robert grew up at their home on Lindale Avenue, Baltimore, with his younger brother Jon, and was a member of Little Flower Catholic Parish. Robert went to public school and attended “release time” for Catholic Instruction […]