Holy Cross Abbey - Berryville, VA

Holy Cross Abbey - Berryville, VA Holy Cross Abbey is a Roman Catholic monastery of the Cistercian (Trappist) Order following the Rule of St Benedict.

As a contemplative monastic community, we invite you to share our hospitality, silence, solitude and life of prayer. Hours listed are for the Gift Shop; please see our website for special announcements, including openings/closings. The Monastery grounds are open 24/7 and the Chapel (when not under renovation) is open from 3am to 8pm. Or call us at:
540-955-7168 (Gift Shop)
540-955-4383 (Info, Guest House reservations)

Abbot Joseph’s Homily for Corpus ChristiHunger is an aversive sensation that Saint Augustine likens to an illness, with ...
06/08/2026

Abbot Joseph’s Homily for Corpus Christi

Hunger is an aversive sensation that Saint Augustine likens to an illness, with food and drink serving as the medicines that temporarily treat this very human condition. Yet, as he observes, food does not cure hunger; it merely quiets its symptoms for a time. Inevitably, several hours after a satisfying meal, hunger returns and we begin thinking about procuring our next meal....

Hunger is an aversive sensation that Saint Augustine likens to an illness, with food and drink serving as the medicines that temporarily treat this very human condition. Yet, as he observes, food d…

A Word of Monastic WisdomBless me, most loving Jesus, bless me and have mercy on me in the loving-kindness of your most ...
06/05/2026

A Word of Monastic Wisdom

Bless me, most loving Jesus, bless me and have mercy on me in the loving-kindness of your most gracious heart. That my soul may choose to know nothing apart from you and that, disciplined by your grace and instructed by the anointing, I may progress well, passionately, and powerfully in the school of your love. Almighty holy Paraclete, in the love with which you have marked me out for you with a spiritual name, grant me to love you with all my heart, to cling to you with all my soul, to expend all my force in your love and service, to live after your own heart, and, being prepared by you, to go, at the hour of death, spotless into your nuptials....

Bless me, most loving Jesus, bless me and have mercy on me in the loving-kindness of your most gracious heart. That my soul may choose to know nothing apart from you and that, disciplined by your …

Saint Charles Lwanga and CompanionsIn urging Timothy to stir into flame the gift of God that you have, Saint Paul touche...
06/03/2026

Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions

In urging Timothy to stir into flame the gift of God that you have, Saint Paul touches on the mysterious interplay between God’s grace and our response and cooperation with that grace. Grace is not like some medication that once taken unfailingly accomplishes its healing work without our even being aware of it or needing to do anything ourselves. Instead, grace requires our constant and active cooperation in order that our freedom may not be compromised and that love—of which grace is an expression—may be preserved....

In urging Timothy to stir into flame the gift of God that you have, Saint Paul touches on the mysterious interplay between God’s grace and our response and cooperation with that grace. Grace is not…

Memorial of St. Augustine of CanterburyThe disciples James and John reveal a heart still unpurified by obedience to the ...
05/27/2026

Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury

The disciples James and John reveal a heart still unpurified by obedience to the truth. In their presumptuous quest for glory—seeking seats at the right and left of the glorified Christ—they look outside themselves for a greatness that already dwells, unrecognized, within. The First Letter of Peter reminds us that purification through obedience to the truth begins with a deepening self‑knowledge that can arise only in the searching light of God’s truth: the truth of who we actually are now, and the even more decisive truth of who we are called to become in Christ....

The disciples James and John reveal a heart still unpurified by obedience to the truth. In their presumptuous quest for glory—seeking seats at the right and left of the glorified Christ—they look o…

Thursday of the 7th Week of EasterMost of us, I would imagine, have either asked others for prayers or promised our own....
05/21/2026

Thursday of the 7th Week of Easter

Most of us, I would imagine, have either asked others for prayers or promised our own. In the latter case, we sometimes forget that promise, and so the surgery of a friend we committed to pray for has already taken place by the time we remember—leaving us praying after the event. Although this may feel like little more than a guilty response, praying after the event need not be without importance or efficacy....

Most of us, I would imagine, have either asked others for prayers or promised our own. In the latter case, we sometimes forget that promise, and so the surgery of a friend we committed to pray for …

Tuesday of the 7th Week of EasterOur attitudes towards God’s will for us can sometimes be characterized by a sense of fa...
05/19/2026

Tuesday of the 7th Week of Easter

Our attitudes towards God’s will for us can sometimes be characterized by a sense of fatalism that makes us feel that all that happens to us is virtually inevitable and preordained. This can result in a sense of passive resignation to what we consider the inevitable and this can then suffocate creativity and weaken personal initiative. However, such an attitude is challenged by Saint Paul’s experience, and he tells us quite explicitly that…...

Our attitudes towards God’s will for us can sometimes be characterized by a sense of fatalism that makes us feel that all that happens to us is virtually inevitable and preordained. This can result…

Feast of Saint MatthiasJesus’ insistence that it was he who chose the disciples, and not they who chose him, continues i...
05/15/2026

Feast of Saint Matthias

Jesus’ insistence that it was he who chose the disciples, and not they who chose him, continues in the Church’s life with the Lord’s choice of Matthias to replace Judas—himself once specially chosen, yet ultimately rebellious toward that call. We are not told whether Joseph, called Barsabbas, felt rejected or wounded by not being selected for this intimate circle of apostles; such a reaction would have been entirely human....

Jesus’ insistence that it was he who chose the disciples, and not they who chose him, continues in the Church’s life with the Lord’s choice of Matthias to replace Judas—himself once specially chose…

Livestream IssuesAs several of you have kindly informed us, we are (yet again) experiencing problems with our livestream...
05/15/2026

Livestream Issues

As several of you have kindly informed us, we are (yet again) experiencing problems with our livestream and are trying to ascertain the nature of the problem. With the weekend upon us, this issue may not be resolved until sometime next week. We apologize for this recurring issue and appreciate your understanding.

As several of you have kindly informed us, we are (yet again) experiencing problems with our livestream and are trying to ascertain the nature of the problem. With the weekend upon us, this issue m…

Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 6th Sunday of EasterPeter and John’s journey to Samaria and their praying for the bestowal...
05/10/2026

Abbot Joseph’s Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter

Peter and John’s journey to Samaria and their praying for the bestowal of the Holy Spirit on those who had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus highlights one of two clear instances in the Book of Acts in which the effects of Baptism—that first sacrament we all received—don’t always follow the orderly and predictable sequence we have been taught to expect....

Peter and John’s journey to Samaria and their praying for the bestowal of the Holy Spirit on those who had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus highlights one of two clear instances in …

Friday of the 5th Week of EasterMemorial of the Cistercian Martyrs of Atlas: The unredeemed ego—also known as the false ...
05/08/2026

Friday of the 5th Week of Easter

Memorial of the Cistercian Martyrs of Atlas: The unredeemed ego—also known as the false self—readily co‑opts even spiritual gifts and graces to prop up its fragile and ever‑anxious sense of identity. It treats gifts as possessions, using them to secure worth rather than to serve love. By contrast, the redeemed ego—the self whose true identity is hidden with Christ in God—is freed from this grasping....

Memorial of the Cistercian Martyrs of Atlas: The unredeemed ego—also known as the false self—readily co‑opts even spiritual gifts and graces to prop up its fragile and ever‑anxious sense of identit…

Address

901 Cool Spring Lane
Berryville, VA
22611

Opening Hours

Monday 3am - 8pm
Tuesday 3am - 8pm
Wednesday 3am - 8pm
Thursday 3am - 8pm
Friday 3am - 8pm
Saturday 3am - 8pm
Sunday 3am - 8pm

Telephone

+15409554383

Website

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