Holy Cross Abbey is a monastery of the Catholic Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (OCSO), popularly known as the Trappists. The monastery is located near Berryville in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, United States.
The order of monks that occupy the abbey originated in Valley Falls, Rhode Island, but their monastery, Our Lady of the Valley, was gutted by fire on March 21, 1950. The monks temporarily occupied an abandoned Civilian Conservation Corps camp, and moved into the Virginia location on November 18, 1950.
The monks make and sell fruitcakes and creamed honey and they own and operate a natural cemetery and a retreat house where guests can stay for several days at a time. Guests at the retreat house are requested to contribute to the atmosphere of silence and prayer.
During the Civil War, the Battle of Cool Spring was fought on what is now the monastery grounds.
It was also featured in an article by the Washington Post commending it for its quiet location and beautiful scenery. [1]
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church, or temple, and may also serve as an oratory, or in the case of communities anything from a single building housing only one senior and two or three junior monks or nuns, to vast complexes and estates housing tens or hundreds. A monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary, and outlying granges. Depending on the location, the monastic order and the occupation of its inhabitants, the complex may also include a wide range of buildings that facilitate self-sufficiency and service to the community. These may include a hospice, a school, and a range of agricultural and manufacturing buildings such as a barn, a forge, or a brewery.
The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Savior, is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta in 1344 and approved by Pope Urban V in 1370. They follow the Rule of Saint Augustine. There are today several different branches of Bridgettines.
The Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani is a Catholic monastery in the United States near Bardstown, Kentucky, in Nelson County. The abbey is part of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, better known as the Trappists. Founded on December 21, 1848, and raised to an abbey in 1851, Gethsemani is considered to be the motherhouse of all Trappist and Trappistine monasteries in the United States. Gethsemani is the oldest Trappist monastery in the country that is still operating.
The Battle of Cool Spring, also known as Castleman's Ferry, Island Ford, Parker's Ford, and Snicker's Ferry, was a battle in the American Civil War fought July 17–18, 1864, in Clarke County, Virginia, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864. The battle was a Confederate victory.
The Monastery of the Holy Spirit, officially the Monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit, is a Trappist monastery located near Conyers, Georgia, in the United States. It is part of the Roman Catholic church.
Quarr Abbey is a monastery between the villages of Binstead and Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The name is pronounced as "Kwor". It belongs to the Catholic Order of St Benedict.
St. Joseph's Abbey is a Trappist monastery in Spencer, Massachusetts. It is known as a center of prayer and monastic work. Jams and beer produced by the monks are particularly popular. The monastery is also known as one of the origins of the centering prayer movement in the 1970s. Certain parts of the abbey are generally open to the public.
The Order of the Holy Cross is an international Anglican monastic order that follows the Rule of St. Benedict.
There are a number of Benedictine Anglican religious orders, some of them using the name Order of St. Benedict (OSB). Just like their Roman Catholic counterparts, each abbey/priory/convent is independent of each other. The vows are not made to an order, but to a local incarnation of the order, hence each individual order is free to develop its own character and charism, yet each under a common rule of life after the precepts of St. Benedict. Most of the communities include a confraternity of oblates. The order consists of a number of independent communities.
Solesmes Abbey or St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes is a Benedictine monastery in Solesmes, Sarthe, France, famous as the source of the restoration of Benedictine monastic life in the country under Dom Prosper Guéranger after the French Revolution. The current abbot is the Right Reverend Dom Abbot Geoffrey Kemlin, O.S.B., elected in 2022.
St. Gregory's Abbey is an American monastic community of men living under the Rule of St. Benedict within the Episcopal Church. The abbey is located near Three Rivers in St. Joseph County, Michigan.
The Abbey of New Clairvaux is a rural Trappist monastery located in Northern California in the small town of Vina in Tehama County. The farmland, once owned by Leland Stanford, grows prunes, walnuts, and grapes that the monks harvest from the orchards and vineyards to sustain the community.
Chevetogne Abbey, also known as the Monastery of the Holy Cross, is a Catholic Benedictine monastery dedicated to Christian unity located in the Belgian village of Chevetogne in the municipality of Ciney, province of Namur, halfway between Brussels and Luxembourg. Currently, the monastery has 27 monks.
La Trappe Abbey, also known as La Grande Trappe, is a monastery in Soligny-la-Trappe, Orne, France. It is known for being the house of origin of the Trappists, to whom it gave its name.
The Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity was a Trappist Cistercian monastery in Huntsville, Utah, United States. They were Catholic contemplative monks of an enclosed religious order known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (OCSO).
Saint Maurus and Saint Placidus Abbey, Waegwan, Chilgok, North Gyeongsang, South Korea is a Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien. Established in 1952 by Korean monks who had survived the dissolution of the Territorial Abbey of Tokwon and Holy Cross Abbey in Yanji, the monastery is currently home to 131 monks. Fr Blasio Park is the current abbot.
Holy Cross Abbey, Yenki (Yanji), Jilin, China, was a Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien. Established in 1922 as a mission station, the monastery later became the seat of the Vicariate Apostolic of Yenki. After the withdrawal of Soviet forces following World War II, the monastery was suppressed by the People's Republic of China. While many of the monks were repatriated to Europe, others moved to South Korea and founded the Abbey of Waegwan.
St. Andrew Abbey-Cleveland is a Benedictine monastery in Cleveland, Ohio.
St. Benedict's Monastery is a Catholic monastery in Pitkin County, Colorado, in the unincorporated community of Snowmass about 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Aspen. The monks are members of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, commonly called the Trappists.