Hermitage of the Holy Cross

Holy Cross Monastery is an English-speaking monastery under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in the Diocese of Eastern America & New York. The abbot and confessor of the monastery is Archimandrite Seraphim.

Holy Cross is a growing monastery consisting of more than two dozen monks, novices, candidates and layworkers, many of whom are converts to the Orthodox Faith. The monastery community is comprised of both seasoned monks, who have lived very full monastic lives for decades, and many younger monks who have brought to the monastery a youthful vigor and energy. The average age of the monks at the Hermitage is 39.

Holy Cross Monastery is located on 180 acres of land in the beautiful foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia. The surrounding hills and forests provide the monastery with seclusion from the distractions and temptations of the world, as well as a daily reminder of the beauty of God’s creation. These two aspects of our physical setting help to lead us to prayer.

The primary work of a monk at Holy Cross Monastery is prayer and repentance. A monk comes to the monastery seeking God about all things, and works fervently at prayer and daily toil for the sake of his own salvation and out of love for his brothers in the monastery. St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) wrote that “True Christianity and true monasticism consists in the practice of the commandments of the Gospel. Where this practice is absent, there is neither Christianity nor monasticism, whatever the outward appearance may be” (The Arena: An Offering to Contemporary Monasticism, ch. 4). Therefore, the monk strives daily to die to himself and to live the Gospel Commandments, which are to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and to love thy neighbor as thyself (Matthew 22:37,39).

Holy Cross Monastery was founded in September 1986 by Hieromonk Kallistos (†1992) in House Springs, MO. The monastery remained in the Missouri area for the next 14 years. During this time, the monastery expanded and grew. In 1999, Holy Cross doubled in size and all available rooms for the monastics were filled.

An offer of land was made to the monastery and with the blessings of the abbot, the ever-memorable Metropolitan (then Archbishop) Laurus of Holy Trinity Monastery, and the monastery’s spiritual father, Bishop (then Abbot) George, the brotherhood decided to move the monastery to West Virginia. The move was accomplished on May 25, 2000.

The property which the monastery inherited in this rugged Appalachian location was almost entirely lacking in infrastructure. In the beginning, only one livable structure and a few sheds existed on this property, and for a long time water had to be hauled to the monastery daily to support a meager existence. Now the monastic community is working through a number of projects to lay a foundation for the future.