Brotherhood Moves Into the New Church

On Sunday, December 28, 2025, the brotherhood of Holy Cross made their permanent move into the new monastery church, where the daily cycle of divine services is now being served to the glory of God.

In the days leading up to the move, monks and pilgrims thoroughly cleaned the new temple and began the first round of transferring things over from the old church chapel. The efforts were crowned on Saturday with the Lesser Blessing of the Waters in the new church, during which the entire temple was blessed with Holy Water. Later that day, immediately before the beginning of the Vigil service, Abbot Gabriel led the brotherhood, local parishioners, and pilgrims in a procession, carrying many holy relics and icons from the old chapel to the new temple.

On Sunday, Divine Liturgy was served in the new church. Providentially, the Holy Forefathers of Christ and the Holy New Hieromartyr Hilarion were commemorated that day. Calling to mind the forefathers of our Savior, the brotherhood was also reminded of their own monastic forefather and previous abbot, Schema-Archimandrite Panteleimon of blessed memory, through whose vision and guidance the new church came to fruition. Additionally, Fr. Panteleimon had a deep devotion to the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian lands, which was reflected in his arranging for a relic of the new Hieromartyr St. Hilarion to be embedded in the cornerstone of the new church.

Having completed the construction phase, the beautification of the new church continues. A temporary iconostasis is currently in place while plans for a permanent iconostasis are underway. The monastery's next priorities include principal liturgical furniture such as the holy table and prothesis table, completing the iconostasis, and installing the cupolas to complete the church's domes.

In a video message, Abbot Gabriel thanked benefactors for their generous support over the years. “I don’t think any of us thought that it would take five years of work to get to this point,” he said. “But God’s time is not our time. And we know that he arranged everything for the best, for our own salvation and for the good of the brotherhood.”

The monastery invites everyone to make a pilgrimage and join us in prayer in the new church!

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