Monastery News
On Saturday, November 16, the Hermitage was blessed with a visitation of the Mother of God's Kursk-Root Icon, an ancient and miracle-working icon which is considered the protectress of the Russian Church Abroad. At the same time, relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov arrived as a gift to the monastery by the brotherhood of St. Tikhon's Monastery in Pennsylvania. St. Seraphim himself was healed as a child by the Kursk-Root Icon of a severe illness, and this second meeting of the two at our humble monastery was the cause of great joy and gratitude amongst all the brethren.
Continue reading
Archimandrite Seraphim speaks about the need for a new church at Holy Cross Monastery and shares some of the beautiful new designs presented to us by our designer, Andrew Gould. Please pray that the Lord blesses this very necessary endeavor, and consider donating as you are able.
Continue reading
Designer Andrew Gould shares some of the thoughts and inspirations behind the new church design in Orthodox Arts Journal:
With great pleasure, I have developed a design for a new church for the Hermitage of the Holy Cross in West Virginia. In many ways, this design is the culmination of 15 years of thought, research, and experimentation on my part, and encapsulates the best of my ideas for Orthodox church design. I would like to share with you the story of this project.
On Friday, September 27, the brotherhood of Holy Cross Monastery celebrated their patronal feast, the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. The following weekend, on September 28th & 29th, the annual Pilgrimage Weekend was presided over by His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America & New York.
Continue reading
On Friday, September 27, our designer delivered to us his proposed plans for the new church. The new building is 92' x 48' internally, with a large covered wraparound porch bringing the total dimensions to approximately 110' x 70'. We estimate that the new church will comfortably fit numerous serving clergy and servers in the altar, 50 monastics in the stasidia, 150 faithful in the nave, an additional 50 faithful in the loft. There is also ample space in the covered porch (with the church doors open) in cases of very high attendance.
Continue reading