The current chapel at Holy Cross Monastery was originally built for a brotherhood of 12, with only the occasional pilgrim joining us for the divine services. Now, by God's grace, the brotherhood has expanded to nearly 30 monastics, with many other men desiring to enter the monastery once there is room for them to do so. Holy Cross has also become a pilgrimage center for Orthodoxy in America, and there is so little room in our chapel that our guests often have no choice but to stand outside the church or in our adjacent trapeza during the services. We desperately need to build a suitable temple in which to carry out our primary obedience and service to the world as monastics — prayer to the Lord God.

Andrew Gould, a renowned Orthodox architect, has designed a beautiful church for us — one which is reverent and traditional, but which is also quite at home in our West Virginia holler and in perfect harmony with the surrounding landscape.

By the end of 2019, we are on track to complete all necessary infrastructural changes and improvements. It is our intention, God helping us, to begin construction as soon as weather permits in the spring of 2020.

Our budget for this project is $2.5 million. Please prayerfully consider supporting this God-pleasing work, so necessary not only for the monks and pilgrims of Holy Cross Monastery, but also for the entire world which suffers so profoundly from the need for God and for the fullness of Christian life and prayer which monasticism strives to incarnate to the highest degree possible.