It could have easily been 1950. With the fog just lifting on the 1,200 acres of Holy Cross Abbey in Berryville, grazing cows were the only sign of life on the long drive past Cool Spring Natural Cemetery to the main grounds and chapel.
Inside, about 50 worshippers quietly gathered for Mass Nov. 21 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Cistercian monastery, led by Abbot Joseph Wittstock. “What we do is important in a world that has lost a sense of the sacred, the divine, and is bearing the consequences of that in the experience of meaninglessness and purposelessness,” he said. “We stand as a kind of a symbol of stability in a very rapidly changing world.”
At their peak in the 1960s, 60 monks lived, prayed and worked together on the property that overlooks the Shenandoah River. In their prime, they baked and sold 20,000 of their world-famous fruitcakes. Now there are 12 monks and one postulant who make about 3,000 fruitcakes per year, but nothing has changed in their monastic life.
“As the decades have passed, Holy Cross Abbey, like so many of our communities, has become smaller and older,” said Abbot Joseph, who cautioned against having “an all-too human perspective on the intentions and workings of divine providence” when it comes to predicting the future of the monastery.
And that is “a sentiment that I suspect is shared by our 33 brothers who now rest in our cemetery,” he said. “From their presently eternal perspective, they are most likely amazed to discover how their mostly unspectacular and less-than-perfect lives have borne fruit for the church and touched the lives and destinies of so many people they never even met or knew. That positive, saving influence of our monastic community is one that is still at work even as we worship here together this morning.”
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge participated in the Mass in choir, kneeling beside the altar. After Mass, he said it was providential that the anniversary celebration coincided with the Feast of the Presentation of Mary.
“For in so many ways all of you, dear brothers, reflect for us her beautiful example,” he said. “Every day, like Mary, you proclaim the greatness of the Lord. You proclaim his greatness for the ways that he has sustained you throughout these 75 years and for the way that he reveals himself to us, especially in the beauty of creation on these holy grounds. You reflect for us the importance as Mary showed us of being with the Lord, sitting at the feet of Jesus. And I’m sure all who gather here today and all who visit this place are so grateful for that reminder, especially as we live in such a busy and noisy world.”
Lindy and John Prohaska, parishioners of St. Francis de Sales Church in Purcellville, have been coming to the monastery for more than four decades. “It’s the feeling that you get here that is unlike any other place,” said John. “I can remember when there was no air conditioning and you would hear the cows mooing in the background and the leaves were starting to fall in autumn. Our daughter was 4 years old in 1984, and we would hear the monks singing their prayers as she was falling asleep.”
Holy Cross Abbey continues to maintain a retreat house, where visitors are welcome to step out of the world. “Our monastery is a place of welcome and retreat for people who need a time of peace and quiet recollection,” said Abbot Joseph. “The example of our lives and our total dedication to prayer following Christ, I think, is what people need.”
