Status of Mount Calvary Monastery: Now at Former St. Mary’s Retreat House

As many of you know, the Mount Calvary Monastery was destroyed in the Santa Barbara Tea Fire in 2008.  Shortly after the fire, the monks relocated to St. Mary’s Retreat House on Mission Canyon Road, immediately adjacent to the Mission. Recently the Order reached an agreement with the Sisters of the Holy Nativity to purchase the property.  So, St. Mary’s Retreat House, the grounds and St. Joseph’s house are all now the property of the Order of the Holy Cross.  The property was paid for by the insurance payment from Mount Calvary’s destruction.

You’ll find several All Saints parishioners and numerous members of the greater Santa Barbara community who attend a brief service of lauds and Eucharist every Friday morning at the retreat center and then who stay for breakfast and fellowship.  If you’d like to learn more, check in with the Rev. Paul Collins; you can email him at n0vember@msn.com.

Mount Calvary Monastery was established in 1947 by Fr. Karl Tiedemann, OHC. Mount Calvary Monastery is currently retreat and conference center of the Order of the Holy Cross on the West Coast. The principal work of the community is to receive guests to the guest house for stays of varying lengths and for a variety of purposes.  These purposes vary from a parish program to silent retreat. Central to each day at Mount Calvary is the “work” of prayer, or Opus Dei, as St. Benedict calls it.

The three services of The Divine Office and the daily offering of the Holy Eucharist are both acts of praise to God and an intercession for the needs of the world.  Equally central to the day is a time of silence, usually following Compline through breakfast the following morning. Central to the common life of prayer in all four of the houses located in the United States (of which Santa Barbara is one) is the Divine Office.  Holy Cross follows the Episcopal Church’s Daily Office Lectionary with some adaptation.  More information about the national Order is available here while information about Mount Calvary/Santa Barbara is available here.