Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, Virginia facts for kids
The Our Lady of the Angels Monastery is a special home for Trappistine nuns. It's located near Crozet, Virginia, in a beautiful valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The monastery covers about 507 acres (205 hectares). The nuns here live a quiet life, mostly separate from the public.
Contents
History of the Monastery
Starting a New Home
On April 29, 1987, six nuns from Mount Saint Mary's Abbey in Wrentham, Massachusetts, began a new adventure. They wanted to start a new home for Cistercian nuns. They found an old cheese farm for sale at a good price. All the cheese-making machines were still there.
Building a Community
Trappists believe in being self-sufficient and working with their hands. The idea of making and selling cheese to support themselves was perfect for the nuns. They moved into two small log cabins on the property. On May 1, Our Lady of the Angels Monastery officially began. It was the fifth home for Cistercian nuns in the United States. It was also the first one in the Southern states.
Work soon started on a new brick monastery building for the Sisters. It was built on a nearby hill. The new building was ready on April 29, 1989. It had a small chapel that is open to visitors every day. The Sisters celebrate mass there with a priest and receive communion daily.
Learning to Make Cheese
Learning to use the old cheese-making machines was a challenge. The Sisters didn't know much about making cheese. The equipment had not been used for about six years. Luckily, their neighbors helped them out. Jim and Margaret Morris, who knew a lot about cheese, shared their skills. Soon, the nuns were ready to sell their cheese. In November 1990, the Sisters began making Gouda (cheese). This became their main way to support the monastery.
Growing and Expanding
Of the first six nuns, only Sister Barbara and Sister Mary David still live at the monastery. Sister Barbara helps new nuns learn about their life. The community has grown from six to twelve nuns. Their ages range from 40 to 77 years old.
As their numbers doubled, the Sisters needed more space. They needed more dormitories and work areas. So, in early 2006, they paused cheese-making for a short time. They began expanding their monastery. The construction finished in February 2008. This gave the community new rooms, more space, and important new machines for making gouda cheese.
Gouda Cheese Production
The nuns order about 800 gallons of milk each week. It comes from a nearby Mennonite farmer. They don't advertise their two-pound rounds of gouda cheese. But they usually sell all 20,000 pounds by Christmas. After that, they get orders for Christmas gift certificates. These are ready to ship by March. The Sisters only make enough cheese to pay their bills. They don't make more, even when many more orders come in. Besides cheese orders, customers also send in prayer requests. The Sisters take these requests very seriously.
Daily Life at the Monastery
A Structured Day
The Sisters follow a strict schedule based on the Rule of St Benedict. This is how the Cistercian Order lives. Their day is very organized:
- 3:00 - Wake up
- 3:15 - Vigils (Night Office), private prayer, reading, breakfast, getting ready
- 6:30 - Lauds (Morning Praise), followed by 30 minutes of silent prayer
- 7:00 - Chapter (a meeting with the superior, community meeting, or class)
- 7:30 - Eucharist, Terce (Mid-morning Prayer), then work until 11:00
- 11:40 - Sext (Midday Prayer), dinner, optional nap, private prayer or reading
- 1:30 - Nones (Afternoon Prayer), then work until 4:15
- 5:30 - Vespers (Evening Prayer), 15 minutes of silent meditation, supper, private prayer or reading
- 7:00 - Compline (Concluding Prayer of the day), followed by strict silence and bedtime
Quiet Contemplation
The nuns do not take a vow of silence. But they live in quiet contemplation instead of talking a lot. They eat their meals in silence. One Sister reads aloud while they eat. Their work changes based on their skills and what is needed. Cheese-making happens once every eight days. The Sisters watch educational videos and listen to music together once a week. They only use computers for work.
The monastery is also home to two dogs, Schipper and Zoe.
See also
- Trappists
- Cistercians
- Rule of St Benedict
