The History

In the mid-1980’s, a group of three missionary priests, who had served in Haiti and Brazil, came together to address some of the challenges of evangelization in the modern world. They recognized that the mission requires a strong liturgical life as a foundation, as well as the supports of a witnessing community. These reflections led to the founding of the Monastery of the Holy Cross in 1988. The goal remained evangelization, but the mission had moved from areas of the developing world to the modern ‘desert’ of the city, beset by violence, alienation and spiritual poverty.

In 1990, Joseph Cardinal Bernadin invited the community to Chicago to create an oasis of silence and prayer, witnesses to the contemplative life. In the year 2000, the community entered the 1500-year-old tradition of Benedictine monasticism as a dependent house of the Abbey of Christ in the Desert in New Mexico. From its modest beginnings, the community has grown and now numbers ten monks, with an average age of just under 50. The monastery was canonically elevated to the status of an autonomous house in December of 2011 by Bruno Marin, OSB, former Abbot President of our congregation.

The Activities

• Gregorian chant scholarship – The community has become known nationwide for its distinguished scholarship on Gregorian chant. In the autumn of 2012, the Monastery founded the choral group Schola Laudis. The goal of the Schola is two-fold: to enrich the liturgical life of the Monastery and the Archdiocese of Chicago by the incorporation of the masterworks of the Renaissance composers, and more generally, to help introduce more people to the beauty of the Catholic liturgical tradition.
• Hospitality – The Monastery has a award winning B&B.
• Handicrafts selling – The community provide to sell simple and inexpensive caskets, made at St. Meinrad’s Archabbey, in the USA,.
• Shop – A gift shop carries various items made at monasteries or reflecting monastic spirituality.