About This Community
The Community is comprised of professed semi-hermit monastics in the Orthodox monastic tradition within the Ohio Orthodox Catholic Church. The monastics practice an interfaith spirituality (interspirituality). All of us hold outside jobs to support ourselves, our ministry, and the Ohio Orthodox Catholic Church. Thus we live directly in the world but try to not be of the world. It is a monasticism of the heart.
Do not love the world or the things in the
world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world -- is not of the Father but is of the world.
-- I John 2:15 - 16
Our ministry is two fold: Openness and Accessibility to God and His Creations (our Monastic Rule of Life).
There is one body and one Spirit, just as
you were called in one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
on God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
-- Ephesians 4:4 - 6
Given our type of monasticism (semi-hermits), the Community does not offer any public worship services (Mass/Liturgy) at this time. You are always welcome to ask about maybe forming a worshipping community. We as monks have also taken on the role of Living in and Practicing the Presence of God and teaching this to others who desire to learn.
As semi-hermit monastics, our personal home(s), wherever that might be at the moment, becomes our personal hermitage. Hermits and semi-hermits in the Orthodox tradition live either by themselves or with another monastic. They do not live directly within a monastery as many of the monastics do. Since the Community's monastics can live anywhere within the United States and Canada, the Community will be comprised of many hermitages depending on the spiritual needs and physical needs of each monastic. In other words, the Community can be described as a monastery/monastic community without walls. All hermitages will answer to and be governed by the Community and the schema-Archimandrite/Bishop of the Eastern Rite monastics. Thus, the Community acts as the spiritual mother house for the Eastern Rite monastics within the Ohio Orthodox Catholic Church. Mother Barbara is the schema-Archimandrite/Bishop for the Eastern Rite monastics.
You are welcome to send us an email with your questions concerning our ministry.