Visit The Monastery

Day Visits & Tours

On day visits, everyone is welcome to walk the grounds or take a pre-arranged guided tour of the main churches. You may also visit the Russian History Museum, bookstore, and cemeteries. In addition, day visitors may attend all services. After the last service of the day, women are asked to leave the main campus of the monastery.

Tours can be requested via our contact page using the “Day Tour” option on the form. Please state the number of people in your group, and arrival and departure dates and times to aid with scheduling. We offer two types of tours based on group size:

1. Individuals and small groups of up to ten people. This will consist of a short tour of about 15-30 minutes in the upper church with a brief history of the monastery.
2. Large groups of eleven people or more. One-hour tour of the upper and lower churches with a full history of the monastery that highlights holy items of interest.

Wireless internet is available. Ask the attendant at the bookstore for the password.

If you have certain skills or have mastered a trade that you would like to use to contribute to the monastery, please contact us. We have only been able to continue our monastic life here thanks to the self-sacrificing generosity of many skilled people. God bless you!

Guesthouse

The monastery guesthouse is located on State Route 167, one-half mile south from the monastery. Address: 1501 State Route 167, Jordanville, NY 13361 (Google Map).

Individuals and small groups of up to five people can contact the guesthouse manager Marian Peko via our contact form in order to reserve rooms. The cost is $25 per person per night (children stay for free). In your message, include your arrival date, departure date, the number of adults, and the number of children. For all groups requesting five rooms or more, a non-refundable 50% deposit will be required at time of booking.

Please note that for visits during great feast days such as Nativity or Pascha, the guesthouse gets booked up to capacity several weeks ahead of time, so contact the guesthouse well in advance for such pilgrimages.

Groups Of Five Or More People

For large groups of over five people, in addition to contacting the guesthouse, also write or call Archimandrite Theophylact via our contact page at least 14 days before your visit. Include details of your visit so we can coordinate with the guesthouse, kitchen, museum, etc. Fr. Theophylact will help connect you with the other areas of interest. Even if your group is not staying at the guesthouse, please let us know of your dates. (Groups less than five people do not need to contact the monastery beforehand.)

Directions

Dress Code

No one wearing shorts or dressed immodestly may enter the grounds of the monastery. Clothing with large words, logos, or worldly designs is not permitted. Socks must be worn with all footwear including sandals or open-toed shoes.

Women wishing to enter the church must wear a head covering, a loose-fitting knee-length skirt or dress, and a long-sleeved blouse with a collar close to the neck. Do not wear makeup or perfume. Extra head coverings and dresses are available at the candle stand.

Men should wear long pants and a long-sleeve shirt. Do not wear t-shirts or short pants. Hats are not permitted indoors.

Clergy and monastics should wear their ryassa or cassock (Subdeacons & Readers need to wear their cassocks only in church and at formal meals.)

If you wish to participate in some work around the monastery, please bring clothes and shoes suitable for work. Your work clothes should still fulfill the requirements above. Please follow the dress code in all public areas of the monastery, including the common area of the guesthouse and surrounding grounds.

Monastery Conduct

If you come to meet any of us in our offices or workshops, please knock first and say the prayer, “Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God have mercy on us.” Enter only if you hear the reply, “Amen!” You may enter the following buildings freely during normal operating hours: (1) church during services or tours (except for the Altar/Sanctuary), (2) trapeza (refectory), (3) monastery office (for cemetery business, etc.), (4) guesthouse, (5) bookstore, (6) museum.

Restrictions

• Do not enter any private buildings, rooms, or workshops without permission.
• Do not take photos of the monks without asking.
• No pets
• No smoking
• No alcohol
• No secular music (church music is allowed with headphones).
• Women are not allowed on the 3rd or 4th floors of the monastic building or the Seminary dorm.
• Women need to vacate the monastery premises after the last service of the day.
• Taking photographs is not allowed in the church unless we give you an explicit blessing for this purpose.

Silence

We observe general silence in the monastery from 9PM to 9AM.

In his Ascetical Homilies, St. Isaac of Syria said, “Silence is a mystery of the age to come, but words are instruments of this world.” When we keep silence, we avoid frivolous words and thoughts, and our minds are less easily distracted by external things. The silence of our mouths gives stillness to our minds and thus peace to our hearts. We begin to know ourselves and behold the image of God in our souls. We see that God has given us the obedience of cultivating the garden of the heart in order to produce His likeness in ourselves. We then understand how distracting words turn us away from this work of cultivation and lead us to passion and sin. Silence provides us with a path to the peace of Christ.

In general, it is best for guests to maintain a quiet demeanor and to speak to the monks only when they speak first. However, if you need help with something practical, feel free to ask a monk for help. 

Church Services

All guests are welcome to attend all church services with the monks. The church bell is tolled slowly before each service. Please arrive before the beginning of the service. See our Service Schedule for service times.

Electronic Devices

It is preferable that you leave your phone in your car or room during church services and meals. During services, phones and other electronic devices should only be used to follow the text of the services. Make sure all your devices are silenced before entering the church or trapeza.

Standing

Please stand reverently in the church. Men stand on the right and women on the left. It is customary to sit only during the reading of the Psalter. But you may sit reverently if you need to regain strength for standing. Everyone is required to stand during the reading of the Gospel at Matins and Liturgy and during the Eucharistic Canon during the Liturgy.

No one may enter the altar (sanctuary) except Eastern Orthodox men who has an explicit blessing for this purpose. Only the monastic choir and Reader may stand atop the steps at the front of the church.

Veneration Of Icons & Lighting Of Candles

Icons should be venerated and candles lit before or in the beginning of Vespers and Liturgy. Once you have finished please find a place to stand, then stand in prayer, reverently, without talking.

If you join us for Compline in the evening or Midnight Office in the morning we ask that you do not venerate icons or light candles at the beginning of the service but rather go to your place and pray quietly. At these services, candles should not be lit, and icons will be venerated at the end.

The order in which we line up for veneration of icons is as follows: bishops, priests, deacons, sub-deacons, monastics, seminarians, men, women. If you are not Orthodox or do not understand this practice and want to stay in your place, you are welcome to do so.

Children

Parents must supervise their children at all times on the monastery grounds and especially in the church. If they become noisy or unruly in their movements during church services, meals, or any common event, or at the guesthouse when others are present, please take them outside, into the lower church, or away from the activity until they are behaving properly. During church services, you may take your child to the lower church or trapeza (dining hall) for a break.

Holy Communion

We serve the Divine Liturgy daily. Only Eastern Orthodox Christians who have been to Confession the day before, or have a blessing from one of the monastery Father confessors, may partake of Holy Communion. To request confession, ask the attendant at the candle stand.

You MUST prepare yourself for the Holy Mysteries in this manner (no exceptions):

• Attend the Vespers & Matins prior to the Liturgy.
• Go to Confession, or obtain a blessing to commune from one of our father confessors
• Fast from all food and drink from midnight the night before until Communion.
• Read the Rule of Preparation prayers for Holy Communion.
• Arrive for the beginning of the liturgy (if you are delayed by children etc., the latest you should arrive is before the Epistle reading).
• If it is a plain weekday morning (i.e., not a feast day or a Sunday) and you are planning to commune, please ask a monk (there is usually one at the candle stand) to tell the serving priest that you are preparing to commune

If you have a blessing to stay longer than the three day maximum visit and would like to receive Communion multiple times during your stay, note that you need to request a blessing from one of our Father confessors to do so. Important: one may not commune more than three times in one week.

How to Properly Receive Communion

The order of communion is monastics, seminarians, men, then women. Stand in line then approach the chalice with your arms crossed over your chest. Say your name clearly to the priest, open your mouth wide, and close your lips on the spoon after the priest has placed the Holy Gifts in your mouth. The deacon will wipe your lips with the cloth. Then, kiss the rim of the chalice (not the priest’s hand) and step away from the chalice. You may cross yourself before you approach the chalice or after you step away. But do not cross yourself or try to hold the cloth once you have approached the chalice.

Confession

Only Eastern Orthodox Christians may receive Confession. On weekdays, to request Confession, ask the attendant at the candle stand. On weekends and major feasts, Confession will be heard during the Vigil on the eve of the feast at the front of the church in the two small side rooms (right and left sides). Just stand in one of the lines and wait your turn.

Spiritual Direction

If you would like to have a personal conversation with a priest, please contact Archimandrite Theophylact either before your arrival or as soon as possible after your arrival. If you are interested in becoming a monk, please contact Bishop Luke. They can both be contacted via our contact page.

Meals

We eat our meals in the trapeza (dining hall) in common and in silence, while one of the monks reads from the Lives of the Saints. Visitors are welcome to join us for all meals. Please consider helping to cover the cost of feeding everyone by depositing a donation in the drop boxes located within all the different dining areas or donating online.

No Meat & Alcohol

Meat and alcohol are not served in the monastery and are not allowed anywhere on the monastery grounds.

Short Mealtimes

Because we do not speak during the meals, the meals are brief: about 15-20 minutes. If you can’t finish that quickly or need more food, you may continue eating after the monks have sung the Thanksgiving Prayers.

Allergies

Although we cannot provide food tailored to special dietary needs, please let us know if you have any serious allergies to foods or other allergens. Feel free to ask if particular meals contain the allergens that affect you. If you have serious allergies, be sure to bring your Epi-pen and other medications. Also bring extra medication in case your departure is delayed.

Visits From Clergy

Thank you for serving us and the Church! We want to serve you in return and to respect your specific needs and time constraints. We understand that you may need to reach out to us on behalf of others to facilitate visits for them for pastoral reasons. Please don’t hesitate to contact Fr. Theophylact to discuss your personal or pastoral needs related to making a retreat at our monastery. Even if you have heard that our rooms are booked, we will do everything we can to help.

Clerical Vestments

If you plan to partake of Holy Communion during your stay, please bring your own vestments. Priests wear Phelonion, Epitrachilion, and Cuffs. Deacons wear their full vestments. Subdeacons and Readers do not need to bring vestments unless they require special sizes or are coming to assist with hierarchal services.

Concelebrating Clergy

If you are a clergyman and would like to serve with us, please request a blessing from your bishop first and forward his blessing to Fr. Theophylact via our contact page. We will subsequently ask a blessing from our abbot, Bishop Luke of Syracuse. Please bring your own vestments, especially your own white sticharion, and ask ahead of time what color vestments to bring.

Monastery Map

1. Holy Trinity Cathedral
2. Main Entrance
3. Bell Tower
3a. Development Office
4. Parking Area
5a. Holy Trinity Seminary Entrance
5c. Russian History Museum and Library Entrance
6a. Icon Painting Studio – Left Door Entrance
6b. Icon Mounting Studio – Right Door Entrance
7. Monastic Cemetery
8. Monastic Dormitory
9. Shipping Deliveries Entry
11. Student Dormitory
12. Guesthouse
13. Main Cemetery

Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! We look forward to seeing you. Safe travels!