St. Barbara Orthodox Monastery
LATEST NEWS & POSTS
January 2025
Jan. 22th Here is our January monastery newsletter. God willing, we will have our first Friends of the Monastery Gathering this Sunday, January 26th, 4 pm. Our speaker will be Fr. John Finley from St. Athanasius Church. See newsletter for more info.
Please bring some food to share at the potluck following Vespers, especially if you are coming with a big appetite!
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Jan. 12th Please note:
The monastery will be CLOSED to visitors Monday, Jan. 13th, to Wednesday, Jan. 15th. There is a scheduled power outage by Southern CA Edison during this time due to increased fire risk from high winds and dry conditions.
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We will not be able to take phone calls on our main phone line during this time. If you absolutely need to get a hold of us, please call 805-891-3643.
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God willing, the monastery will reopen on Thursday, Jan. 16th.
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ST. BARBARA ORTHODOX MONASTERY
LIFE OF PRAYER
St. Barbara Orthodox Monastery is a women's monastic community of the Diocese of the West of the Orthodox Church in America, under the omophorion of His Eminence, Archbishop BENJAMIN. The Monastery was founded in 1992 and has been located in Santa Paula, California, since late 2005.
The Sisters maintain a regular cycle of daily liturgical services and partly earn their living growing lavender and producing lavender products, selling solid wood caskets, and operating a small bookstore and online gift shop.
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In our daily pursuits, we at St. Barbara Orthodox Monastery strive to embody the teachings of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through living in community, prayerful devotion, hospitality, and diligent labor, we seek to deepen our love for God and neighbor, endeavoring to make our monastery a prayerful haven for all who visit.
THE LIFE OF ST. BARBARA
St. Barbara, a 4th-century martyr, embraced Christianity while sequestered in a tower by her wealthy pagan father, Dioscorus.
While gazing out of her tower and pondering what she saw, Barbara marveled at the inspiring beauty of nature she beheld, and reasoned rightly that there must be a loving Creator who was responsible for the beauty that thrilled her soul.
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She learned about the Christian faith (possibly from her faithful attendants). The more she drank in the truths of the Faith, not only was her heart captivated by God's marvelous creation, but also by Christ's wondrous love and work of salvation on the Cross in our behalf.
She was secretly baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity in her father's absence by a traveling priest disguised as a peddler.
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So strong was her love for Christ, that this young maiden was willing to suffer greatly and give up her own life for the truth of her new found faith.
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LIFE AT THE MONASTERY
SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
​Weekdays
7 am Matins
12:15 pm Sixth Hour and Memorial Service
5:30 pm Vespers
7 pm Small Compline and/or Spiritual Reading
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Saturday
7 am Matins
12:15 pm Sixth Hour and Memorial Service
6 pm Vigil or 5:30 pm Vespers (please inquire ahead)
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Sunday​
9:30 am 3rd & 6th Hours
10 am Divine Liturgy
5:30 pm Vespers
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PLAN A VISIT
If you would like to visit the monastery, please contact us ahead of time via email or phone. Everyone is welcome to attend the liturgical services in our chapel and to share in our common meals together.
There is no fixed fee for overnight accommodations, although free-will donations are gratefully accepted.
We ask that you dress modestly.
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