St. Barbara Orthodox Monastery
LATEST NEWS & POSTS
February 2026
Feb 20 Please note: There will be no Divine Liturgy at the monastery this Sunday, the Sunday of the Expulsion of Adam.
Please feel free to join the sisters for a 9:30 am Hierarchical Liturgy at Holy Virgin Mary Cathedral celebrating their parish feast day this Sunday.
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There will be 5:30 pm Forgiveness Vespers at the monastery later on that day. This service signals the beginning of Great and Holy Lent.
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We wish you a blessed Fast!
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Feb 19 Read this month's newsletter here.
Please note that there will be no Friends Gathering this month as the last Sunday of February falls on Forgiveness Sunday.
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Feb 8 We found a number of important items that were left behind at the January Friends Gathering:
*An icon someone brought from home
*Several books purchased from us
*A new journal with matching pen
*A fabric bag containing several liturgical calendars
Please contact us to claim your items
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Feb 7 Divine Liturgy is cancelled tomorrow, Sunday, 2/8 as Fr. Jude and Matushka Brigitte are sick. Please pray for their recovery and feel free to join the sisters at St. Herman Church in Oxnard for 10 am Liturgy.
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Feb 1 10 am Divine Liturgy tomorrow, Monday, Feb 2, for the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple.
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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 His Grace, Bishop VASILY, bishop of San Francisco and the West.
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 prayerful devotion to the Holy Trinity, living in community, hospitality, and diligent labor, we seek to deepen our love for God and neighbor, endeavoring to make our monastery a prayerful and peaceful 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
Saturday, 2/21/26
7 am Matins
12:15 pm Sixth Hour
6 pm Vigil (Vespers, Matins, First Hour)
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Sunday, 2/22/26
**No Divine Liturgy**
Sisters will be at Holy Virgin Mary Cathedral in LA for a hierarchical Liturgy with Bishop Vasily.
Please join us there!​
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5:30 pm Forgiveness Vespers at monastery
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​LENTEN SCHEDULE
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Clean Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 23 & 24
8 am Matins
12 pm 6th Hour
4 pm Vespers
6 pm Great Compline
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Clean Wednesday, Feb. 25
8 am Matins
12 pm 6th Hours
5:30 pm Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
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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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