About the Mount Calvary Community at St. Mary's

Mount Calvary Monastery and its Retreat House was established in 1947 by Fr. Karl Tiedemann, OHC, as the retreat and conference center of the Order of the Holy Cross on the West Coast. Following its destruction by fire in 2008, the monastic community relocated to St. Mary's Retreat house in Santa Barbara.

Recently the Order reached an agreement with the Sisters of the Holy Nativity that we could purchase this property.  So, St. Mary's Retreat House, the grounds, St. Joseph's house, are all now the property of the Order of the Holy Cross.  The property was paid for by the insurance payment from Mount Calvary"s destruction.

Central to each day at Mount Calvary is the "work" of prayer, or Opus Dei, as St. Benedict calls it. The three services of The Divine Office and the daily offering of the Holy Eucharist are both acts of praise to God and an intercession for the needs of the world.  Equally central to the day is a time of silence, usually following Compline through breakfast the following morning.

The principle work of the community is to receive guests to our guest house for stays of varying lengths and for a variety of purposes.  These purposes vary from a parish program to silent retreat.

Vital to our life are our associates, men and women who maintain a "rule of life" in conjunction with us, spiritually supported by us and supportive of us. For information go to Associates page.