Welcome to New Skete Communities
We are religious communities of men and women dedicated to monastic life in the Eastern Orthodox Church. As monastics, we earn our daily bread by the work of our own hands. The result of our work has been the subject of numerous television and radio segments on monastic life, and our dogs and cheesecakes are regularly featured in newspaper and magazine articles. The Monks' dog training series, Divine Canine, aired on the Discovery Channel's Animal Planet; and the Nuns' highly acclaimed gourmet cheesecakes have been featured by food critics, including Rachael Ray.
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The Monks of New Skete: In 1966 a small group of Byzantine-Rite Franciscans established a monastic community in northwestern Pennsylvania. Today, the monks reside in their permanent home east of Cambridge, New York, close to the Vermont border. It is here that the monks have, for more than 40 years, nurtured their deep love for and spiritual connection with dogs, and developed their expertise in dog training and breeding.
The Nuns of New Skete: In 1969, inspired by a vision of contemporary monastic life, a group of seven Poor Clare nuns from Indiana settled in Cambridge, New York. With the monks’ help they purchased a small farm house a few miles from the monks’ monastery and built their own monastery across the road from the farm house. Thirteen years later, the nuns added a bakery to their modest home where, today, the sisters produce their gourmet cheesecakes.
The Companions of New Skete: Over the years, people of all faiths have come to New Skete to visit the gift shops and grounds, become dog customers, make spiritual retreats, and attend spiritual services. In 1983 a group of married people who had been attending services at New Skete, petitioned New Skete to become a third community at New Skete, and the Companions of New Skete were formed. Companions follow a religious rule of life, owning nothing as individuals, and working and praying alongside the monks and nuns.
