NEW SKETE COMPANIONS
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ABOUT US

The Companions of New Skete, a married monastic community, was founded as the third New Skete community in 1983. In 1984, it was officially brought under the omophorion of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius, primate of the Orthodox Church in America. under the guidance. The members of this monastic house live monastic life in common. As a monastic community in the church, it exists for the spiritual growth of its members in fellowship with the Monks and Nuns of New Skete, according to the principles of monastic life, consecrated to the three monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

As married monastics we dedicate ourselves to achieving a full flowering of human life, as embodied in Christ, through our shared liturgical and communal life. As we believe that spiritual traditions must continue to evolve in order to be a living reality, and the practice of faith must be in relation to a given society and culture, we believe that if monasticism is going to remain a viable expression of religious life in American culture, other modes of being, in addition to celibate monks and nuns, will evolve.

As a married monastic community, we strive to grow in faith and wisdom by willingly exploring, evaluating and challenging all areas of our lives in loving, dynamic inter-relationship. Balancing times of solitude, prayer, study, silence and work, we offer ourselves to God as witnesses of married monasticism in contemporary America. We share our mission with all who partake of our hospitality.

Recognizing the need for married couples and individuals to make time to deepen the spiritual aspect of their lives, we have set up three guest suites. Our non-directed retreats are intended to immerse our guests in the daily rhythm of our monastic life. Our desire is two-fold: to provide a place of beauty, solitude and silence which will encourage guests to seek quiet reflection and prayer, and to provide the opportunity for guests to interact with us, as well as members of the monks’ and nuns’ communities, both in informal settings and in our worship. By sharing our lives, we try to bridge the gap between secular and monastic life. We hope that our guests gain a better understanding of monastic life by participating in it, albeit for a short time, and will return to secular life with a strengthened heart and deeper commitment to Christ.