St. Barbara Orthodox Monastery
LATEST NEWS & POSTS
June~July 2025
July 12 Blessed Feast Day of St. Paisios of Mt. Athos. Our venerable father, St. Paisios, pray for God for us!
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July 4 Blessed 4th of July! Remember to pray for our country and for its leaders.
Join us this Sunday, July 6th, for 10 am Divine Liturgy at St. Michael Church in Van Nuys. (8:45 am Matins/Orthros).
There will be no Sunday Divine Liturgies at the monastery in the month of July.
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June 26 The June Newsletter is available here. We invite you to join us for this month's Friends' Gathering on Sunday, June 29, 4 pm. Feel free to bring some food to share and a friend for a casual evening of learning, prayer and fellowship together.
June 23 Read about the life of Matushka Olga of Alaska here and of her recent glorification here.
Holy Righteous Mother Olga of Kwethluk, wonderworker, Matushka of All Alaska, pray to God for us!
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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
Note
**Month of July:
There will be no Sunday Divine Liturgy at the monastery in July. Regular Sunday Divine Liturgies will resume in August. ​
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Sunday, July 13th: We will be at St. Innocent Church in Tarzana for the 9:30 am Divine Liturgy (preceded by the Hours). ​
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Weekdays
7 am Matins​
12:15 pm Sixth Hour
5:30 pm Vespers
7 pm Small Compline or Spiritual Reading
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Saturday
7 am Matins
12:15 pm Sixth Hour
6 pm Vigil (Vespers, Matins, First Hour)
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​Sunday
9:40 am Third & Sixth Hour
10 am Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom**
(except in the month of July-- No Sunday
Divine Liturgy)
5:30 pm Vespers
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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