History and Culture
The Rise of American Monasticism
From its early foundations to its growing presence in American Orthodoxy today
Just a century ago, Orthodox monastics were a rarity in America. Today, there are over 70 monasteries across jurisdictions in over 20 states, giving many Orthodox Christians hope for the future of monasticism in the country. History has shown many times that our monasteries are a blessing and place of spiritual strengthening for Orthodox laity, and America has an opportunity for a new kind of growth with the recent, ongoing wave of converts.
Orthodox monasticism in America began with the establishment of Saint Tikhon’s Monastery in Pennsylvania. Initially, it was home to an immigrant group of monks at the beginning of the 20th Century, but quickly became a place of refuge for Father Arseny’s monks and a theological seminary. Later in the mid-20th Century, Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville followed a similar path after its founding by former monks of the Pochaev Lavra in Western Ukraine who had fled during the Bolshevik Revolution. The current temple’s construction was finished in 1949, and the monastery was led by Father Panteleimon, who himself had previously been a monk of Saint Tikhon’s. Of the current 80 Orthodox monasteries in America, these were two of the only five monasteries founded before 1950.
