About our Monastery

The Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration is a monastery for women under the jurisdiction of The Orthodox Church in America. It was founded in 1967 by Mother Alexandra (the former Princess Ileana of Romania) whose dream it was to provide a place where American Orthodox women from all ethnic backgrounds could come to live the monastic life and benefit from a liturgical cycle in English. Since that time, her vision has been fulfilled. The nuns, many of whom are converts to Orthodoxy, as well as the monastery’s many visitors, span a variety of backgrounds. We welcome a great number of non-Orthodox visitors as well.


A little about our monastic life

Since the beginning of Christianity the tradition of men and women consecrating their lives to God and living in community has existed. For the nun, life is centered around prayer—both liturgical prayer in Church, as well as personal prayer in her room. She embraces the opportunity to pray for the needs of all people, whether she knows them or not. The monastery receives requests for prayer through letters, phone calls, emails and from visitors. The second important aspect of life in a monastery is the offering of hospitality. We welcome visitors and look forward to the opportunity to have them learn about our life and experience the beauty and peace of the monastery. For many, the visit is an opportunity to “take their soul on vacation”—a special interlude in their otherwise busy lives.