Guesthouse Information
Below is some information for our pilgrims staying in one of our guest houses:
While staying at the guest house please sleep and rest as you need to. We provide sheets, towels, and toiletries. Most of our guests will have breakfast and supper there. Snacks are also provided as you wish. We ask that food and drink not be eaten in the bedrooms. Please kindly keep the the guesthouse in good order for the next guests who will arrive. +
Our refectory (dining room) is where guests join us for the mid-day meal. The sisters usually sit at a separate table, while the guests sit at designated tables. Our meals are served buffet style and guests are asked to serve themselves first.Guests usually take supper from the lunch buffet, which can be taken back to the guest house for the evening meal. +
Our Church and Chapel are always open during the day and you are welcome to pray or just sit quietly. You are welcomed and encouraged to join us for our scheduled services. A monthly calendar is posted in each guest house. The nuns have two areas in the front of the church where they read and sing. Guests are welcome to sit in the back part of the church. You are welcome to venerate the icons and relics, light candles, and find a comfortable place to sit in the church. In our small chapel guests may sit on the left. +
Orthodox Christians are encouraged to prepare for and receive Holy Communion according to the rule practiced in your home parish. Guests receive Communion after the mothers and sisters. +
Our Library is comfortably furnished and filled with wonderful books and periodicals. Feel free to relax and read there. If you want to borrow a book to read at the guesthouse, please sign it out on the clipboard on the wall. We are sorry, but books cannot be loaned off the monastery property. The guesthouse also has a nice selection of books and periodicals from our monastery library. +
Our gift shop and has books, icons, jewelry and many lovely gift items. We accept cash, checks and credit cards. +
Our grounds are lovely at any time of year. We have a cemetery where Mother Alexandra, our foundress, is buried. Our trails skirt our fields and also go back into the woods. Please ask any mother or sister for directions, or to let them know you will be hiking, and enjoy the beauty. We advise taking your cell phone with you even though the trails are well marked. +
See our "Monastery Grounds" and "Monastery Amenities" pages for more information about our monastery.
A few extra notes:
We welcome you to dress comfortably but modestly. Shorts and tight fitting clothes should not be worn. Men must wear a shirt. Head coverings for women are not required. Please do not wear perfume, cologne or aftershave as some of the sisters have allergies.
Smoking is not allowed in any of the monastery buildings.
About donations: Guests often ask whether we have a “recommended donation.” In keeping with the Orthodox monastic tradition, both meals and accommodations are free. Many guests do choose to leave a donation in an amount according to their ability and desire. Donations can be left in the basket on the candle table or given to any of the sisters.
Before leaving we ask that you place your used linens in the laundry basket on top of the washer. Please hang up your wet towels and do not remake the bed, just roll back the comforter.
If the guest houses are full or if your group is large, you may want to consider some of the local options for lodging. If you are staying nearby, we still encourage guests to notify us for a visit.
Hotel Lodging Near the Monastery:
Park Inn by Radisson
7195 Eastwood Drive, Beaver Falls, PA, 15010
1-800-537-2568
It's about 15 minutes from the monastery, at the Beaver Falls Interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Exit 13
They have an indoor swimming pool.
New Castle Comfort Inn
1740 New Butler Road, New Castle, PA 16101
Phone: 724-658-7700
www.comfortinn.com
It’s about 15 minutes from the monastery
Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham
2801 Darlington Road, Beaver Falls, PA 15010
Phone: 724-581-5273
www.wyndhamhotels.com
It's about 30 minutes from the monastery, between the monastery and the airport
Bed and Breakfasts near the monastery:
Chapel Valley Estate
297 Chapel Drive Ellwood City, Pa. 16117
724-201-0811
www.chapelvalleyestate.com
Approximately 15 min. from the monastery
Boyer's Countryside Inn, Wampum, Pa.
424 Newport Rd.
toll free 1-877-farmbed or 724-535-3040
http://www.boyerscountryinn.com
Approximately 15 min. from the monastery
The Great Escape
Ellwoood City, Pa.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/18833408