Holy Cross Monastery and Church is a registered historic building complex in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, listed in the

National Register The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on September 13, 1978.

Founding

Between 1873 and 1977, the Holy Cross Monastery was a Roman Catholic monastery atop Mt. Adams in

, which served a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of the same name. It was founded by the

Passionists The Passionists, officially named Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720 with a special emphasis on and de ...

, who were first brought to Mt. Adams in 1871 by

John Baptist Purcell John Baptist Purcell (February 26, 1800 – July 4, 1883) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Cincinnati from 1833 to his death in 1883, and he was elevated to the rank of archbishop in 1850. He formed the b ...

, the Archbishop of Cincinnati, to run

Immaculata Church The Church of the Immaculata, or Immaculata Church, is a Roman Catholic church atop Mt. Adams, a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. The church commemorates the Immaculate Conception and serves the Holy Cross–Immaculata Parish in the Archdiocese ...

, founded in 1860. The first Passionist

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of Immaculata Parish, Guido Matassi, C.P., immediately saw that the

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

of the parish would be inadequate to their needs as a semi-

monastic Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic ...

community. By chance, the building which used to house the Mitchel Observatory (later the

Cincinnati Observatory The Cincinnati Observatory is located in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio (United States) on top of Mount Lookout, Ohio, Mount Lookout. It consists of two observatory buildings housing an 11-inch (28 cm) and 16 inch (41 cm) apertu ...

), located only two blocks away from Immaculata Church, was being abandoned due to the effects of industrial pollution. The terms of the will of the donor of the property which had housed the observatory, however, required the return of the property to his heirs. When Matassi approached them about purchasing the property, they demanded a price which he would not pay. With the encouragement and support of

Sarah Peter Sarah Anne Worthington King Peter (10 May 1800, Chillicothe, Ohio - 6 February 1877, Cincinnati) was an American philanthropist and patron of the arts. Life Sarah Anne Worthington was born on May 10, 1800, at Chillicothe, Ohio. Her father, Thoma ...

, daughter of an early

Governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and a noted convert to Catholicism, the city stepped in and purchased the property from the heir. The following year Matassi signed a 99-year lease with the City of Cincinnati for a building and a property atop Mt. Adams. The Passionists remodeled the structure and added a third floor.

The Church and Monastery of the Holy Cross

The first Church of the Holy Cross, made out of wood, was finished in 1873, standing next to the monastery, but in 1895 it was replaced by a large, permanent structure. It served mostly Irish immigrants. In 1899 the monastery was condemned as unsafe, and a new edifice was built in the same location. It was dedicated on June 9, 1901.

Decline of the monastic community

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, thousands of Roman Catholic priests across the United States left the priesthood and

religious life Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way. It includes those in institutes of consecrated life (religious and se ...

. By the mid-1970s, several members of the Passionist community were trying to decide if they wanted to continue as priests or leave the priesthood or

altogether. No new candidates were joining the

congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: *Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administra ...

. The regional Passionist superiors made the decision to close it in 1977 and the building sold two years later. Holy Cross Parish was merged with Immaculata Parish, also located atop Mt. Adams. The combined parish has since been known as Holy Cross-Immaculata.

Notes

External links

Stories of the Mt. Adams Passionists
{{Registered Historic Places Passionist Order National Register of Historic Places in Cincinnati Italian Renaissance Revival architecture in the United States Italianate architecture in Ohio 19th-century Christian monasteries Roman Catholic monasteries in the United States 1873 establishments in Ohio 1977 disestablishments in Ohio Religious organizations disestablished in 1977 Mount Adams, Cincinnati Cincinnati Local Historic Landmarks 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Italianate church buildings in the United States