Diocese: Diocese of the West
Deanery: Pacific Southwest Deanery
Address
15799 Ojai Rd
Santa Paula, California 93060
Email:
Website: stbarbaramonastery.org
Office: 805-921-1563
Parish Contacts
Directions
General Location
St. Barbara Monastery is located on State Highway 150, six miles north of the town of Santa Paula.
From Interstate 5
Take the Highway 126 West exit in Santa Clarita. Go 27 miles to Santa Paula and take the 10th St./Highway 150 exit, turning right to go north. Bear to the right when the road forks, at which point Highway 150 becomes Ojai Rd. The monastery is 1/4 mile past the entrance to Thomas Aquinas College, just past the large silver mailbox with the number “15799”. Turn right at the first driveway and cross the narrow bridge.
From Interstate 101
Take the Highway 126 East exit in Ventura. Go 11 miles to Santa Paula, turning left at the 10th St./Highway 150 exit to go north. Bear to the right when the road forks, at which point Highway 150 becomes Ojai Rd. The monastery is 1/4 mile past the entrance to Thomas Aquinas College, just past the mailbox with the number “15799”. Turn right at the first driveway and cross the bridge.
Schedule of Services
All services are in English.
7:00 AM Matins.
Daily—Morning
12:15 PM Sixth Hour and Memorial Service, except on days when there is a Divine Liturgy.
Daily—Afternoon
5:30 PM Vespers. 7:30 PM Compline. DURING GREAT LENT, the schedule consists of Vespers at 4:00 PM with Compline at 6:00 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings; There are no services on Wednesday evenings in Lent.
Daily—Evening
6:00 PM Vigil.
Saturday Evening
There are no Sunday Morning Services.
Sunday Morning
Parish Background
St Barbara Monastery was founded in 1992 with the blessing of His Grace, Tikhon, Bishop of San Francisco and the West. First located in downtown Santa Barbara and then in Goleta, the Monastery relocated to its present Santa Paula location in late 2005. A relic of the Monastery’s patron Saint, the Great-Martyr Barbara, taken from the principal relics which lie in Kiev, is in the Monastery’s chapel, as are relics of St Elizabeth the New Martyr; St James, the Son of Zebedee; St Herman; St Nektarios; St Anne, the Mother of the Theotokos; St Raphael of Brooklyn; St John of San Francisco; the Martyr Victoria of Carthage; and the Precious and Life-Giving Cross. In 2009, when the County authorities notified the monastery that the trailers and RVs in which many of the sisters were living could not remain on the property, ten sisters relocated to Holy Assumption Monastery in Calistoga. St. Barbara Monastery presently numbers four sisters, who are committed to rebuilding their community by building a proper monastery complex, starting with the church presently under construction. The sisters maintain a regular cycle of daily liturgical services and partly earn their living by growing and selling lavender and lavender products, making and selling caskets, giving retreats, and operating a small bookstore.