It is not unusual for the monastery to be the first encounter our visitors have with Eastern Orthodoxy. Some may have heard before of the Church as Russian Orthodoxy or Greek Orthodoxy, but Orthodox Christians do not have to be Greek or Russian. Our community is part of the Russian Orthodox tradition, but our sisters come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds: Slavic, Greek, Syrian, and European. All of our sisters are American, and many are converts to the Orthodox Church. What is it about this faith tradition that draws people from so many walks of life?
Holy Assumption Monastery was established at 1519 Washington Street in Calistoga in 1943. The original group of nuns were refugees from the Soviet Union, and they built the community with love and prayers. However, the community dwindled in the 1980s until there were no nuns left, and the property fell into disrepair. Only in 2009 did nuns return, to reestablish monastic life in Calistoga.
Holy Assumption Monastery is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, or Theotokos, which means "God-bearer." We celebrate our altar feast on August 15th, the Feast of the Dormition ("Falling Asleep") of the Mother of God. This feast is also known as the Assumption of the Virgin Mary among English-speakers, and the early nuns gave the monastery the name "Holy Assumption."
