Athonite Style Incense: Made by the Monks of the Hermitage of the Holy Cross

Pure frankincense resin is ground into a fine powder, which is then saturated with rich, fragrant oil. Kneading brings this mixture to a dough-like consistency. The incense is rolled into sheet form and the monks cut the incense into small grains while saying the Jesus Prayer. The grains are then covered in a fire-purified clay powder to mitigate the stickiness, and are cured for at least a month.

The term "Athonite style" is used to describe incense which is finished as a grain (not a stick) in a manner faithful to the method of preparation used for centuries on Mount Athos, a monastic republic in Greece. Athonite style incense is burned atop a lighted coal, and can be used at home or in church as an accompaniment to prayer.

Hermitage of the Holy Cross: Wayne, West Virginia

The Hermitage of the Holy Cross is an English speaking monastery under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and is a dependency of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York. The monks support themselves by manufacturing hand-rolled incense in the ancient Athonite tradition and through hand-painted icons, homemade soap, wooden icon shelves, analogions (prayer desks) and other liturgical items and products.

Holy Cross Monastery was founded in September 1986 by Hieromonk Kallistos in House Springs, Missouri. The Hermitage remained in the Missouri area for the next 14 years. An offer of land was made to the Hermitage and with the blessings of the monastery's Abbot, Archbishop Laurus of Holy Trinity Monastery and the monastery's spiritual father, Igumen George, the brotherhood decided to move the monastery to West Virginia in 2000.