Last updated: October 26, 2026
Thank you for supporting the Sacred Monastery of St. John of the Ladder and the Diocese of Pallini and Western Europe. Please review our policy regarding digital subscriptions, voluntary offerings, and physical goods before completing your order.
1. Digital Library Subscriptions
Our 12-month subscription plans grant access to our proprietary Diocesan Library, exclusive Patristic translations, and archival publications.
- Automatic Expiration (No Auto-Renewal): Subscriptions do not renew automatically, and your payment method will never be charged automatically upon expiration. Access simply concludes at the end of your 12-month term unless manually renewed.
- EU Right of Withdrawal Waiver: In accordance with European Union consumer law regarding digital content (Directive 2011/83/EU), digital access is provided immediately upon purchase. By completing checkout, you consent to immediate access and acknowledge that your statutory 14-day right of withdrawal is waived once access has been provided.
- Unused Access Refund Exception: If you change your mind within fourteen (14) days of purchase and have not yet logged in or accessed the library, please contact us at [email protected] and we will gladly issue a full refund. Once the account has logged in or utilized the library, the purchase is strictly non-refundable.
- Termination for Cause: No refunds are issued if subscription access is terminated due to a material breach of our Terms of Service (such as unauthorized copying, scraping, redistributing content, or credential sharing).
2. Donations & Voluntary Offerings
Financial contributions submitted through our site (such as the Essential Support for the Brotherhood fund) are voluntary offerings given directly to support the living costs of the monastic brotherhood, diocesan administration, and the maintenance of the Sacred Cathedral of St. Paraskevi.
- Finality of Offerings: All donations and voluntary offerings are strictly final and non-refundable. Donors are solely responsible for reviewing their selected donation amounts carefully prior to confirming payment at checkout.
3. Physical Handcrafted Goods & Liturgical Items
We provide Free Worldwide Shipping on all physical goods. Because our liturgical items are handcrafted or prepared individually by our monastic workshops, the following terms govern returns and cancellations:
A. United States & International Orders Outside the EU (All Sales Final)
- No Statutory Withdrawal: European Union consumer protection directives and statutory rights of withdrawal do not apply to orders placed from or shipped to destinations outside the European Union.
- All Sales Final: All orders delivered to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and all other non-EU destinations are strictly final. We do not accept returns, refunds, or exchanges for change of mind, personal preference, or ordering errors.
B. Churches, Parishes, & Institutions Worldwide (B2B Orders – All Sales Final)
- Institutional Purchases: Purchases made by or on behalf of parishes, churches, monasteries, dioceses, schools, or institutional bodies worldwide are commercial (B2B) transactions. Statutory EU consumer withdrawal rights apply solely to natural persons acting outside their trade or profession.
- All orders of liturgical supplies, vestments, church appointments, and sanctuary goods placed by or for ecclesiastical bodies are strictly final and non-returnable, except in the case of verified manufacturing defects or transit damage reported upon delivery.
C. European Union Individual Consumers (EU B2C Home Use Only)
Under Directive 2011/83/EU, private natural persons residing within the European Union who purchase standard, off-the-shelf items strictly for personal, domestic home use have the right to withdraw within fourteen (14) days from the day of delivery without giving any reason.
- Eligible Items: Applies solely to standard, batch-produced items (such as standard packaged incense, or non-custom-sized and non-custom-colored appliques).
- Notification: You must notify us of your decision to withdraw within 14 days of delivery by writing to [email protected].
- Return Dispatch: You must ship the items back to our monastic workshops in Greece without undue delay, and no later than fourteen (14) days after notifying us.
- Return Shipping Costs: You are strictly responsible for paying the direct cost of return shipping to Greece.
- Condition of Goods: Returned items must be unused, in their original packaging, and in resalable condition.
- Refund Scope: Upon receipt and inspection of the returned items, we will refund the purchase price of the item via your original payment method.
D. Custom & Made-to-Order Items (All Buyers Worldwide)
Pursuant to Article 16(c) of Directive 2011/83/EU, the right of withdrawal never applies to goods made to consumer specifications or clearly personalized.
- All sales are strictly final, non-returnable, and non-refundable for custom-tailored vestments, custom antimensia, bespoke liturgical metalwork, or any applique produced with custom-selected colors or custom dimensions, regardless of customer location.
E. Order Cancellations
If you need to cancel an order for standard physical goods before dispatch, contact us immediately. Once bespoke materials have been prepared, custom embroidery has begun, or standard parcels have been lodged with the postal carrier, an order cannot be canceled.
4. Shipping, Customs, & Tariff Surcharges
All physical items are carefully inspected, securely packaged, and dispatched directly from our monastery in Boeotia, Greece via registered postal networks (such as Hellenic Post / ELTA) or designated commercial couriers.
- Tariff Surcharges (Strictly Non-Refundable): Any import tariff fees or regulatory surcharges collected at checkout (including the 15% fee for orders delivered to the United States, or applicable upfront fees for other destinations) are strictly non-refundable under all circumstances. These fees are remitted directly to customs and postal authorities upon dispatch to clear foreign border entry.
- Customs Inspections & Delays: Border authorities reserve the right to inspect international parcels. The monastery is not liable for international postal transit delays, or for packages opened, inspected, sampled, or rearranged by customs officials.
- Other International Customs & Taxes: For orders shipped outside the European Union where local taxes are not collected at checkout, the recipient remains solely responsible for all local customs clearance, VAT, and import fees.
- Monastic Liturgical Calendar: Order preparation and dispatch pause annually during the principal liturgical observances of the brotherhood: the first week of Great Lent (Clean Week), Holy Week, and Bright Week (Pascha Week). Processing resumes promptly following these periods.
5. Contact Information
If you wish to inquire about an eligible return, check order status, or report transit damage upon delivery, please contact our operations team at:
- Email: [email protected]
- Entity: Sacred Monastery of St. John of the Ladder, Boeotia (Viotia), Greece