A View Into Cistercian Life

[ThyHolyLove]

My mom saw this on TV and told me about it. It's a PBS special on St. Mary's Abbey in Ireland. It's the only Cistercian abbey for women in all of Ireland.

Check it out-----[url="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/july-22-2011/st-marys-abbey/9174/"]Cistercian Nuns[/url]

[Yaatee]

[quote name='ThyHolyLove' timestamp='1311810250' post='2277210']
My mom saw this on TV and told me about it. It's a PBS special on St. Mary's Abbey in Ireland. It's the only Cistercian abbey for women in all of Ireland.

Check it out-----[url="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/july-22-2011/st-marys-abbey/9174/"]Cistercian Nuns[/url]
[/quote]

Aside from the Trappistines, I believe that the only Cistercian Abbey in the US for women is in Prairie du Sac, WI.

http://www.nunocist.org/

they have videos also.

[Yaatee]

I just saw the video on St. Mary's Abbey in Ireland it is looks gorgeous and great! Six sisters in formation (9 women total took vows in 2006 in Ireland). People interested in Benedictine contemplative life should look at this one:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/july-22-2011/st-marys-abbey/9174/

[Maximilianus]

[quote name='Yaatee' timestamp='1311821565' post='2277309']

Aside from the Trappistines, I believe that the only Cistercian Abbey in the US for women is in Prairie du Sac, WI.

[url="http://www.nunocist.org/"]http://www.nunocist.org/[/url]

they have videos also.
[/quote]

Yeah, common observance Cistercians run thin in the U.S. The Trappists are everywhere.

[TheresaThoma]

Thanks for sharing!

[JulianofLdn]

Thanks for sharing this Glencairn is on my 'list'. Thanks to Thomas Merton I have a deep love of the Cistercians - I love the combination of work and prayer. It looks a wonderful place!

[Yaatee]

Well, they seemed great. Very nice professional video of course, showing that beautiful Irish landscape. I noted that they seem to sing Gregorian chant. They do accept older members, tho' I suspect that they are unusual, like the lady gardener who was interviewed.

If anyone looking an contemplative life seriously, who has not found it in the US, and who would consider moving abroad (usually a more mature person)--a lot of "ifs"--I think that they deserve a serious look. I think that they are viable too. Thirty-four there now, a bunch in formation, and I assume that they [b]own[/b] those 200 acres!

[Studiumecclesiae]

IF you're looking for a rather traditional cistercian way of life, I would suggest to think about our two Cistercian of the Common observance monasteries in France.
They retained all the divine office in Latin, have Paul VI's mass in Latin (readings in French) and have a very good spirit.

Here is Boulaur Abbey : [url="http://www.boulaur.org/abbaye-cistercienne-sainte-marie-de-boulaur/"]http://www.boulaur.org/abbaye-cistercienne-sainte-marie-de-boulaur/[/url] (a good 26 nuns)
and its foundation, Rieunette Abbey : [url="http://www.boulaur.org/abbaye-cistercienne-sainte-marie-de-boulaur/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=19"]http://www.boulaur.org/abbaye-cistercienne-sainte-marie-de-boulaur/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=19[/url] (about 7 nuns)

They have loads of entrances and are so ever attractive.

I just can't help promoting pro-latin communities!

[JulianofLdn]

Glencairn have a vocation discernment weekend coming up at the end of August... I'm ever so tempted to try and go.... is it too early to start going on visits etc, do you think? I know I can't seriously discern yet (not been Catholic long enough, in debt, have a very dependent cat who won't appreciate being palmed off somewhere else) but I do feel I should start to do something. Even if it's just visit...

[faithcecelia]

[quote name='JulianofLdn' timestamp='1312297724' post='2280281']
Glencairn have a vocation discernment weekend coming up at the end of August... I'm ever so tempted to try and go.... is it too early to start going on visits etc, do you think? I know I can't seriously discern yet (not been Catholic long enough, in debt, have a very dependent cat who won't appreciate being palmed off somewhere else) but I do feel I should start to do something. Even if it's just visit...
[/quote]

I began my visits very early, and Q was only the second community I ever visited. Yes, it was then 2yrs before I could enter but for all that has happened, I still think it was the right way to go about it - those 2yrs were very valuable, and knowing where I was aiming for helped a lot with the practicalities.

[Little Flower]

sorry if i sound stupid, but what is the difference between Cistercians and Trappists? I had thought Trappists were the monks

[krissylou]

[quote name='Little Flower' timestamp='1312309092' post='2280373']
sorry if i sound stupid, but what is the difference between Cistercians and Trappists? I had thought Trappists were the monks
[/quote]

Not stupid at all. Cistercians were a reform movement of the Benedictines around about the time of Francis and Dominic, when there was generally a whole lot of church reforming going on.

Some centuries later, there was another reform of the Cistercians, originating in the abbey of La Trappe -- they became known as the Trappists.

What we think of as "Trappists" (Thomas Merton, etc., and there are both men's and women's communities) are formally known as the Order of Cistercians of Strict Observance (OCSO), which is differentiated from the Order of Cistercians of Regular Observance (O.Cist.) Although, over time, the O.Cist. reformed themselves and are no longer the wealthy communities that the Trappists were reforming from. Kind of like O.Carm. is not necessarily much laxer than OCD anymore.

For reasons I do not understand even a little, it seems to me that OCSO women more frequently refer to themselves as "Cistercian" and men are more likely to use the descriptor "Trappist." I'm going on a retreat to a OCSO abbey at the end of the month and though they make and sell "Trappistine Quality Candies" when they're talking about their nuns or their abbeys or really anything non-chocolate they seem much more likely to call themselves "Cistercians." As if life were not confusing enough.

In fact, I do believe that the place where I'm going on retreat was founded from Glencairn, the community we're talking about from this PBS special, and St. Mary's Abbey in Glencairn is an OCSO (Trappistine) community, not O.Cist.

[Starets]

In practice, there is not too much difference between Benedictines, Cistercians and Trappists in terms of how they live their lives. There are Benedictine communities that are stricter than some Trappists ones and vice versa

[Little Flower]

[quote name='krissylou' timestamp='1312310393' post='2280386']

Not stupid at all. Cistercians were a reform movement of the Benedictines around about the time of Francis and Dominic, when there was generally a whole lot of church reforming going on.

Some centuries later, there was another reform of the Cistercians, originating in the abbey of La Trappe -- they became known as the Trappists.

What we think of as "Trappists" (Thomas Merton, etc., and there are both men's and women's communities) are formally known as the Order of Cistercians of Strict Observance (OCSO), which is differentiated from the Order of Cistercians of Regular Observance (O.Cist.) Although, over time, the O.Cist. reformed themselves and are no longer the wealthy communities that the Trappists were reforming from. Kind of like O.Carm. is not necessarily much laxer than OCD anymore.

For reasons I do not understand even a little, it seems to me that OCSO women more frequently refer to themselves as "Cistercian" and men are more likely to use the descriptor "Trappist." I'm going on a retreat to a OCSO abbey at the end of the month and though they make and sell "Trappistine Quality Candies" when they're talking about their nuns or their abbeys or really anything non-chocolate they seem much more likely to call themselves "Cistercians." As if life were not confusing enough.

In fact, I do believe that the place where I'm going on retreat was founded from Glencairn, the community we're talking about from this PBS special, and St. Mary's Abbey in Glencairn is an OCSO (Trappistine) community, not O.Cist.
[/quote]
[quote name='Staretz' timestamp='1312313754' post='2280413']
In practice, there is not too much difference between Benedictines, Cistercians and Trappists in terms of how they live their lives. There are Benedictine communities that are stricter than some Trappists ones and vice versa
[/quote]
Thanks! I think I get it now. I got an email from a nun who said she is Trappistine, and then the thing after her name was OCSO, and i was pretty sure that part of it stood for Cistercians of some sort of observance, so I was confused.

[krissylou]

Staretz can probably fill in a lot more accurate detail. But as I understand it, a lot of the reforms had to do with how they used their lands. In the Middle Ages, Benedictine abbeys used the manorial system, with the abbot (or abbess) as Lord (Lady) of the Manor. They had serfs working their fields. They got really really rich. (Individual monks/nuns didn't own anything personally, of course, but the communities got quite rich indeed.)

No no no, said the early Cistercians, something has gone really wrong here. This is not the way it's supposed to be. They did not have serfs. They had lay brothers working the fields while the choir monks were at prayer. This economic system ended up working quite well. THEY got rich too!

Enter another reform, known as the Trappists. And they came around at a later point in economic history, when "figuring out a new way to use land" was not the key to wealth that it had been previously. They never got rich.

Obviously, a whole whole whole lot has changed in the surrounding world over the last millennium. NOBODY has serfs anymore, having a family member as a monk or nun is not de rigeur for wealthy families, the whole world surrounding monastic life is entirely different. And NOBODY looking for a nice comfy life of wealth and power is going to say "I have a great idea, how about if I join a monastery." A lot of the reasons for the reforms simply no longer exist. So, while the Cistercian reform(s) came about out of an idea that something had gone seriously seriously wrong with Benedictine life, I can't imagine that Cistercians (O.Cist or OCSO) would be looking down their noses at, say, the nuns of Regina Laudis or fine upstanding Benedictine monks such as Staretz. Or other communities that are significantly more active. They're just different calls.