Why did the Trappists split from the Cistercians in 1892?

[Gabriela]

Does anybody know? Also, does anybody know what the differences are in their observance today? Ironically, the OCSOs appear less strict than the O.Cist.s these days...

[Luigi]

Basically, I think the OCSO's were a reform movement, a back-to-basics movement - they wanted strict observance of the Cistercian rule, which is really the Benedictine Rule. .

The Benedictines fell into decadence - they always had St. Benedict's Rule, but they had grown lax in observing it. The monastery at Citeaux (Cistercium, or something like that, in Latin) decided to go back to full observance of the Rule. A number of the other monasteries followed suit, and eventually, those monasteries formed into the Cistercians,separate from the Benedictines. 

The Cistercians eventually fell into decadence. At the Cistercian monastery of LaTrappe, Abbot de Rance (that needs an accent egue over the final e, but I don't know how to generate one). decided to reform the life by returning to strict observance. A number of the Cistercian monasteries followed suit, but they never really split from the main Cistercian order. Until 1892. Then it was approved by the pope. 

The worldwide Tappists have a very good website, although they been having trouble with it for the last couple of weeks. It says it's undergoing maintenance, but a lot of the links are still active. There's a tab for History, and another for Resources. My best suggestion is to scout around there. 

http://www.ocso.org/ 

[NadaTeTurbe]

For the same reasons that the Cistercians splits from the benedictines. 

Luigi gave you a very good answer. However, while Rancé is an important figure of the order, the reform was born with in the Charmoye abbey, with its abbot Arnolfini. 

I'm discerning a vocation as lay cistercian with an OCSO abbey. They have such a rich history, text, theologian, spiritual writer, I feel like I could spend my whole life studying it, and never going to an end. 

 

[Egeria]

I don't remember all the details, but I think it's a bit inaccurate to portray the Trappists as splitting off from the Order of Citeaux in 1892 as this gives the impression that before this there was one Order as we think of Orders today. Rather, there were centuries of very messy history (among both observances), with various monastic Congregations. From what I remember, what happened in 1892 was that the pope tried to unite these various groups into one Order, but was not successful in uniting both observances in one Order. However, he did succeed in uniting the three main Congregations of the Strict Observance, which gave rise to the OCSO as we know it today.

There's a (rather brief) history of the Trappists by Fr Basil Pennington here.

For those who are interested in more in-depth material on the Cistercians, there's also a wealth of material here.

Regarding differences in observance, "strict" and "less strict" are relative and it depends what one applies them to. Comparisons are also difficult because of differences from house to house within the same Order, although I think this is greater for the O.Cists than for the OCSOs. It's also important to keep in mind that historically the O.Cists have tended to predominate in the German-speaking world, and the OCSOs in the French-speaking world, which is not irrelevant to some of their differences (compare German and French Benedictines, and you will see similar differences).

Having said that, where the OCSOs may appear "less strict" (although that's not really the right word) is that they are perhaps less "classical" and were quicker to adapt their liturgy, habits, minor monastic customs etc, after Vatican II. I suspect that it's much more common for them to be on first name terms with each other, wear ordinary clothing for work, and have much less Latin, than it is for the O.Cists, although this obviously varies from monastery to monastery. I would ascribe a lot of this to their being "down to earth," and not being terribly into ceremony, something that is not unrelated to their (often, especially historically) farming work.

However, the OCSOs have consciously maintained some of the factors that traditionally distinguished them, notably the night office (although the time of Vigils varies from house to house, the Constitutions state that it should retain it's "nocturnal character") and abstention from meat (with the exceptions for the sick etc that St Benedict allows). They have also continued to insist on not taking on outside apostolates, unlike the O.Cists, many of whom work in schools or parishes. (Roscea in Ireland does have a school, but that is widely seen as an exception).

 

[Egeria]

One other point: The OCSOs have generally (I can think of one exception, although there may be others) retained a seven-fold office. While this is true of some O.Cist houses, I suspect that more of them have followed the practice of combining the little hours into one midday office (or else praying one after another), which is understandable if one runs schools or parishes. 

[Gabriela]

Thank you all! This is very helpful. I was totally confused, cuz if you look at the Wisconsin Cistercians and the Iowa (or any other American) Trappists, the Wisconsin Cistercians look much more "strict". And at the same time, all the articles I could find about the O.Cist.s and the OCSOs mentioned that there'd been a split in 1892, but none gave any explanation of why. But why 1892, especially after all those years and splits and reforms? It seemed they'd really been separate for centuries, so what special thing happened in 1892? It makes sense that they just didn't ever take the official step, and the pope trying to unite them now explains all.

Thanks again!  

Am happy to continue more O.Cist./OCSO discussion in this thread from here on out. We don't talk about them much in the VS, and some of you seem very knowledgable about them!

[Luigi]

From a Benedictine web site: http://www.osb.org/cist/intro.html

The Trappist Reform

In 1664 Pope Alexander VII recognized within the Cistercian Order two observances, the Common and the Strict, sometimes called the "abstinents" for their fidelity to Benedict's prohibition of the use of flesh meat in the monastic diet. Among these latter arose Armand Jean de Rancé, a commendatory abbot who underwent a conversion and brought about in his Abbey of Notre Dame de la Grande Trappe a renewal in the practice of monastic enclosure, silence, and manual labor, expressing a spirit of apartness from all worldliness and a dedication to prayer and penance. By the disposition of Divine Providence his was the one community that escaped complete destruction and dispersion at the hands of the French Revolution.

Trappist Expansion

In the course of many and varied travels under the leadership of Augustine de Lestrange the community was able to establish foundations in Spain, Belgium, England, Italy and the United States. When the monks returned to re-establish La Trappe after the downfall of Napoleon, Vincent de Paul Merle remained in America to establish the first permanent Cistercian community in the New World which today flourishes in Spencer, Massachusetts: Saint Joseph's Abbey. Monasteries of the Common Observance continued in eastern Europe in many cases operating schools and pastoring parishes.

The Order of Citeaux

In 1892 Pope Leo sought to bring all the Cistercian houses back together into one order but pastoral responsibilities and national loyalties made it impossible for the Common Observance houses who were divided into many national congregations to unite with the Strict Observance who were at that time largely French and who had opted for the strict monastic heritage of the Cistercian founders. Thus the Pope recognized two Cistercian Orders, called today the Order of Citeaux and the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, popularly known as the Trappists. The Order of Citeaux suffered greatly under the communist onslaught, not only in eastern Europe but also in Vietnam, where it had a congregation of five houses. On the other hand, the Strict Observance began to flower on the eve of the Second World War and continued to grow until it had over a hundred houses located on all six continents. Only in Yugoslavia and China did its houses suffer at the hands of communism. With the renewal of the Second Vatican Council both orders have written new constitutions which retain the reforming features of Saint Stephen Harding, the general chapter (though no longer annual, usually every three years) and visitations by the superior of the founding abbey.

[Sister Leticia]

I just thought I'd [gently] throw the Bernardine Cistercians into the conversation. They are a congregation of Cistercian women. From their website http://www.bernardine.org/

The Abbeys of Notre Dame de la Brayelle at Annay (1196) Notre Dame de la Woestine at St. Omer, (1217) and Notre Dame Des Près in Douai (1221) were three Cistercian houses for women in Flanders. In common with all monasteries in France, the Abbeys were suppressed and the members dispersed after the French Revolution in 1789.

The French Revolution saw the end of many monasteries in France. Three nuns, from each of the Abbeys, met together after the Revolution with the sole aim of re-establishing their Cistercian monastic life.

After many years in exile, spent travelling from place to place, they were finally able to settle at the small village of Esquermes, near Lille, and were officially recognised in 1827.

The three founding sisters wanted nothing more than to return to the Cistercian life that the French Revolution had forced them to leave. In 1936, building on the many informal links already made, spiritual links were officially established with the Cistercians of the Strict Observance. And in 1955, the Bernardines were officially recognised by the Church as an Order of Cistercian Nuns with solemn vows.

What the website doesn't say, though, is that in order to be allowed to live as a religious community in post-Revolutionary France they had to do something "useful" for society, and so they opened a school for girls. Since then they've always worked in education or hospitality. So although they have enclosure, they've never had grilles. Also, their houses aren't autonomous in the way other monasteries are: although they take a vow of stability, they've joined an order not a specific house, and although I don't think they move about as much as apostolic religious, there is some movement and I believe sisters in formation are usually sent to experience life in a different monastery.

I know one of the sisters at Hyning, where they run a small retreat/guest house, and she is a good mixture of down-to-earth and holiness.  http://www.bernardine.org/hyning-about-us

[NadaTeTurbe]

Little dialogue hear between a trappist and a diocesan priest : 

DP : "The Rule of St Benedict is very easy to live, no ?"

T : "So easy that my order needed two separations to live it fully..."

[Egeria]

2 hours ago, Gabriela said:

But why 1892, especially after all those years and splits and reforms?

Gabriela, although I don't remember the details, one way of looking at it would be to see this in the context of the centralisation of the time (just post Vatican I etc), which doesn't really fit that easily with monastic governance.

1 hour ago, Sister Leticia said:

I just thought I'd [gently] throw the Bernardine Cistercians into the conversation.

The Bernadines of Esquermes certainly deserve to be better known, and are very definitely part of the Cistercian family!

There are also Bernadines of Oudenaarde in Belgium, who have a broadly similar history, but have developed more into an apostolic Congregation, whereas the Bernadines of Esquermes are more recognisably monastic.

In addition, there is also the Congregation of Las Huelgas in Spain, which is somehow attached to the OCSO (I forget exactly how) and, if I remember correctly, once had mitred abbesses!

For those interested in things Cistercian (well, OCSO), you might be interested in these:

Glencarin Abbey (women) in Ireland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGQp8gFHz5I

St Sixtus Abbey (men) in Belgium (of the beer fame, but they're a lovely community too): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY-tc7SWdEs

(For some reason I don't seem to be able to insert the videos into the post...)

 

 

[krissylou]

Historically a lot of these reforms centered around how they used land.  Benedictine monasteries operated on the manorial system.  They had serfs and the abbot was the lord of the manor.  They got quite rich.  The Cistercian reformers thought that was no good.  They operated under the grange system and had lay brothers working the land.  THAT worked really well too.  They also got rich!  By the time the Trappist reforms happened, the industrial revolution was in gear and "figuring out a new way to manage the land" was no longer a key to wealth.  But really all that is a matter of historical curiosity now.  No Benedictine monastery has had serfs for a really long time.

My retreat spot of choice for the last several years has been a Cistercian (OSCO -- aka Trappistine) abbey.

At least at this place, when they talk about their history, Benedict was a very big deal.  And the Cistercian reforms of the 12th century are a very big deal.  The Trappist reforms are kinda a footnote.  No biggie.

They market Trappistine Quality Candies, and the nearby men's abbey sells Trappist Jams (delicious!) and Trappist beer.  So it's not like "Trappist" is a dirty word or anything.  But other than selling chocolate they refer to themselves as "Cistercians" vastly more often than Trappists and definitely consider the Order of Cistercians of Regular Observance (O.Cist.) to be part of the same family.

Back in the day, Trappists were much stricter than regular Cistercians.  And not necessarily in good ways -- a lot of times the local bishops had to intervene because the Trappists were so austere they kept literally dying off!  I think we can all agree that's overkill!  

But that's in the past and now the variations between individual monasteries are probably more significant than the variations between O.Cist. and OCSO.  Except that OCSO monasteries are (almost always, there may be a couple anomalies) fully contemplative while O.Cist. are sometimes fully contemplative and sometimes semi-contemplative but with some more active ministry.  The O.Cist. monks in Dallas will sometimes teach at Dallas University, for instance.

[Gabriela]

2 hours ago, Egeria said:

Glencarin Abbey (women) in Ireland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGQp8gFHz5I

Fantastic video. Thank you!

Let's see if I can get it to embed. (It is tricky sometimes. I think hitting enter right after the URL is what makes it show up.)

There we go!  

2 hours ago, krissylou said:

Back in the day, Trappists were much stricter than regular Cistercians.  And not necessarily in good ways -- a lot of times the local bishops had to intervene because the Trappists were so austere they kept literally dying off!  I think we can all agree that's overkill!  

Pun intended?  

[NadaTeTurbe]

Yes, la Trappe was nicknamed "le mouroir" - the place you go to die. 

[enitharmon]

On Friday March 11, 08:15:57 GMT+0000, Egeria said:

For those who are interested in more in-depth material on the Cistercians, there's also a wealth of material here.

Wow, thank you! This is a tremendous resource!
 

[Charbel]

I seem to remember somewhere around a year ago watching a documentary on the New Melleray Abbey in Iowa (These Trappist's) It was called "One Thing - God Alone" and it was around an hour long. It was really interesting.

Wait I just found the video - it's on their website!

https://player.vimeo.com/video/73327406?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&autoplay=1