Cistercians of the Strict Observance:
excerpt from the Constitutions of the Cistercian Order of the Strict
Observance)
The Nature and Purpose of the Order
This Order is a monastic institute wholly ordered to contemplation.
The monks dedicate themselves to the worship of God in a hidden life
within the monastery under the Rule of St Benedict. They lead a
monastic way of life in solitude and silence, in assiduous prayer and
joyful penitence as defined in these Constitutions, thus rendering to
the divine majesty a service that is at once humble and noble.
C. 3 The Spirit of the Order
1. The Cistercian way of life is cenobitic. Cistercian monks seek God
and follow Christ under a rule and an abbot in a stable community
that is a school of brotherly love. Since all the brothers are of one
heart and one mind, they have everything in common. By bearing one
another's burdens they fulfill Christ's law, participating in his
sufferings in the hope of entering the kingdom of heaven.
2. The monastery is a school of the Lord's service where Christ is
formed in the hearts of the brothers through the liturgy, the abbot's
teaching and the fraternal way of life. Through God's Word the monks
are trained in a discipline of heart and action to be responsive to
the Holy Spirit and so attain purity of heart and a continual
mindfulness of God's presence.
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