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Cistercian spirituality is based on the Rule of Saint Benedict, which was written in the 6th century by Benedict of Nursia as a guideline for a monastic community. In the 12th century, as a reaction to certain signs of decadence visible in some Benedictine communities, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux founded a reform community, which was meant to be, in a way, a return to the roots of the Benedictine way of life.
There are three main cornerstones to this way of life:
1. In his new monastic model St Bernard wanted to stress the importance of love and charity. This is one of the cornerstones of Cistercian spirituality, and it appears frequently in St Bernard’s sermons, such as in this phrase: “That each considers as above him not only the most ancient, but the youngest themselves” (for the Advent Sermon V). But love and charity should not be understood in a sweetish and uncritical way: They can only flourish and bring fruit is they are grounded in a very realistic attitude: To Each His Own; in other words, each member of a community should give what he can, and receive what he needs.
2. Another cornerstone of Cistercian spirituality is the integration of work and everyday tasks. Cistercians strive to be Contemplatives, whether in silent prayer or in performing daily chores. The aim is to be, in every moment, fully present in the face of God. Contemplation and action are no longer opposites.
3. Realising this in everyday life is often difficult, and Cistercians frequently go back to the books, so to speak, to read the great authors of their Order, in order to let their mindsets be nourished at the source. The deepening of the understanding of the main texts of St Bernard and the Cistercian authors is indispensable to live on the Cistercian spirituality.
Thus, the pillars of Cistercian life are Work, Prayer, and what we call “Lectio Divina”, or spiritual reading.
How do laypeople go about living Cistercian spirituality?
Actually, many of us find that it is not difficult at all to live the Cistercian way in the world. In fact, it seems to make life easier.
The key point, for Saint Benedict, it is to be available to God's will. He makes it very clear in his rule that meditation, mission, preaching or studies are not primary purposes of monastic life. They are just means to an end. Which is why it is perfectly possible to live Cistercian spirituality in a lay context.
1 - The first word of the Rule of Saint Benedict is "Listen!":
“LI S T E N carefully, my child, to your master's precepts, and incline the ear of your heart” (Prov. 4:20).
These are the first words of the Rue of Saint Benedict, and the can be seen to stress two things: One, the Lectio Divina; in other words, spiritual reading, as discussed above. .
Second, and closely related, is the importance of silence, because there is no listening without silence. It means listening and stillness without preconceptions. Just being there, and seeing things as they are. There might be a reason why some of the great champions of the dialogue between Christians and Zen Buddhists are Cistercian monks and nuns.
Silence needs to be learned, and in our modern world it is often difficult to uphold it. We strive to retreat, as often as possible, into what we call our “Inner Cloister”, from which we gather forces for an active life. We are “in” the world, but not “of” it.
In our layman's life in the world the silence will, for example, consist in keeping silent when it is not expressly required to speak, or when the word risks to be harmful or simply useless. For many of us, it also means taking “time off” in monastic retreats.
2 - Prayer and Work - ORA and LABORA.
Here the rule becomes a real practical tool in our lives: To find the balance between ORA and LABORA by watching out that work does not absorb all our life. We are to assume the management of our lives, individually, according to our capabilities and needs. Back in our mind, however, is always the question: what is God's plan for me?
Work is necessary for evolution of humanity and for our personal maturity. But it is not first. To us, what comes first is “Being”. “Making” is secondary to it.
Work puts us in the service of the common good and our most humble tasks are acts of the Creation. Anchored in the concreteness of life, work puts us in the service of each other.
As to prayer, it is probably the most important aspect of our life: “Learn to ask God, learn to raise your heart as you raise your hands” (St Bernard - Sermon on Song of Songs - Sermon 9.7) Prayer can be common or solitary. St Benedict envisages both in his Rule. Common prayer is an integral part of our meetings. Beyond that, we engage in many forms of prayer, each according to his personal disposition. One specificity of our prayer life is that we stay in union every evening at 9 pm, when each of us prays for the others, wherever he may be. We do this to share in the mystery of the religious community which unites believers.
3 - Lifestyle: Fraternal, Simple, and “To Each His Own”.
Ours is a very diverse group in terms of age, profession, family status and lifestyle, and it is maybe precisely because of this that we feel a bit like a family: we live a mixture of closeness and respect for the other’s differences. Some of us are actively engaged in parish work, others live more as solitaries. Once a month, we pray, eat, read, talk, and laugh together at “our” monastery. Our meetings are structured around the monastic offices, the Lectio Divina, and a chapter from the Rule of Saint Benedict.
The other important point is simplicity of life. Again living according to the rule of “to each his own”, we strive to live without anything superfluous and with enough time for prayer and reflections. We try to be “in the world, but not of this world”. Maybe a good metaphor for the lifestyle we try to uphold is the architecture of Cistercian abbeys: Simple but beautiful, solid and providing lots of breathing space.
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We are aware of the fact that this presentation of Cistercian spirituality is very incomplete. But we hope we gave you a taste. For more, check out some of these electronic resources:
Our international Website: The International Association of Lay Cistercian Communities
a very nice site on the Cistercian life & the Cistercians in Britain
The Trappist Cistercian Order
The Order of Saint Benedict in Britain
The Rule of Saint Benedict
Excellent texts by the Abbot of Scourmont, Dom Armand Veilleux, much of it in English: SCRIPTORIUM SCOURMONT
A great Cistercian thinker: Thomas Merton
More on Merton in the Thomas Merton Internet Bibliography
Monos: A Centre for the Study of Monastic Culture & Spirituality
 Material auf Deutsch
Die Benediktusregel
Links zu Ordensgemeinschaften in Deutschland hier
Zisterzienseroblaten & Laienzisterzienser
Gesellschaft der Freunde Christlicher Mystik e.V.
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