Vocations

Extract from the Constitutions of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance

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The Cistercian Way of Life

Regular Observance
In the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance the way of life is consecration to God expressed in fraternal union, solitude and silence, in prayer, work and a disciplined life. By a hidden apostolic fruitfulness it causes the mystical body of Christ to grow.

Monastic Consecration
By monastic profession a sister is consecrated to God and joined with the monastic community that receives her. At this time the consecration received in the sacraments of baptism and confirmation is renewed and given vitality. The sister binds herself in faithful stability to a sincere conversion of life through ready obedience until death.

Stability of Place
By the vow of stability within her community, a sister obliges herself to make constant use of the means of the spiritual craft there, trusting in the providence of God who has called her to this place and to this group of sisters.

By the vow of conversation morum or fidelity to monastic life a sister who, in the simplicity of her heart, seeks God by the following of the Gospel, binds herself to the practice of Cistercian discipline. She retains nothing at all for herself, not even authority over her own body. She renounces the capacity of acquiring and possessing goods for herself. For the sake of the Kingdom of heaven, she makes profession of perfect continence and celibacy.

Obedience
By the vow of obedience a sister desiring to live under a rule and an abbess promises to fulfil all that lawful superiors command in accordance with these Constitutions. In thus renouncing her own will she follows the example of Christ who was obedient until death, and commits herself to the school of the Lord's service.

Monastic Clothing
The characteristic Cistercian habit is the white cowl. Given at solemn profession it is a sign both of a nun's consecration and of the unity of the whole Order.

Cenobitic Life
A nun follows the common life in her monastery. The law of the common life is this: unity of spirit in the charity of God, the bond of peace in the mutual and unbroken love of all the sisters, communion in sharing all goods.

The sisters are to bear their infirmities with great patience and to serve one another humbly. They are to support by prayer and by other appropriate means those who are weak, troubled or unwell. The sick, the aged and the dying are to be surrounded with a care that is attentive and affectionate.

Unity and Pluriformity of the Community
The community forms a single body in Christ. Each sister is to contribute to the upbuilding of fraternal relations especially by sharing with others the spiritual gifts they have received by God's manifold grace.

Reconciliation with God and with the Sisters
The preservation of unity among the sisters depends on a sincere and mutual effort towards reconciliation. To eliminate thorns of scandal from the community, the sisters are not to prolong the time of anger but, when there is a dispute, to make peace as soon as possible.

Active Participation of the Sisters
The sisters have a right and duty to participate fully in the common life, although this participation can be exercised in different ways.

All the sisters are called to mutual care, mutual cooperation and mutual obedience. All are to be concerned for the spiritual state of the community, knowing that the good zeal of one is a help to all, whereas bitter zeal is a hindrance.

The abbess is to govern the sisters with reverence for the human person created in God's image, promoting their voluntary obedience and appropriately fostering their gifts of zeal and intelligence. The abbess should lead the sisters so that they cooperate with an active and responsible obedience both in carrying out their duties and in taking the initiative, all the while maintaining her authority to decide and give orders about what is to be done.

The abbess and the officials are to communicate to the sisters what concerns all and readily accept their desires and suggestions.

Liturgical Life
The spiritual character of the community is especially evident in the celebration of the liturgy. The liturgy strengthens and increases both the inner sense of the monastic vocation and communion among the sisters. Each day in the liturgy God's Word is heard. A sacrifice of praise is offered to God the Father, there is a sharing in the mystery of Christ and the Holy Spirit's work of sanctification is accomplished.

The changing seasons of the liturgical year have great power to nourish and enrich the contemplative life of the sisters. They provide a solid basis for the preaching and teaching given to the community.

Sunday is dedicated to the mystery of the Ressurection. It is a day of joy and freedom from work so that the sisters may come together to share the Eucharist more fully and intensely, and zealously apply themselves to lectio divina and prayer.

Celebration of the Eucharist
The Eucharist is the source and summit of the whole Christian life and of the sister's communion in Christ. For this reason it is to be celebrated by the whole community every day. It is by sharing in the paschal mystery of the Lord that the sisters are united more closely with one another and with the whole Church.

Work of God
Nothing is to be preferred to the Work of God. Accordingly, the Liturgy of the Hours is to be celebrated by the community which, in union with the Church, fulfils Christ's priestly function offering to God a sacrifice of praise and making intercession for the salvation of the whole world.

The Liturgy of the Hours is a school of continual prayer and an outstanding component of the monastic way of life. It is the abbot's duty to promote zeal for Work of God among the sisters.

Mindfulness of God
By constantly cultivating mindfulness of God, the sisters extend the Work of God throughout the whole day. The abbess herself is to see to it that each one has ample leisure to give herself to reading and prayer. Furthermore, all should take care that the monastic environment is favourable to silence and quiet.

Lectio Divina
Careful lectio divina greatly strengthens the sisters' faith in God. This excellent monastic practice, by which God's Word is heard and pondered, is a source of prayer and a school of contemplation, where the nun speaks heart to heart with God. For this reason, the sisters are to devote a fitting amount of time each day to such reading.

Heartfelt Prayer
In a spirit of compunction and intense desire, nuns devote themselves frequently to prayer. While dwelling on earth, their minds are occupied with heavenly things, desiring eternal life with all spiritual longing. May the Blessed Virgin Mary who was taken up into heaven, the life and sweetness and hope of all earthly pilgrims, never be far from their hearts.

Night Vigils
In the sober anticipation of the coming of Christ, following the tradition of the Order, the hours before sunrise are appropriately consecrated to God by the celebration of Vigils, by prayer and meditation.

Silence
Silence is counted among the principal monastic values of the Order. It assures solitude for the nun in community. It fosters mindfulness of God and fraternal communion. It opens the mind to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and favours attentiveness of heart and solitary prayer to God. Therefore, at all times but especially during the hours of night, the sisters are to be zealous for silence, which is the guardian both of speech and of thought.

Monastic Asceticism
The quietness of mind cultivated by silence is also the fruit of purity and simplicity of heart. For this reason the nun, in a spirit of joyful penitence, is to embrace willingly those means practiced in the Order: work, the hidden life and voluntary poverty, together with vigils and fasting.

Work
Work, especially manual work, has always enjoyed special esteem in the Cistercian tradition since it gives the nuns the opportunity of sharing in the divine work of creation and restoration, and of following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. This hard and redeeming work is a means of providing a livelihood for the sisters and for other people, especially the poor. It expresses solidarity with all workers. Moreover, work is an occasion for a fruitful asceticism that fosters personal development and maturity. It promotes health of mind and body and contributes greatly to the unity of the whole community.

Simplicity
Following the example of the Fathers of Citeaux, who sought an uncomplicated relationship with the God of simplicity, the sisters' lifestyle is to be plain and frugal. Everything in the household of God should be appropriate to monastic life and avoid excess so that its very simplicity can be instructive for all. This is to be clearly apparent in the buildings and their furnishings, in food and clothing and even in the celebration of the liturgy.

Fasting
Monastic fasting expresses the humble condition of a creature before God. It arouses spiritual desire in the heart of a nun and lets her share in Christ's pity for the hungry. The sisters are to observe the Lenten and paschal fasts and also other fasts according to the customs of the Order and the directives of the abbess.

Separation from the World
Those who prefer nothing to the love of Christ make themselves strangers to the actions of the world. In the monastic tradition this involves a certain degree of physical separation. For this reason, the monastery is built so that it completely safeguards the quiet and solitude of those who reside there.

Reception of Guests
Every monastery is to continue the tradition of welcoming guests and the needy as Christ according to local circumstances. Let those whom the providence of God has led to the monastery be received by the sisters with reverence and kindness but without allowing this service to impair monastic quiet.

Apostolate of Nuns
Fidelity to the monastic way of life is closely related to zeal for the Kingdom of God and for the salvation of the whole human race. Nuns bear this apostolic concern in their hearts. It is the contemplative life itself that is their way of participating in the mission of Christ and his Church and of being part of the local church. This is why they cannot be called upon to render assistance in the various pastoral ministries or in any external activity, no matter how urgent.

The Ministry of the Abbess
The abbess is elected from among the sisters. She receives her power from God through the ministry of the Church. She is believed to act in the monastery as Christ's representative. She ministers to the whole community as a mother in both spiritual and temporal matters.

The abbess exercises pastoral care of the flock entrusted to her. She shows to all the goodness and kindness of Christ, striving to be loved rather than feared. She adapts herself to the character of each, encouraging the sisters to run with a cheerful and happy disposition along the way God has called them. She is to pray constantly to God for each.

As a master in Christ's school, the abbess is the guardian of his disciples' fidelity to monastic tradition. She sustains them with the food of God's word and by her example. She does not neglect to renew herself with Sacred Scripture and the wisdom of the Fathers. She makes herself available to all the nuns for conversation.

As a skilled physician, the abbess seeks to cure both her own wounds and those of others, and to bring healing in the name of Christ to those hurt by sin. She is to exercise great solicitude and to use all her skill and energy so as not to lose any of the sisters entrusted to her. When the situation warrants it, she calls on the help of spiritual seniors. Above all, she relies on the prayer of all to cure the infirmities of the sisters.