We were delighted to welcome Dom Bernardus Peeters, Abbot General of our Order, for a three-day pastoral visit from 24–27 October.

It was a special opportunity for our community to welcome the person entrusted with the pastoral care of the worldwide Cistercian family and to deepen our sense of belonging to an Order that stretches across continents, cultures and generations. What is also special for us is that Sister Eleanor of our own community serves on the council of the Abbot General in Rome.

Dom Bernardus was elected Abbot General in February 2022 at the General Chapter in Assisi, Italy. Born in the Netherlands in 1968, he entered the Abbey of Koningshoeven (Tilburg) in 1986.

The role of the Abbot General is a distinctive and important one. He is called to be a bond of unity among the monasteries of both monks and nuns, fostering communion, safeguarding our patrimony and encouraging the spiritual renewal of communities. Above all he is to be a pastor, visiting monasteries and offering support and guidance to their superiors and communities.

His visit to Glencairn was a tangible expression of this responsibility and of the bonds of fraternity that unite our monasteries. While each Cistercian community has its own particular life and rhythm, we share the same vocation: to seek God through a life of prayer, silence, work and fraternal love, following the Rule of St Benedict.

We were grateful for these days of encounter and for the opportunity to share in the wider life of our Order. Such visits remind us that, although our monastic life is lived in the hiddenness of a particular place, we are part of a worldwide community seeking to respond faithfully to God’s call.

We thank Dom Bernardus for making time to visit us and for his service to the Cistercian family. We assure him of our prayers as he continues his ministry of unity and pastoral care throughout the Order.