Cistercian

We are Cistercian monks. For us, our Christian and Benedictine life finds a particular deepening through that renewal that welled up from the hearts of the founders of the Cistercian Order in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. We share with those visionary monks a desire to follow the Rule more closely, especially in a careful attention to poverty of spirit— renunciation of private ownership and sharing all things with one another, manual work, and self-support. Whatever it was that inspired the abbots Robert, Alberic, and Stephen, the founders of Cîteaux, continues to inspire our own response to the Gospel call to conversion of heart. Monastic living with its proven ascetical practices prepares you for the purity of heart and renewal of mind that are the work of the Holy Spirit within you and within the brotherhood. The Spirit guides us to the love that casts out fear and that leaves you cleansed of vices and sins. Living at New Melleray, you will experience how true it is that the monastery is a school of love, a schola caritatis, where your heart and mind are slowly transformed by your cooperation with the grace of God working in your life.