June 28 – Hidden Fruitfulness Shared

Our life is “wholly ordered to contemplation” (Const. 2) and our contribution to the mystical body of Christ is in the form of a “hidden apostolic fruitfulness”(Const. 7). However, today we had the unique opportunity to learn of a particular fruit of our life here at New Melleray.

GuyanaJack will be spending a year in Guyana as a missionary in a school. He grew up near New Melleray and credits our community with helping him discern God’s call at various phases of his life through college and an initial career in politics. This evening he sat down with us to share his story and our place in it. He cited little things like a “Prefer Nothing to the Work of God” sign in our gift shop and major things like a monastic spiritual director that have helped him navigate life’s challenges over the years. In July he will take a major step forward in service as he answers God’s call to mission in Guyana serving 12 communities literally “at the end of the road” in a school intended to provide a safe environment for children and foster a culture of human dignity and virtue.

from Constitutions and Statutes: of the Monks and Nuns of the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance
C. 2 – The Nature and Purpose of the Order

The 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 . . . thus rendering to the divine majesty a service that is a once humble and noble.

C. 7 – 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.