The Founders of the Monastery of Citeaux

The Founders of the Monastery of Citeaux 

            Our monastery celebrates the Founders of our Order, Robert, Alberic and Stephen Harding. Grateful remembrance of the past leads us, as we listen attentively to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church today, to implement ever more faithfully the core elements of our consecrated life. It seems fitting that we use this passage from Sirach as we commemorate our holy Founders. "These also were godly men whose virtues have not been forgotten; their wealth remains with their descendants” (Sir. 44: 10-11). We apply this reading to them since they won mercy for themselves, were full of mercy, and it was in his mercy that God gave them to us. As members of the Cistercian Family, we honor the spirit of our Founders and claim as our patrimony their desire to seek God in austere solitude and loving compassion. 

Image from the  Abbey of Citeaux

            These holy men of faith set out on a pilgrimage of faith comforted by the fact that they were servants of the one true King, Jesus Christ. Their only intention was live in accordance to the Rule of Saint Benedict in austerity and solitude. They had heard the voice of the Bridegroom and desired to follow Him wherever He might lead them. In the wilderness of Citeaux they sought to build a Paradise where they might more tenaciously love both the place and the observance of the Rule. Knowing themselves to be a monastic Church and members of the Body of Christ they supported one another in prayer as they bore the burden of the day. For our founders the Rule was meant to be an expression of the Gospel and a means of living the Gospel to the full. For them, the ideal was Christ; they sought to be interiorly united to him and thus to be able to say with Saint Paul: “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil 1:21). Their monastic consecration was seen as a concrete expression of this passionate love for Christ. Through it they sought to share in the self-emptying of Him Who died for them so as to be made rich by His poverty. 

            Having left the comfort of Molesme, they set out for the desert-place called Citeaux. The foundation documents refer to it as a place rarely approached by men because of the thickness of bramble and thorn bush but inhabited by wild beasts. They knew that their citizenship was in heaven and not on earth. To their mind, the more despicable and unapproachable the place was to seculars, the more suited it was for the monastic observance they desired to follow. There, in austere solitude they hoped to offer a service to the divine majesty that was at once humble and noble. Saint Bernard described this ideal in these words: “Our order is humility, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Our order is silence, fasting, prayer and labor; and above all, to follow the more excellent way, which is charity.” 

Exterior of the Abbey of Citeaux

            The letter to the Hebrews notes that "Faith is the conviction of things not seen."  This aptly describes the radical nature of our founders’ decision to establish the New Monastery. From the start their venture was rooted in that kind of faith that springs from the assurance of God's loving providence. By faith they were able to see a garden of delight where nothing but bramble bushes grew. By faith they were able to hear the angelic choirs singing the praises of God where only wild beasts howled. By faith they were able to build up the City of God even though no one knocked at the gate. By faith they were able to be poor with the poor Christ. Seeking to embody the Gospel in their own lives, they strove to be images of Christ the Lord, fostered through perpetual recollection and humility. Dedication to work, prayer and Lectio enabled them to transcend the limits of their humanity by elevating it to the life of God. 

            Jesus reminded us of how difficult it is for us to serve the one true King while being distracted by the abundance of the world or by focusing on the troubles, difficulties and wrongs around us. Unless we are willing to divest ourselves of all that we hold dear and treasure and focus on the one thing that really matters, we will never seek Christ and His will for us. If we embrace our poverty, we will come to know what we truly need to be --  Children of God. Only if we walk by the light of faith will we be able to enter our heavenly homeland where we not only love God but also come to know that we are loved by God. Following the example of our Founders, let us strive to be poor with the poor Christ. Like them, let us distance ourselves from the busyness of the world’s affairs and keep our lives simple. Holding fast to Christ, let us walk in the light of faith, conscious that the Holy Spirit spurs us on. Let us clothe ourselves in Christ and set out anew with our hearts expanded by love on the path of His commandments.

--Father Jerome Machar, OSCO