Cistercians

Cistercian monks lead a reclusive lifestyle, ascetic practices and contemplative monastic life play a large role in spiritual life. Cistercian churches are characterized by an almost complete absence of precious utensils, paintings, and luxurious interiors.

All the cloisters of the order are united in a congregation controlled by the general chapter, although individual monasteries enjoy the widest autonomy; The chapter appoints those responsible for the annual inspection of all monasteries.

The constitution of the order is called the “ Charter of Mercy ” (Carta caritatis), according to tradition, the third abbot of the Cistercian monastery, St. Stephen Harding (died in 1134), is considered to be its compiler.

The vestment of the Cistercians is a white robe with black scapularity , a black hood and a black woolen belt.

In 2014, the Cistercians numbered 1,733 monks, of which 757 were priests. The order belonged to 77 monasteries ^[1] .

The name of the Cistercians comes from the first cloister of the order - the Monastery of Sito ( Fr. Cîteaux , lat. Cistercium ), founded in 1098 by St. Robert of Molema .

Robert was the offspring of a noble champagne family and in early youth entered the Benedictine order . The monastic life did not correspond to his strictly ascetic ideals; he tried in vain to restore the observance of the charter in the old monasteries and, seeing the futility of his attempts, retired from the Molemsky monastery, where he occupied the abbot's place, in the deserted place of Sito, accompanied by 20 satellites. Here he founded a new monastery, based on the monastic life of strict implementation of the Benedictine charter. Robert himself, at the request of the pope , had to return to the Molema Monastery.

Alberich was his successor as abbot of the Cistercian monastery, in which Pope Paschalius II took the monastery under his special protection. Alberich compiled the charter of the Instituta monachorum Cisterciensium, which was based on the Benedictine charter. At first, the strict rules of the Cistercians served as an obstacle to the tide of new members, but after St. Bernard of Clairvaux with 30 comrades ( 1112 ), the number of Cistercians began to grow rapidly. At the beginning of the XIII century, the Cistercian order numbered about 300 monasteries, at the end there were already about 500 monasteries in France , Germany , England , Scandinavia , Spain , Italy and Hungary .

In 1119, Pope Calixtus II approved the constitution of the Carta Caritatis order, which determined the internal organization of the order. At the head of the order was the abbot of the central monastery of Sito; he had to go round all the monasteries of the order annually or send one of the abbots instead. The main abbot, together with the four abbots of the oldest monasteries - Laferte (from 1113 ), Pontigny (from 1114 ), Clervaux (from 1115 ) and Morimonsky (from 1115 ) - constituted the collegium, managing the affairs of the order under the direct supervision of the pope. The highest authority was the general chapter, meeting once a year in Sito; the abbots of the nearest monasteries were to take part in it annually, the abbots of the more distant monasteries - at longer intervals.

In the era of their prosperity, the Cistercians among all orders took first place in their wealth and influence on their contemporaries. From them came the chivalric orders of Calatrava , Alcantara , Montesa and Alfama in Spain .

The Cistercian abbeys conducted extensive economic activity, they owned large land. Widespread practice in the order was the institution of Converses , or secular brothers, people who worked in the monastery and obeyed order discipline, but did not bring monastic vows ^[2] . The monks of the order drained the swamps, applied new methods of land use, were engaged in sheep husbandry and the sale of wool. The monasteries had production facilities such as mills, forges, dams, and various workshops, sometimes including metal smelting workshops. The Cistercians made a great contribution to the development of the medieval economy and its technical re-equipment. The Cistercian Abbeys of England were the main producers of wool in Europe, the Cistercian Abbeys of France made a significant contribution to viticulture, winemaking and cheese making; in particular, the famous brand of Chablis wine appeared in the Cistercian Abbey of Pontigny .

The Cistercians made a great contribution to science and education. In the XIII century, the general chapter of the order obliged all abbeys, with more than 80 monks, to found schools at the monasteries. All abbeys, with more than 40 monks, were required to send at least two people to study at the University of Paris . Many Cistercian abbeys had the best libraries of their time — the Clairvo Library numbered 1770 manuscripts in the 15th century, and the Himmerod Abbey library about 2000 ^[2] .

During the reformation period, the order was hit in Germany and other European lands that became Protestant; many monasteries were confiscated. In England, the Cistercian monasteries were dissolved according to the decree of Henry VIII .

In 1577, the Order of the Phelans emerged from the Cistercians.

In the XVII century, in response to the relaxation of rules and decline in some Cistercian monasteries in France, the Order of Trappists with an even stricter statute stood out from the Cistercians. The number of Trappists soon grew rapidly, most of the Cistercian monasteries passed to them, including the cradle of the Order of the Abbey of Sito.

Outstanding architects, sculptors and artists often participated in the construction of monasteries. So in the creation of the Cistercian monasteries in Bavaria , the Dintzenhofer brothers and Balthazar Neumann took part.

In the XVIII century , government measures began against the Cistercians: in Austria, Joseph II closed many monasteries, in France - the national assembly in 1790 .

However, the order managed to avoid destruction and in the XIX and XX centuries the number of Cistercian monasteries again approached a hundred. At the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st centuries, the number of Cistercians increased from 1353 in 1990 to 1733 in 2014. Currently, the largest number of monasteries of this order is in Europe (especially in France , Germany , Austria , Spain ), and the United States . One monastery is in Australia and New Zealand .

The second Cistercian order (female) was founded shortly after the male one, around 1120. The first female Cistercian monastery was Tar ^[2] . At the end of the XII century, there were 18 convents. In the 13th century, the administrative division of the Cistercian monasteries was fixed, some obeying the authorities of the male order, others subordinate to the diocesan bishops.

In the XVII century, in parallel with the Trappist reform of the male order, a similar reform took place in the second order, as a result of which the Order of Trappist women was organized. The Cistercian monastery of Por-Royal in the same XVII century became the citadel of Jansenism . In 2010, the female branch of the Cistercian order consisted of 1285 nuns and 86 monasteries ^[2] .

• The everyday life of the Cistercian Abbey in Beaulieu (modern English Beaulieu ) in Hampshire (England) is described in a somewhat anti-clerical spirit in the historical novel by A. Conan Doyle's " White Detachment " (1892).

• "Cistercians" // Catholic Encyclopedia ]. T.5. Franciscans. M.: 2012, Art. 176-180
• "Essais de 1'histoire de 1'ordre de Citeaux" (1696, 9 vol.);
• “Traite historique du chapiter general de 1'ordre de Citeaux” (1737);
• “Histoire des ordres monastiques” (vol. V, p. 344 et seq.);
• Winter, Die Cistercienser des nord-ostl. Deutschlands ”(Gotha, 1868-71);
• Janauschek, “Origines, Cristerciensium” (vol. I, B., 1877);
• Brunner, “Ein Cistercienserbuch” (Würzburg, 1882);
• “Studien und Mitteilungen aus dem Benediktiner und Cistercienser Orden” (1883);
• "Cistercienser-Chronik" (1889).

• Official site of the Cistercians
• An article about the Cistercians in the Catholic Encyclopedia