Fr. Thomas reminds us of how we are nourished by Christ: “In the summer of A.D. 325, more than 300 bishops gathered in Nicaea — located in modern-day northern Turkey — to promulgate a common Christian creed, settle Christological disputes that arose from the Arian heresy, and promote unity in the Church.
This first ecumenical council, known as the Council of Nicaea, established the initial formulation of the Nicene Creed, which is the profession of faith still recited at the Catholic Mass especially on Sundays, at Orthodox liturgies, and at some Protestant services to this day.
1,700 years later we profess Christ to be fully human and fully divine. While we profess this Creed, with its theological statements, to be our true Faith in Christ, it is essential to reflect on the ways this Belief transforms us. Our Cistercian Father, William of St. Thierry, (+ 1148) writing in his Commentary on the Song of Songs found in the Old Testament, teaches that Christ nourishes and transforms our lives both by his humanity and divinity, and that this nourishing and transforming takes place in Christ himself. That is, we are lifted into Christ himself.
There is no better way for each on of us to commemorate this great Council and its Creed that to reflect on the ways Christ has and continues to nourish and transform us by his humanity and divinity.”

All Blessings in Our Communion in Christ,
Your brothers of New Clairvaux

#Nicaea #Christ #Creed #HumanandDivine #trappist #monks #NewClairvaux

Br. Peter comments on our example and guide in our Cistercian life: This week marked the beginning of Ordinary Time. On Monday, we celebrated the Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church. This memorial invites us to embrace Mary as our model, guide, and inspiration throughout Ordinary Time.

The Church’s decision to begin Ordinary Time with this memorial is deeply rooted in the biblical narrative. According to the Acts of the Apostles, after Jesus ascended to heaven, the apostles returned from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem. There, they gathered with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and prayed for the coming of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost, Mary was present with the apostles, praying fervently. In this pivotal moment, Mary played a leading role, exemplifying her unwavering faith and devotion.

As we embark on Ordinary Time, we are called to imitate Mary’s virtuous way of living. Mary consistently said ‘yes’ to God’s call, from the Annunciation to the Incarnation, and throughout her entire life. By following her example, we can strive to live with the same openness to God’s will, embracing each day with faith and dedication.

Mary’s role as the mother of the Church is significant. She played a crucial part in the early Church, not by actively preaching, but by praying and supporting the apostles in the backdrop. This hidden yet powerful form of evangelization is reminiscent of our Cistercian way of life. Like Mary, we contribute to the world through our prayers, sanctifying our surroundings and supporting the Church’s mission in a quiet, yet impactful manner.

In the lives of the early believers, Mary was a central figure. As the mother of Jesus, she provided comfort, guidance, and a sense of unity to the first Christian community. Her presence was a source of strength and inspiration, reminding the apostles and early Christians of Jesus’ teachings and the importance of faith.

This Ordinary Time, let us take Mary as our model. Let us strive to imitate her virtues, her unwavering faith, and her dedication to God’s will. By doing so, we can deepen our spiritual lives and contribute to the Church’s mission in our unique, hidden ways. As we journey through Ordinary Time, may Mary, Mother of the Church, guide and inspire us to live out our faith with the same devotion and love that she exemplified.

Blessings,

Your brothers of New Clairvaux

Fr. Paul Mark on Summer on the Farm: June has always been a very special month for me going back to my childhood.  After the long, harsh Dakota winters, the month of June ushered in the warm breezes and restful green scenery of summer on the Great Plains.  School was over for a few months, but that didn’t mean a kid living on a farm had a carefree summer.  There was farm work to do!  Yes, we had swimming and piano lessons, we attended social and cultural events, and the relaxing, long summer evenings before the sun set after 9:30 p.m. but there were fences to mend, hay to make, fields to cultivate, livestock to tend, buildings to paint, chickens to butcher, and the harvest that awaited the end of summer, all the typical activities a Dakota farm had on its summer to-do list 70 years ago.

I was also an avid gardener and spent a lot of my free time planting, weeding, and watering the vegetable garden.  I landscaped the flowerbeds and the Marian shrine in the backyard.  I loved to care for the plants, watch them grow and mature, and eagerly anticipated the harvest of vegetables and the blooming of the flowers.

But June was also the month of Sacraments.  I received my first confession and communion on Father’s Day, 1963.  In 1967 I received the sacrament of confirmation.  The many solemnities that occur during the month of June added to the unique character of the month.

There are many lessons learned from those childhood years in the month of June that continue to carry me through life.  An eye for detail, for beauty, for patience, for hope that growth and maturity do occur at their proper times, for the interconnectedness and sacredness of all life with nature, with creation, that God blesses it all.

God bless you all,

Your brothers of New Clairvaux

Fr. Placid comments on crafts practiced within the monastic community: “The Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter Fifty-Seven, is on the monastery’s artisans. The Rule describes them as carpenters, millers, and unspecified craftsmen in the workshops. St. Benedict say that they are to conduct their craft humbly.

Today, we can count among the various crafts practiced within monasteries today: iconography, candle-making, painting, card-making, producing religious articles, foodstuffs, soaps, and more such items, often sold in the monastery’s gift shop.

However, other arts can be included under the heading of crafts, like writing, editing, and publishing. In addition, while writing ‘in-house’ may not get much press, it is also important. Crafting reports, minutes of community meetings, and other papers that need to be posted or done to keep the community thriving and its history alive are essential. These types of jobs take time, diligence, and sometimes a bit of frustration to get them all done in a timely manner.

Let us give thanks to the unsung artisans in our midst!

Blessings,

Your brothers of New Clairvaux

Br. Christopher reflects on Mary’s Month: “Traditionally the month of May is known as ‘Mary’s Month’ among Catholics, a time of devotion and reflection on Our Blessed Mother. For some, Catholics are too focused on Mary, to the exclusion of Jesus, they say. Oh, how wrong headed they are!
If we truly want to know Jesus we must look at Why He came, what He has done for the human race: He came to unite us to Himself, human and divine, to unite us to His Divinity through His humanity. He achieved this goal in a superlative way in the one with the most unique and special relationship with Him: the one He choose to by His own human mother.
Truly, in Victorious Triumph, He has laden His mother with incomparable graces: conceived without the stain of original sin; preserved by special grace from personal sin; Virgin Mother of Our Lord and God by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit; virtuous and faithful to Jesus beyond all others, even to the foot of the Cross; Assumed Body & Soul into Heaven; Reigning with her Son the King as Queen of Heaven and Earth; as such, Mediatrix of All Her Divine Son’s Graces; Mother of all the Faithful in Christ, and the list goes on and on.
We may want to say, “It’s too much! Keep within bounds!” I can only imagine God the Father replying, “You must have confused Me with someone else; I KNOW NO BOUNDS!!” It is God Himself, Limitless and All Generous, Who wishes to show us what He can do through His Beloved Son. It is Jesus Who is Glorified by this stupendous outpouring of Gifts on His humble handmaid. In Mary God wanted to give an unforgettable example of His Power and Boundless, unwarranted LOVE!!
Is it any wonder Mary is so magnificent, since she is the most united to Christ? Are we jealous? Are we trying to pull her down to our lowly human expectations, rather than God’s Unfathomable Generosity? ‘Am I not free to do what I want with my own goods? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ (Matt. 20:15). In Mary we witness the Generosity of God and the Love & Power of Christ. Rejoice! Sing Praise! Let God’s Goodness by known! Proclaim Mary far and wide! Alleluia!
Peace and love to all,
Your brothers of New Clairvaux
#Jesus #BlessedVirginMary #God #MarysMonth #Trappist #monks #newclairvaux

Br. Christopher speaks on How to know if it is My Will or God’s Will? “Once during my tenure as Vocation Director, a discerner raised an excellent question, one that is in the mind of many people: When making my life decision, how can I know that I am doing God’s Will and not my own? Good question! This is certainly one of the fears that can cause us to hesitate, delay and get stuck in making a committed decision about our future path in life.
The uncomfortable answer, of course, is that we can’t know! When making a decision about the future we are forced to walk by faith, not by sight. After doing our part (prayer, honest reflection, taking counsel, etc.) we must take a step in the dark, not knowing for certain how things will turn out. Though frightening, this letting go of control and human certainty, letting go of relying on ourselves, is actually a great blessing. We are made to depend on God, to surrender ourselves to being entirely supported by Him, entrusting ourselves and our future to His presence, care, providence and wisdom. This is Truth: Our complete need and God’s complete care. Our desire in our discernment decision may be to ‘get it right’, to make things work out; I feel God’s priority is that we allow Him to take us by the hand and walk the adventure of life’s journey with Him, as He guides us into eternal life.
Finally, I would say that anyone who honestly asks the above question, who sincerely desires and seeks to please God and to do God’s Will in his life decision, has every reason to believe that his decision will, in fact, be pleasing to God. ”
Blessings,
Your brothers of New Clairvaux

Fr. Placid ponders St. Benedict’s guidance on Self-Will in the Rule:  “The Rule of Benedict has listed as one of the Tools of Good Works in Chapter Four to “hate Self-Will” (RB 4:60).  For Benedict, Self-will is always seen as negative.  In the RB, anything to do with seeking self-interest would be considered selfish and part of self-will.  The cure for self-will is placing oneself under the instruction and obedience of another, and resisting placing our own will above them.  This leads to being liberated from the tyranny of selfishness.  It may seem obvious, but self-will and self-interest are in fact usually hidden from the person’s own view without their realizing its tug on the mind and heart.

In these times where individualism is the norm, what Benedict is offering in the Rule is something completely different. How does self-will actually work?  When a person tries to angle for better positioning for themselves, it is a form of selfishness. Or begging out of job that may be inconvenient and doing something that seems more worthwhile.  These are types of motivation that need to be examined and questioned left and right.

Another more subtle version of self-will is of the ‘passive-aggressive’ or ‘resistant’ variety.  This happens by agreeing on the surface to do something, but actually either avoid it or delaying the work for some period. Another way of doing this is doing the work while being angry or upset about it at the same time.  This type of interior resistance hinders the person from giving the free gift of themselves while doing the job or assignment.

So how to how combat self-will, self-interest or plain selfishness? These are some of the main ways of doing so: First, we have to accept that due to Original Sin we have it within ourselves to be selfish. Then we have to be aware constantly of how it is operative in us: how selfishness is present in our thoughts, behavior and habits.  Finally, in his Rule Benedict exhorts that monks be aware of the Presence of God at all times and base their actions on that Truth.”

Simplicity is one of the key marks of Cistercian spirituality. I would like to share a teaching on this theme by a saint of our order, St. Rafael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938), which speaks to me and I find very relevant for our current confusing times:

“Virtue, God, Interior Life-difficult values to live out! It is not that I have attained virtue, nor that my knowledge of God and my life in the spirit are totally clear, but that I have seen that to achieve something in these matters I need to be free from complexity and contortion, from clever speculation and technicalities.

I have seen that we reach God by just the opposite. True knowledge of Him comes through simplicity of heart and integrity. An act of love is not difficult at all. What is really hard is trying to attain knowledge of God by penetrating His mysteries. The act of love brings us to God; the other way leads us nowhere.

With Jesus at my side nothing seems difficult to me, and the path to holiness seems simpler every time I look at it. Better- it seems to consist in going forward and leaving things behind rather than in acquiring anything new, stripping back to simplicity rather than adding things on.

In so far as we go forward turning our back on so much inordinate love of creatures and of ourselves, it seems to me that we are drawing closer to that one real love, that sole desire, that unique aspiration of this life: the true holiness which is God.”

God bless you,

Br. Christopher

#simplicity #strafael #God #trappist #monks #love