Cîteaux

St. Robert of Molesme, Abbey of Cîteaux

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend mass at the Abbey of Cîteaux, the “mother house” of the Cistercian Order.  Cistercians are a branch of the Benedictine family, founded in 1098 by St. Robert of Molesme.  The Cistercians were a reform movement that sought to return to a stricter observance of the Rule of St. Benedict, in reaction to the wealth and perceived laxity of Benedictine monasteries founded by the Abbey of Cluny. 

The Cistercian Order grew under the leadership of St. Robert and his two successor Abbots, St. Alberic and St. Stephen Harding.  It was Abbot Stephen who welcomed Bernard of Fontaine to Cîteaux in 1113.  He would become known as St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a great theologian and preacher, who spread the Cistercian reform throughout Europe.  At the height of its influence, some 500 Cistercian monasteries and 900 convents flourished.

The Reformation and subsequent Wars of Religion took a toll on Cîteaux and the Order, as did inevitable institutional decline.  During the 17^th Century, the Cistercian Order underwent another revival calling for stricter observance of the Rule.  Associated with the reforms initiated in la Trappe by the abbot de Rancé, those who kept the strict observance became known as “Trappists.”

The Enlightenment and French Revolution were hard on religious orders in Europe.  In 1789, Cîteaux was confiscated by the State and sold as stone quarry (as was the great Abbey of Cluny).  Monastic communities were disbanded, and the Trappists sought refuge in Switzerland and as far away as Russia.  One hundred years later, Trappist monks purchased and resettled the Abbey of Cîteaux. 

Abbey Church

The Abbey church today is a very plain, modern concrete structure.  Although the setting was simple, the liturgy was celebrated with great reverence and beauty.  Most of the buildings that remain are from the 17^th and 18^th Century.  Currently, 35 monks are resident in Cîteaux, though recently 4 of them left to create a new foundation in Norway. 

I’ve long admired the Trappists because of the writings of the Trappist monk, Thomas Merton.  Visiting Cîteaux reminded me of the great commitment monastic life requires.  The daily schedule alone is daunting, including the daily office ( seven services with psalms, scripture readings, and prayers):

Abbey Church

3:45 a.m.         Rise

4:00 a.m.         Vigils

7:00 a.m.         Lauds & mass

9:30 a.m.         Terce

12:30 p.m.       Sext

2:30 p.m.         None

6:00 p.m.         Vespers

8:00 p.m.         Compline

8:30 p.m.         Bedtime

In between, the brothers have time for work (earning their living from a dairy operation), lectio divina (contemplative reading of sacred texts), a period of study/rest in the afternoon, and two common meals.  Imagine following this same schedule every day, in the same place, with largely the same group of people, until the day you die.  It is a profound witness to placing intimacy with God as the highest priority in one’s life.

While few are called to monastic life, we can all learn from the monks’ commitment to stability in community, simplicity, and balance.  Seven times each day, monks drop whatever they may be doing and turn to prayer, paying attention to God’s presence in their life with praise and thanksgiving.  What a gift it would be if each of us, if only for a moment, paused with such frequency throughout our day and turned our attention to God with gratitude. 

Abbey grounds

Tilden Edwards, a priest and teacher at the Shalem Institute, often reminds us that no matter where we are or what time it is, we can always “lean back into the Presence.”  

I’m grateful for the monks of Cîteaux, and all the people in my life, who witness to the importance of “learning to lean.” 

Peace and Praise

Taizé Community

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  - 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

Peace and praise, reconciliation and delight: these are the purposes of God.

-       Archbishop Rowan Williams, Tokens of Trust

One of the great gifts of my time in Burgundy has been the opportunity to worship with a contemporary icon of peace and praise: The Taizé Community.  The Taizé Community is perhaps best known today for its composition of beautiful chants based on simple scripture sentences (praise).  What is less well known, but perhaps more important, is its ministry as a pilgrimage site drawing young adults from all over Europe and the world (peace). 

The Taizé Community is an ecumenical brotherhood consisting of about 100 Protestant, Anglican, and Roman Catholic men who live together under a rule of life shaped by the traditional monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.  The brotherhood was founded in the wake of the trauma of World War II by Brother Roger Louis Schutz-Marsauche.  Brother Roger envisioned a Christian community that transcended the church’s divisions and made God’s mission of reconciliation through Jesus Christ the center of its common life. 

pilgrims at Taizé

It is a remarkable vision.  What is even more remarkable is that since the 1950s hundreds of thousands of young people, from all over Europe and the world, have come as pilgrims to Taizé to spend a week working, praying, and studying scripture with the brothers.  During the summer months, as many as 6,000 pilgrims come to Taizé each week! 

What brings them to this place: a tiny, ordinary village in the French countryside? 

I think it has to do with the authenticity of the brothers’ Christian practice.  Brother Roger’s choice to settle in Taizé is instructive in itself. He chose to found a religious community there, precisely because it was a poor and humble place, in need of a witness to God’s love.  Brother Roger and the first brothers were intentional about living in solidarity with the poor, and committed to do so in perpetuity.

Interestingly, Brother Roger’s mother had family roots in the Burgundy region, so the choice of Taizé was also a kind of homecoming for him.  What is important to note is that, from the beginning, the community’s witness to prayer and praise was in the context of stability (commitment to remain in a particular place) and the practice of sacrificial love.

Initially, this self-giving took the form of aiding Jews and French resistance forces seeking to escape German occupied France, and proving food and shelter for victims of the war.  Later, it included establishing homes for war orphans and aiding German POW’s in nearby camps.  The brothers were willing to take risks for the sake of love:  love of the poor, of refugees, and even of enemies.  

The brothers support themselves through farming and pottery making, gathering together three times daily for prayer.  They did not set out to be a major pilgrimage destination for young adults.  Their simplicity, humility, commitment to the poor, and ecumenical spirit simply drew people to them.  The brothers embraced God’s mission of reconciliation and people responded.  Young people can sniff out inauthenticity a mile way.  At Taizé, they sense an authentic commitment to following the way of Jesus. 

What has most moved me about the Taizé brothers is their continual willingness to give themselves away for the sake of God’s mission.  The stability of their common life has provided a rich soil for growth that has extended the reach of their ministry all over the world.  Their phenomenal hospitality to strangers bears witness to their sacrificial love. 

At first, the brothers worshiped in the abandoned Romanesque church in Taizé.  This ancient, venerable, and beautiful space was soon too small to hold the many pilgrims joining them for prayer.  So, in 1962, the brothers dedicated a new, larger building:  the Church of Reconciliation.  They recognized that the church is not a building, but rather the people of God, and that buildings mean little if they fail to serve God’s mission.  

The Church of Reconciliation, Taizé

By 1971, the new church building was no longer able to contain the number of pilgrims either.  So, the brothers took sledgehammers in hand and knocked down the entire west wall, even though it contained a beautiful stained glass window, and erected an old red and white circus tent to expand the space!

When the Iron Curtain was lifted in 1989, a flood of Eastern Europeans made their way to Taizé, further expanding the number of pilgrims.  The brothers made permanent additions to the church building, with movable walls to accommodate larger or smaller groups, and added onion-shaped domes to the roof to make pilgrims from Eastern Orthodox traditions feel more at home. 

In less than thirty years, the brothers radically transformed their worship space three times for the sake of God’s mission.   At Taizé, Christianity is about transforming lives, not preserving buildings.  The brothers make sacrifices to witness to God’s peace through shared praise of God.  They understand the difference between stability and rigidity. They let nothing get in the way of sharing God’s love. 

Many congregations have been in place much longer than the Taizé Community, but stability is not enough.  It is the combination of stability and sacrificial love, the willingness to give one’s self away in love for neighbor and stranger, that makes for vital Christian witness.  It is this self-giving that makes reconciliation possible and the praise of God credible.  It is what makes for authentic ambassadors of the purposes of God.