About the Cistercian Order



Mississippi Abbey

Dubuque, Iowa, USA
 

Mississippi Abbey

Dubuque, Iowa, USA
 


Santa Rita Abbey
Arizona, USA



Abbey of Gethsemani
Trappist, Kentucky, USA



Ananda Matha Ashram
Wayanad-Kerala, India
Fax: (91) 4935 235 263


  • In 1098 some Benedictine monks felt called by God to leave their monastery and begin a new monastery in Cîteaux, France. They became known as "Cistercians".

  • The Cistercian Order includes Roman Catholic monks and nuns all over the world.

  • The purpose of the Order is to help its members live a life of prayer and solitude, in poverty and simplicity.

  • Cistercians live together in communities called monasteries. There are 100 monastery for monks and 68 for nuns.

  • Cistercians do manual work and each monastery tries to earn its own living.

  • Cistercians first came to Norway in 1146 to Lyse Kloster. They were in Norway until the period of the Reformation in the 16th century.

  • The first permanent monastery of Cistercians to return to Norway came in 1999, to the island of Tautra in Trøndelag (central Norway). This is a monastery of nuns: Tautra Mariakloster.

  • Some persons feel an interest in joining a monastery. This site provides information about joining a Cistercian monastery.

  • For more information about joining the community at Tautra write to .




New Melleray Abbey
Dubuque, Iowa, USA



Monasterio de Armenteira
Armenteira (pontevedra), Espana
Fax: (34) 986 71 05 95

Abbaye Notre Dame de Tamie Plancherine France
 

Tarapisuto Shudoin Nasu-Machi
Japan
Fax: (81) 287 77-0474

Abbaye de Latroun Ramleh
Israel