Dear Abbots and Abbesses gathered together at the General Chapters of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance,

We send you this letter from nearly one hundred participants from twenty-six communities of Lay Cistercians associated with monasteries in Canada, Chile, France, Ireland, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United States and Venezuela.

We are lay men and women who feel deeply the call to be seekers of God within the Cistercian tradition. We accept the Rule of St. Benedict as our guide for living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

From the richness and the diversity of our groups, similar values and practices bind us together. These include:

• lectio divina
• individual, communal and liturgical prayer
• simplicity of life
• conversatio morum
• interior silence and contemplation
• work as a way to holiness

During the past fifteen years we believe the Holy Spirit has drawn together communities of Lay Cistercians in different parts of the world. Since 1994 there have been periodic meetings among groups in several countries to exchange information. The first international exchange among twelve communities took place at Quilvo, Chile in January of 2000.

The growing numbers of new communities and individuals seeking our help in following the Cistercian way present us with some challenges. These include the role of cenobitic guidance, initial and ongoing formation, the relationship between the host monastery and the Lay Cistercian community, and the life of the Lay Cistercians in the world.

We believe the moment has come to ask you for a word of wisdom and encouragement for our endeavors to live the Cistercian charism in the world. Thus we ask the General Chapters to discern the authenticity of this work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The fraternal help and prayer of the Order is an important element in our authentic response to the presence of Jesus in our hearts and to the renewal of the Church in this new millennium.

We are grateful to those twenty monks and nuns who participated with us at Our Lady of Holy Spirit Abbey for the Encounter, and those who sustain us by their prayers and assistance.

We pray in thanksgiving for all the members of Cistercian Houses around the world whose vocation is a source of spiritual strength to the Church and us.

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These are my notes from my trip to Rome to the General Chapter on behalf of all the Lay-Ciistercians.

I arrived in Rome 9/12/02. Father Andrew Johnson, from Spencer MA, was waiting for me at the airport. He took me directly to the Generalate of the Brothers of Christian Schools to have lunch. Here I met several abbots and abbesses of the Order. I ate at the same table with the Bishop Edouard Mununu Kasiala OCSO of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was very interested in Lay Cistercians.

The Sinaxis meeting took place 9/14/02 at the Aula Magna. I made the presentation of the Letter during the morning session. Malika was allowed to accompany me to the podium for the presentation.

I had to make translations into Spanish and English of my presentation to facilitate the work of the simultaneous translators, and copies to be distributed. The introduction was made in my native language, Spanish, and the presentation went like this:

The presence of Lay Cistercians began to be evident around 1987 in multiple, but independent situations. At the time there were significant questions as to whether it was possible to authentically apply the principles of Cistercian life to those living in family or individual settings, with demands of employment or apostolic responsibilities. There was concern among monastic and diocesan clergy that this interest in contemplative prayer and lifestyle might be an avoidance of one’s proper duties, an escape from difficulties or an unhealthy imitation of the life of Cistercians. Much of that has been resolved and we have begun to move into another stage of interaction with one another as Lay Cistercians and with the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance.

The letter of Pope John Paul II to the branches of the Cistercian family on the occasion of the 900 anniversary of the founding of Citeaux makes reference to the emergence of the laity seeking a relationship of formation. He welcomes the development and encourages continuation with prudence to safeguard the states of life of both the monastics and the laity. In this occasion, at Citeaux, two lay people participated in the dialogue with representatives of five branches of the Cistercian family, during the week before the celebration of the liturgical celebration of the 900 years.

In October 1999 an encounter of Lay Cistercians from different American groups took place at the monastery of Our Lady of Genesse. On this occasion a document was issued called the Bond of Charity. In this document not only are presented the points that we have in common, but also that we strive to be a leaven within the contemporary world through living the Cistercian charism.

In January 2000 the First International Encounter of Lay Cistercians took place in the monastery of Our Lady of Quilvo, Chile. Invited by the Chilean Lay Cistercians, there was participants from France and the United States representing seven communities. A document was issued and sent to the Abbot General, Dom Bernardo Olivera. At this time it was decided to have a second International Encounter in Conyers, USA.

Finally, in April 2002, the Second Lay-Cistercian International Encounter took place in the monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit. The work done at the Encounter was the first stage of establishing structures between and among the Lay Cistercians internationally. A Coordination Committee with five representatives was created with the function to coordinate the next Encounter that will take place in France in 2005. A Communications Committee was created with seven persons: as the name indicates, their function is to keep the dialogue open and to administer the Web Page (Cistercianfamily.org). On the last day of the Encounter an invitation was issued for one Lay Cistercian to participate in this General Chapter, at this Sinaxis. A letter was written to be delivered in this occasion.

At this point I read the letter in its original language, English.

In closing I said in the name of the Lay Cistercians I thank you for the invitation to this event and I thank you for keeping alive for 900 years the Cistercian Charism, may the good Lord bless you all!

There was a powerful applause, followed by two questions:<

Question: In what consists the diversity of the different groups of Lay Cistercians?

Answer: The groups are autonomous. For example there are groups with statutes and others without any. Also, some include non-catholics. But the spirit is the same.

Question: Are lay Cistercians groups associated to other Cistercian Orders beside the Strict Observance?

Answer: Not to my knowledge.

At this point the following people expressed the need to prepare a response to the Letter. They were: Dom Olivier Quenardel, Abbot of Citeaux, France, Rev Mother Gail Fitzpatrick, Abbess of Mississippi, USA, Dom Armand Veilleux, Abbot of Scourmont, Belgium, and an Abbot from a Spanish monastery whose name I did not receive (Dom Isidoro Mª Anguita, Abad de Sta. María de Huerta, España).

During the afternoon session it was decided to form a commission of five persons to work on the answer to the Lay Cistercian’s Letter. They chose two from the oldest monasteries and two from the youngest plus one person to have an odd number. They are: Dom Olivier Quenardel, Abbot of Citeaux, France, oldest abbey of men, Rev Mother Andree Grollier, Abbess of Les Gardes, France, oldest abbey of women, Rev Mother Stella Venezia, Superior of Juigalpa, Nicaragua, newest foundation of women, Dom Samuel Lauras, Abbot of Novy Dvur, The Czech Republic, newest abbey of men, and Dom Ambrose Southey, Mount Saint Bernard, Abbot General Emeritus.

Finally, several Abbots and Abbesses requested information about the Lay-Cistercian associations. The address of the Web page (cistercianfamily.org) was provided. In informal conversation at least a dozen Superiors from around the world personally asked for information. We were also asked in one conversation to describe how our daily schedule of life incorporates the Cistercian Spirituality.

We were received with great charity, and we felt like we were in a family among the 220 Abbots, Abbesses, Brothers and Nuns that participated in the General Chapter.

Let us be grateful and respond with the same love and generosity to this historical event in the life of the Cistercian Order and the Church. Personally I am very grateful for your prayers in preparing for the meeting and during my time at the General Chapter.

Francisco Ambrosetti

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Baptized into Christ and wanting to prefer nothing to Him, we are happy to address you in this way, for it is in Him that we find our true communion. This is the second time that we have received a representative of the Lay Cistercians at our MGM. At Lourdes, in 1999, we were happy to hear Veronica Umegakwe, of Nigeria, speak to us about the great vitality of the lay Cistercian groups placed under the patronage of Blessed Cyprian Tansi. On September 14th of this year, in Rome, we had the pleasure of receiving Paco and Malika Ambrosetti on the day of the Cistercian Family. Paco retraced for us the recent history of the lay Cistercians and in the name of all those who participated in their second International Meeting at Conyers last April, he read us a letter, which touched us deeply.

The hour has come in which our Order, as the Church herself, is called to look with courage and faith at the new paths opened up by the Spirit to give witness to the Gospel. We see blossoming on the Cistercian trunk a branch different from all that has appeared up to now: men, women, married or celibate, who are receiving from the Lord a call to serve Him in the school of love, according to the Rule of St. Benedict and the Cistercian tradition. How far does the openness of the Cistercian charism go? Something has developed that is becoming more and more evident: the flowering of all your groups around the world. The values and common practices such as lectio divina, individual and liturgical prayer, simplicity of life, conversatio morum, interior silence and contemplation, work as a means of santification, bind you to one another and to us. We welcome this new phenomenon as a sign of the times and willingly place it in relation to the role that lay people taking increasingly in the life of the Church.

Today, you ask us for "a word of wisdom and encouragement, since you must live the Cistercian charism in the world." To answer you, it is good to remember the words of Pope John Paul II in his letter of March 6, 1998, addressing the entire Cistercian Family. He encouraged us "to discern with prudence and a prophetic sense the participation of the lay faithful in our spiritual family, under the form of ’associate members’, or, following the present needs in certain cultural contexts, under the form of a temporary sharing of community life and a commitment to contemplation, on condition that the identity of our monastic life does not suffer." These words of the Pope will be for you as for us a reference point in order to discern how each of us will participate in the same charism.

Our differences are evident yet we have the same spirit. In respecting these differences, our unity will be able to grow on solid and lasting foundations. We don’t know what the future holds for us, but our vision of the Cistercian Family recognizes you as authentic witnesses of the Cistercian vocation fully engaged in the world. We are moved and profoundly grateful to the Spirit working in you. The Spirit is the master and guide of our unity in the diversity of our states of life.

Even if your oldest groups have already some years of experience, it is a question of a new situation for you as for us. Each of our communities is autonomous and will respond to you according to its cultural context, its own rhythm and the sensitivity of its members. Know that your interest in our monastic life encourages us to lead it ever more faithfully. Continue the path to which you are committed, sharing with us the tradition that gives us life. May Mary, Our Lady and Queen of Citeaux, be your Mother as she is ours. We recommend ourselves to your prayer and keep you fraternally in ours.

Members of the MGM of the OCSO