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One Order, Seventeen Monasteries of Monks and Nuns

We are the Cistercians of the Strict Observance, a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church, also known as "Trappists" or "Trappistines". Within the enclosure of the monastery, forgotten by the world, we joyfully embrace an ascetic discipline which fosters conversion of life to the pattern of Christ's life of prayer, sacrifice, and loving service to our neighbor. Since the arrival of the first Cistercians in North America in 1848, we have become seventeen monasteries in twelve states, living a distinctive life of hidden fruitfulness at the heart of the church. Learn more about us →

 

A Trappist's Diary

The thought that a person is actually suffering from a mental illness is not one that I entertain too readily and so it was almost a full minute before I rose from the presider's chair in my priestly vestments and faced off with a woman making her way straight toward me down the center aisle of church in the silence after communion.

Monastic Wisdom

John of Ford from On the Song of Songs

The love of God is a river of peace, streaming out in its greatness and flowing in with gentle waters. At the same time it is a torrent, rushing along with mighty force and sweeping everything away with it.

News

"The Monastery" A DVD

In January-February 2006, "The Learning Channel", filmed the experience of five lay women who lived with Trappistine sisters in Iowa for 40 days.  To see how they entered into the daily work and prayer of the sisters who shared with them the meaning of their cloistered life - click here.

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