Born at Cîteaux in medieval France, the Cistercian Order seeks to live the Rule of Saint Benedict through simplicity, prayer, manual work, and an undivided search for God.
The Order was founded in 1098 by Saints Robert, Alberic, and Stephen. Their reform returned to the heart of monastic life: faithful observance of the Rule of Saint Benedict, authentic poverty, a stripped-down liturgy, and work undertaken by the monks themselves for the life of the community.
Bernard entered the monastery in 1112 with thirty relatives and companions. A counselor, preacher, monastery founder, and spiritual writer, he became the great inspiration behind the Order’s expansion. His sermons on the Song of Songs remain among the treasures of Cistercian spirituality, although he was not himself the founder of the Order.
The Cistercian tradition has repeatedly renewed itself while remaining faithful to its source. The reform of La Trappe under Abbot de Rancé in the seventeenth century gave rise to the Trappist observance. After the Second Vatican Council, the Order revised its Constitutions over twenty-five years, enabling the same charism to take root more fully in many cultures and regions.