Rome, January 26, 2007

Feast of the Holy Founders

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Perhaps, today, you will be surprised to receive this brief common letter. It is certainly very real: here we greet all the Communities on this feast of our Holy Founders.

By now you are aware that this past year was abundant in the special graces given to each of us. The Lord Jesus gave us a share in His cross by suffering and sickness. We could not have received anything better: from the cross flows not only light but also communion. Your fraternal letters and the prayer of all for each of us was the most brilliant sign.

His Holiness John-Paul II, in the letter that he addressed to us on the occasion of the ninth centenary of the foundation of the Abbey of Citeaux, said:

Returning today to its primitive inspiration after nine continuous centuries that have not always been exempt from reverses, the Cistercian Family recognizes itself in the founding grace of the first Fathers. It also discovers the legitimate diversity of its traditions which are a benefit for all and which expresses the vitality of the original charisma. In this the Church sees the work of a single Spirit, beginning with the same gift.

In this celebration of the foundation of Citeaux, I heartily encourage the communities that form the great Cistercian Family to enter together into the new millennium in true communion, in mutual confidence and in the respect for the traditions inherited from history. May this anniversary of the “New Monastery” which has been such a great center of light in the Church and in the world, be for all a reminder of a common origin and a common belonging, and a symbol of a unity that is constantly to be received and constantly to be built.

Since 1998 and until today, much has been done to receive and to establish the unity in respect of the historical traditions, the indispensable starting point to dialogue in concord and diversity: we have also moved forward in our transformation in Christ, “preferring nothing to His love” (RB 4, 21).

We wish, in this celebration of Saints Robert, Alberic and Stephen, to invite you to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in order that our common charisma may always be a strong source of grace for each of us, for the Church and for the world.

If we sincerely accept as a starting point the rationale expressed by our General Chapters in their messages of communion addressed to the Communities and if we observe the signs of our times which encourage us to develop this communion within the Cistercian Family, we are confident: that the words from the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper at the moment of the Mandatum – Where there is love and charity, God is present – can easily be applied to us, the Cistercians. Saint Benedict, at the end of the Prologue of his Rule – the model which our Holy Fathers wished to follow (The Little Exordium XV) – exhorts us to run in the way of the Commandments of God: “Never departing from his instructions, then, but faithfully observing his teaching in the monastery until death, we shall through patience share in the sufferings of Christ that we may deserve also to share in his kingdom. Amen (Prol. RB 50)

Maurus Esteva                                                              Bernardo Olivera

Generalabt OCist                                                           Generalabt OCSO