About Us

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WHO ARE WE?

The monks of Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey belong to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, which has its origins in the monastic tradition of evangelical life that found expression in the Rule for Monasteries of St Benedict of Nursia.  When the Order was founded in 1098, at Cîteaux, near Dijon in France, the founders gave this tradition particular form, and the monasteries of the Strict Observance have always strongly defended certain of its principals.

Our Order is a monastic institute wholly ordered to contemplation.  The monks dedicate themselves to the worship of God in a hidden life within the monastery, leading a way of life which is characterised by silence and solitude, assiduous prayer, and joyful penitence.

The Cistercian way of life is one lived in a community of like-minded brethren.  Cistercian monks seek God and follow Christ according to a rule of life and the guidance and direction of an abbot, in a stable community that is a school of brotherly love.  Since all the brothers strive to be of one heart and one mind, they hold everything in common.  By bearing one another’s burdens they fulfil Christ’s law, participating in his sufferings in the hope of entering the kingdom of heaven.

The monastery is a school of the Lord’s service where Christ is formed in the hearts of the brothers through the liturgy, the abbot’s teaching, and the fraternal way of life.  Through God’s Word the monks are trained in a discipline of heart and action to be responsive to the Holy Spirit and so to attain purity of heart and a continual mindfulness of God.

Living in solitude and silence, the monks aspire to that interior quiet in which wisdom is born.  They practise self-denial in order to follow Christ.  Through humility and obedience they struggle against pride and the rebellion of sin.  In simplicity and labour they seek the blessedness promised to the poor.  By generous hospitality they share with their fellow-pilgrims the peace and hope which Christ has given.

Each community of the Order and all the monks are dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother and Symbol of the Church in the order of faith, love and perfect union with Christ.

You can find out more about our order, the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (sometimes called Trappists) by visiting the Order’s website – https://ocso.org/

In visiting these pages we invite you to enter more deeply into this living water of Christ’s life and Spirit.  By considering what is offered here we hope you feel drawn into this community, and that you join others who seek Christ above all things.

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PRAYER

The monks in Portglenone observe a timetable of prayer which consecrates the whole of the day, beginning with the night office, called the Office of Vigils.  Then, regularly through the day, they join together in the monastic church, marking the passage of the day, until the last hour when night prayer, Compline, asks God’s blessing and protection through the hours of sleep.  You might feel called to join in some way at some of these times by praying the prayer of the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours, which you can find here: THE DIVINE OFFICE

You can find the Divine Office online here: https://universalis.com/, on the Universalis App or in a breviary.

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VOCATIONS

In our prayer, we always ask God to send new men to the monastery (Prayer for Vocations).  We are confident that there are people who are searching for this way to God, who may already value silence and solitude, who are interested in leading a life which is centred more on prayer and life in a religious community – but they do not yet know that they want to be a Cistercian!  We hope that by our sharing something of this Cistercian life, some will hear the invitation which God is extending to them to recognise that they may have a vocation to the Cistercian monastic life and so come to join us at Bethlehem Abbey. We ask those who visit these pages to pray especially for new Cistercian vocations to our monastery.

Find out more about vocations to the Cistercian life here: VOCATIONS

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