Departure of the
Cistercian Monks from Molesme and their arrival at Citeaux and the
monastery they founded there.
Letter of the Legate
Hugh
Hugh, Archbishop of
Lyons and legate of the Apostolic See to Robert, Abbot of Molesme,
and to the brethren who together with him desire to serve God
according to the Rule of Saint Benedict.
Let it be known to
all who rejoice in the progress of Holy Mother Church that you and
certain of your sons, brothers of the monastery of Molesme, have
stood in Our presence at Lyons and stated your wish to adhere
henceforth more strictly and more perfectly to the Rule of blessed
Benedict, which so far you have observed poorly and neglectfully in
that monastery. But, since it is obvious that in view of many
obstacles this could not be accomplished in the aforementioned
place, We, providing for the welfare of both parties, those
departing and those remaining, have concluded that it will be
expedient for you to retire to another place which the Divine
Munificence will point out to you, and there serve the Lord in a
more salutary and peaceful manner. To you, therefore, who had at
that time presented yourselves-Abbot Robert and brothers Alberic,
Odo, John, Stephen, Letald, and Peter-as well as to all others whom
you shall decide to add to your company according to the Rule and
by common consultation, after deliberation We gave the order that
you persevere in this holy endeavour. We confirm it forever by the
authority of the Apostolic See through the impression of Our
seal.
The place of
thorns
Afterwards, with the
support of such great authority, the aforementioned abbot and his
monks returned to Molesme and from that religious community
selected like-minded associates who were devoted to the Rule, so
that those who had spoken before the legate in Lyons and those who
were selected from the community numbered twenty-one monks. Knit
together in such a band, they eagerly set out for the solitude
which was called Citeaux. This place, situated in the diocese of
Chalon, was inhabited only by wild beasts, since it was at that
time unusual for men to enter there because of the density of the
woods and thorny thickets. Arriving at this place the men of God
found it all the more suitable for the religious life which they
had already formulated in their minds and for which they had come
here, the more despicable and inaccessible they realized it to be
for seculars. After they had cut down and removed the dense woods
and the thorny thickets, they began to construct a monastery there
with the approval of the bishop of Chalon and with the consent of
the territorial lord. For, inspired by the grace of God, these men,
while still living in Molesme, often spoke to each other, lamented,
and were saddened by the transgression of the Rule of Saint
Benedict, the Father of Monks. They realized that they themselves
and the other monks had promised by a solemn vow to observe this
Rule, yet they had by no means kept it; and therefore they had
knowingly committed the sin of perjury. For this reason they came
into this solitude with the authority of the legate of the
Apostolic See, as we mentioned, to fulfill their vows through the
keeping of the holy Rule. Then, pleased with their holy fervour and
having been requested in a letter by the aforementioned legate of
the holy Roman Church, Lord Odo, the duke of Burgundy, with his
means completed the wooden monastery which they had begun and
provided them there for a long time with every necessity and
generously supported them with land as well as
livestock.
The way then is
essentially the way of obedience, the way Jesus trod who was
"obedient unto death, even to death on the cross." But for us to be
obedient, to enter fully into the way of obedience, we have need of
other elements which will discipline us, enlighten us and win for
us the grace to walk in this way.
The way of the
Cistercians then, just as the way of every Christian, has all these
elements. They are "blended" in the Cistercian way according as
they have been laid out by Saint Benedict in his Rule and developed
and modified by the Cistercian Fathers and Mothers and later
vitalizing traditions.
