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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
DECEMBER 21, 1957.
Christmas In A
Cistercian Monastery
The following article has been
read and approved for publication
by the Superiors of Holy Cross
Monastery, Berryville, l a.
* * *
This article is written in reply
to a request that the cloister be
thrown open, in a sense, to the
general public, in order that the
reader might get a glimpse of how
Christmas is spent in a Cistercian
Monastery. About 60 miles from
Washington, near Berryville, Vir
ginia, there resides a community
of Cistercian Monks of the Strict
Observance, popularly known as
Trappists.
Holy Cross Monastery proper is
a group of cinder-block buildings
with white roofs, clustered about
the “Mansion,” as it is called,
where guest parlors are open to
the interested visitors. This “Man
sion.” a sturdy stone building,
was one “Wormley Hall”, built
in 1770 by Ralphy Wormley, who
had bought the surrounding es
tate upon advice from his friend,
George Washington, first Presi
dent of the United States.
The monks have about 1,000
acres of the former 10,000 acre
Wormley Estate. Situated in the
Shenandoah Valley, it is skirted
on south and east by the Blue
Ridge Mountains and the Shenan
doah River. While Holy Cross
Monastery rarely sees a “white
Christmas,” t h e surrounding
countryside has a rugged beauty
in late December, which is soft
ened by green spots, still to be
seen in the fields and pastures of
the farm, and by the many ever
greens that clothe the otherwise
austere mountains.
THE ADVENT LITURGY
For the Cistercian monk Christ
mas has its meaning, and value in
the Mystery it celebrates -— the
Mystery of the Incarnation. The
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riches and treasures, hidden in
this Mystery, are revealed to the
monk, as are all the Mysteries of
Christ, through his participation
in the Liturgy — the Prayer of
the Church. Thus the monk’s
spiritual preparation for Christ
mas is above all the Advent Lit
urgy, which tries to recapture
and relive the ardent longings of
the Saints of the Old Testament
for the coming of Christ. Christ
has come, and yet we know that
His Kingdom of Love has not as
yet been fully established in our
hearts. “Thy Kingdom Come” ex
presses the spirit of Advent.
As the Advent season progres
ses, the Prayer of the Church be
comes more and more accentu
ated by this thirst for Christ. The
rather restrained words of the
Lauds Antiphon of the third Sun
day of Advent, “The Lord will
come and will not delay,” give
way to confidence, amounting to
boldness, in the f e r v e n t cry: !
“Gome, Lord, and do not delay!”
Then there are the stirring “O”
Antiphons, sung at Vespers each
day from December 17 to 23 in
clusively.
The melodies, to which these
prayers are sung, were well chos
en to inspire the. sentiments ex
pressed in the words. We will
limit ourselves to quoting one,
that .sung on December 23: “O
Emmanuel, our King and Law
giver, expectation of the Nations,
and their Savior: come to save
us, O Lord our God!” And thus
Christmas Eve arrives with the
Church’s invitation at Vigils,
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sung by the monks at 2:30 a. m.:
“Lift up your heads: Behold your
Redemption approaches!” ,
The entire community assem
bles in the Chapter later that
morning to hear the singing of
the Solemn Announcement of the
Feast of Christmas from the
Martyrology, which runs . as fol
lows: “In the forty-second year
of Caesar Augustus, the sixty-
fifth week according to the Pro
phecy of Daniel, the one htin-
dred and ninety-fourth. Olym
piad, in Bethlehem of Juda,
JESUS CHRIST. SON OF GOD,
WAS BORN.”
After this announcement the
entire assembly prostrates full
length on the floor, and in that
posture says the “Our Father”
and “Hail Mary,” after which “all
rise at the signal of the Superior
and sit down. The Martyrology is
continued, the usual prayers and
daily Chapter of the Holy Pdile
of St. Benedict are sung, and then
the Sermon for the Feast ,i§ de
livered by one of the priests, ap
pointed for the occasion.
THE HUMAN ELEMENT
While the monk strives to ,-be
unworldly, he is still “ in the
world,” and so brings to the im
mediate preparation for Christ
mas that human element, essen
tial to ,a group of men living .to
gether in a family spirit accord
ing to the ideal of the Cistercian
Order.
Thus immediately after the
the High Mass on Christmas Eve,
which is sung at 8:00 a. m., most
(Continued on Page 3-B)
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