6 - ‘Angels of God’: Cistercian spirituality

Summary

In truth I tell you, that if that son of perdition, Judas, who sold and betrayed the Lord, had sat in this school of Christ and had been a member of this Order, through penitence he would have obtained pardon.

Monastic spirituality encompasses many aspects of claustral life. The opus Dei and lectio divina, which essentially structured the conventual day and gave it both rhythm and meaning, were discussed in the previous chapter. Here Cistercian spirituality is explored more closely through considering the attitude of the White Monks towards saints and relics – an area of current research interest – and the nature and significance of mysticism to the Order. Before doing so it is useful to outline briefly several key religious developments at this time, to set the Cistercians in their wider context.

McGinn describes the twelfth century as ‘a new departure’ in the history of Latin Christianity that gave rise to the ‘richest development of the monastic mystical tradition in the West’. It saw a burgeoning interest in the humanity of Christ which from the late eleventh century focused on Jesus the man and later encompassed Jesus the boy, Jesus the baby and Mary the mother, who was duly accorded a prominent role in religious and liturgical life. Mary was particularly associated with the new religious orders whose churches were largely dedicated to her. Devotion to Christ and His presence in the Eucharist led in the thirteenth century to a surge in devotion to the Eucharist and to an intense desire for communion, especially amongst women, who played a significant part in thirteenth-century mysticism. The humanity of Christ and the Virgin held a special place for the Cistercians and was strongly associated with St Bernard and his companions. The White Monks thus stood at the helm of religious developments, and, as is discussed throughout this chapter, duly affected the course they would take.

The Cistercians, saints and cults

The Cistercians’ concern to pare the liturgy and rid it of accretions meant that they commemorated a number of saints but accorded feast days to few. The earliest extant calendar of the Order dates from c. 1130, during Stephen Harding’s abbacy, and lists more than a hundred saints who were commemorated and fifty-seven who had feasts. Over time additional saints were added to the Cistercian calendar.