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 endeavor. 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 fervor 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.
