How are Trappists relevant to the postmodern world?
The postmodern world is far from being uniform or consistent, but there is in it a deep need for transcending what is visible, a thirst for both mysticism and community, a desire for divine union. The search for God appears in the different ways of going beyond oneself: social service, a sense of mystery, silent prayer as an integral part of human life. This is where Cistercian life becomes surprisingly meaningful for the world, since its spirituality emphasizes union of the human person with God and with others in the transforming mystery of Christ. The Abbot General of the O.C.S.O., Dom Bernardo Olivera, recently wrote on this subject to all the communities: “Our Christian mystical experience is, in the last analysis, an experience of being reformed and conformed to Christ. This is the only way we can offer guidance for the dawn of a new age and provide religious witness for the secular world of today. This alone is how we can give the help that is so vitally necessary in the dialogu
