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Anglican Cistercians


Anglican Cistercians are members of the Anglican Communion who live a common life together according to the Cistercian tradition. This tradition is usually dated to 1098 in origin. The term Cistercian is derived from Cistercium, the Latin name for the village of Cîteaux, near Dijon in eastern France. It was in this village that a group of Benedictine monks from the monastery of Molesme founded Cîteaux Abbey in 1098, with the goal of following more closely the Rule of Saint Benedict. Monks following this Rule are known as Benedictine, and were at that time the dominant force in Christian monasticism. The monks of Cîteaux Abbey effectively founded a new order (the Cistercians), but one that remains closely associated with the Benedictine Order. As a mark of their distinctive charism and rule, Cistercian monks have long worn white habits, to distinguish themselves from Benedictine monks, who wear black habits. Within Anglicanism there has historically been less interest in the Cistercian Order than certain other monastic Rules, although Cistercian life has been represented continuously in the Church of England since at least 1966.

The revival of religious communities within the Anglican Communion during the 18th century, and more especially the nineteenth and twentieth centuries under the influence of the Oxford Movement, saw the revival of many of the traditional monastic rules, particularly those of the Benedictine, Franciscan and Augustinian orders. However, there were few attempts to revive the Cistercian Rule within the Anglican communion prior to 1966, and none that lasted more than a few years.

In 1966, the Revd Fr Aelred Arneson OC established the Ewell Monastery Cistercian community, located at West Malling in Kent, which came to receive official recognition by both the Church of England and the world-wide Cistercian Order within the Roman Catholic Church. Fr Aelred OC was the prior throughout the life of the monastery. The abbey buildings were constructed on the site of a former farm, with an ancient tithe barn being developed into the community chapel. The chapel still remains after the closure of the monastery and is a Grade II* listed building. The Cistercian Rule was never popular within 20th-century Anglicanism and the community never numbered more than five brothers, although these were often strengthened by temporary residents at the monastery from among the associates of the order. In 2004 the community shrank again leaving the prior, Fr Aelred, as the only remaining member living under vows. The decision was taken to end the Cistercian experiment and the monastery was closed. Fr Aelred continues to live the religious life as a Cistercian solitary.


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