Aug 26-29, 2024

From the very beginning of the Cistercian Order, visitations have been the method used to ensure that all houses of the Order maintain their integrity. Rather than relying on one central authority to govern the various houses, Cistercian legislation allowed each monastery its near independence. However, the mother house, the monastery which founded the house in question, remained in oversight. Once every two years, the father immediate, that is, the abbot of the founding house, would visit the monastery and write a report on its condition, checking the financial situation, and the mood of the house, and making suggestions for improvement. This report became part of the records kept for discussion at the General Chapter, the gathering of all the superiors of the Order.

Due to the shifting circumstances in the Order today, it is often not possible for the mother house to be responsible for the daughters it has founded. In the case of Gethsemani, for example, our founding house, Melleray in France, has permanently closed. Our paternity was shifted recently to New Melleray in Iowa. Our Constitutions recommend that every few visits the father immediate designate someone else to do the visitation, to give a different perspective. In addition, most recently the Order has allowed the superiors of women’s houses to be official visitors to their own foundations, other women’s houses, but also to be the official visitors to men’s houses. So for the first time in its history, Gethsemani received two superiors of women’s houses to be its official visitors.

M. Rebecca is the abbess of Our Lady of Mississippi in Iowa, and M. Kathy is the abbess of Our Lady of the Angels, commonly known as Crozet, in Virginia.

During the visitation, M. Rebecca and M. Kathy reviewed our financial records, visited the workplaces, and interviewed every member of Gethsemani to form a picture of our life here, and the concerns and spirit of the abbey. And of course they joined us in prayer and at table while they were here. They summarized their conclusions in what is called a “visitation card” which was read to the entire community at the close of the visitation, on the 29th of August.

After this, the whole community gathered with the visitors in our refectory for a “gaudeamus” (Latin for “let us rejoice!”). As you can see from the photos, no gaudeamus is complete without ice cream!

The community wishes to thank M. Kathy and M. Rebecca for their hard work and for their conclusions and suggestions, which we take very seriously.