PARISH PILGRIMAGE
20th - 24th October 2010
“IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ST. STEPHEN HARDING”
When monks left the Benedictine Abbey of Molesme they did not realise that they were to begin one of the great movements of spiritual reform in the Western Church. One of the monks was called Stephen, born in Sherborne, Dorset. Among other things the movement gave birth to the Cistercian Order and in 1110 Stephen became the third abbot of the mother house at Citeaux. It was St Stephen who received St Bernard of Clairvaux into the Cistercian Order. He also wrote the Cistercian rule, “Charter of Charity” (Carta Caritatis).
You can find out more about the Abbey of Citeaux at:
www.citeaux-abbaye.com/citeaux/html/etoile21.htmWe walked from Dijon to Citeaux in two days, around 40km, staying overnight at Vougeot. We then spent Saturday and Sunday in a silent retreat at the Abbey of Citeaux, where we were addressed by the Abbot, Fr. Quenardel and Fr Richard Fermer, who utilised St Bernard's De Dilgendo Dei, On Loving God, to stimulate our prayer and meditation.
