We are happy to report that this choice has born fruit, as the recent ordination of a monk in the traditional Cistercian (Benedictine) Rite took place, celebrated by Bp. Athanasius Schneider.
From the monastery website:
Our Community Has a New Priest: Father Rafael Maria, O.Cist., Was Ordained on Sunday, September 27, and Celebrated His First Holy Mass on the Feast of Saint Wenceslaus
Our community gives thanks for the grace of having a new priest among us, Father Rafael, who was ordained on September 27, 2026 by His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C. Priestly ordination thus took place in our monastery for the first time in more than eighty years. Father Rafael, originally a Trappist monk of Mariawald Abbey in Germany, entered our monastery in 2018, after that abbey had been suppressed by decision of the General Chapter.
We attach photographs from the ordination and from the first Holy Mass. Please continue to accompany our newly ordained priest with your prayers.
The Community of the Cistercians
More images here (Monastery website).
