It's not that I don't trust you, I just don't necessarily trust the websites where you find this stuff sometimes. It's also possible that you and I might have two different interpretations of the same material, so that's another reason I sometimes ask for sources, so I can digest them and interpret them for myself.
For some reason I recall the document I read was on EWTN somewhere.
This is interesting. What sort of things did you see?
Furnishings. Specifically some hippy ideology from the 60's that stripped tradition out of the Church in what are commonly known as reck-o-vations.
The Cistercians have an ideal of simplicity to start with that I understand and agree with. And don't get me wrong, the place was a slice of heaven and I am not trying to be judgmental but just report some of my observations.
What I found contradictory was the removal of kneelers, removal of traditional stained glass in favor of geometric shapes, in the apse of the sanctuary all the windows were removed except two on one side to project light on the altar while, and especially, the presence of Jesus in the Tabernacle is off to the right and against the back wall. The only ornate chair in the whole place was where the Tabernacle should have been imo.
How else I detected some conflict was that despite their ideal of simplicity, they have made some rather wealthy expenditures such as half a mill for an organ and the self sustaining business is more about profit and secularized than I would have expected.
The belief and faith in the real presence was there but not emphasized enough for my taste but I prefer ad orientum worship.
I also detected some questionable books in the book store but that sort of thing can get by anyones radar. (Some on Buddhism, but the Dali lama has visited there and others on centering prayer and the Poem of the Man God which I suppose anyone has the option to read anyway, I just didn't expect to see them.) For the most part they were very Orthodox and I bought a couple on St. Benedict. I also discovered a new publisher that offers a wonderful Catholic Study Bible on par with Navarre or Ignatius that I had not heard of before; Sacra Pagina and Collegeville Bible Commentary New Testament Set
There was one other interesting thing, in talking with one of the monks I discovered they are autonomous (not under a Bishop) and adjust their rule according to their needs. This means they follow the "Spirit" of the Benedictine rule but not the letter which didn't make a lot of sense when they do not follow the Spirit of the Church in all opinions. Such as annulment for example but I attributed that to being cloistered and celibate. Another thing was no kneeling at the consecration which is specifically in the canon.
But hey it wasn't my Parish. To find only two discrepancies in canon for an institution not under a bishop and autonomous is quite remarkable for a place 150 years old. And the chant of the Divine Office 7 times a day was like being in a choir of angels in heaven itself.
Oh, and there are no more hermitages there and they don't allow visitations to Merton's any more for some reason and there were no stations of the cross in the Church but that was understandable as they are reformed Trappists and not Franciscans. They did have them in the cloister. They even had a computer room and a library bigger than the one at my home town. There are some advanced minds there without a doubt. They are on all levels of education there and in harmony. I met some that were way over my head and another, the oldest, who had been there since 1940 who never went beyond grade school. All very remarkable.
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