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3:00 - Rise
3:15 - Vigils (Night Office) private prayer, reading, breakfast
6:00 - Lauds (Morning Praise) followed by half-hour silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament
7:00 - Chapter (conference by superior, community meeting or class)
7:30 - Eucharist, Terce (Mid-morning Prayer) work until 11:00
11:40 - Sext (Midday Prayer) dinner, optional siesta, private prayer or reading
1:30 - None (Afternoon Prayer) work until 4:15
5:30 - Vespers - (Evening Prayer) quarter hour silent meditation, supper, private prayer or reading
7:00 - Compline (Concluding Prayer of the day)
The Monastic Way
(Texts from the Cistercian Constitutions)
Eucharist
The spiritual character of the community is especially evident in the celebration of the liturgy. The liturgy strengthens and increases both the inner sense of the monastic vocation and communion among the sisters. Each day in the liturgy God's Word is heard. A sacrifice of praise is offered to God the Father, there is a sharing in the mystery of Christ and the Holy Spirit's work of sanctification is accomplished.
The Eucharist is the source and summit of the whole Christian life and of the sisters' communion in Christ. For this reason it is to be celebrated by the whole community every day. It is by sharing in the paschal mystery of the Lord that the sisters are united more closely with one another and with the whole Church.
Liturgy of the Hours
"Nothing is to be preferred to the Work of God." ( RB) Accordingly, the Liturgy of the Hours is to be celebrated by the community which, in union with the Church, fulfills Christ's priestly function offering to God a sacrifice of praise and making intercession for the salvation of the whole world.
The Liturgy of the Hours is a school of continual prayer and an outstanding component of the monastic way of life.
Sacred Reading
Careful lectio divina (sacred reading) greatly strengthens the sisters' faith in God. This excellent monastic practice, by which God's Word is heard and pondered, is a source of prayer and a school of contemplation, where the nun speaks heart to heart with God. Through God's Word the nuns are trained in a discipline of heart and action to be responsive to the Holy Spirit and so attain purity of heart and a continual mindfulness of God's presence.Prayer
By constantly cultivating mindfulness of God, the sisters extend the Work of God throughout the whole day. In a spirit of compunction and intense desire, nuns devote themselves frequently to prayer. While dwelling on earth, their minds are occupied with heavenly things, desiring eternal life with all spiritual longing.
Silence is counted among the principal monastic values of the Order. It assures solitude for the nun in community. It opens the mind to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and favors attentiveness of heart and solitary prayer to God. The quietness of mind cultivated by silence is also the fruit of purity and simplicity of heart.
Work
Work, especially manual work, has always enjoyed special esteem in the Cistercian tradition since it gives the nuns the opportunity of sharing in the divine work of creation and restoration, and of following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. This hard and redeeming work is a means of providing a livelihood for the sisters and for other people, especially the poor. It expresses solidarity with all workers. Moreover work is an occasion for a fruitful asceticism that fosters personal development and maturity. It promotes health of mind and body and contributes greatly to the unity of the whole community.Community
A nun follows the common life in her monastery. The law of the common life is this: unity of spirit in the charity of God, the bond of peace in the mutual and unbroken love of all the sisters, communion in sharing all goods.
The community forms a single body in Christ. Each sister is to contribute to the upbuilding of fraternal relations especially by sharing with others the spiritual gifts she has received by God's manifold grace. The equilibrium between the Work of God, prayer, lectio divina and manual work, essential to the Cistercian way of life, is determined according to the character, training and age of each.