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Devotion to the Virgin Mary
Because our predecessors and
fathers originally came from the church of Molesme, dedicated in
honour of blessed Mary, to the place Citeaux, whence we ourselves
originated, we therefore decree that all our churches and those
of our successors be founded and dedicated in memory of the same
Queen of heaven and earth, Mary.(1) All Cistercian houses were dedicated
to the Virgin, under the title of the Assumption, ‘Queen of
Heaven and Earth’, and throughout its history the Order was
closely identified with its devotion to her cult. This special relationship
with Mary was visually represented in sculptures, paintings and
stained glass, and from 1335 the General
Chapter prescribed that the official seal of every monastery
should bear her image.(2)
Mary was sometimes depicted protecting members of the Order beneath
her mantle. This was based on the vision of one Cistercian monk
who viewed ‘fell into an ecstasy’ and viewed ‘the
glories of heaven’. There he saw the angels, patriarchs, prophets,
apostles, martyrs and confessors, all arranged according to whether
they had been canons, Premonstratensians,
Cluniacs or whatever
order. No Cistercians were represented, and the monk was quite troubled;
he voiced his concern to the Virgin, whereupon she replied that
those of the Cistercian Order were so dear and beloved to her that
she cherished them in her own bosom. "And opening her cloak,
with which she seemed to be clothed, and which was of marvellous
amplitude, she showed him an innumerable multitude of monks, lay-brothers
and nuns."(3)
Mary was first celebrated in the Cistercian liturgy in 1152, when
she was commemorated in the Daily
Office, but her feasts and commemorations increased over the
centuries, in accordance with the general amplification of the liturgical
calendar. The Little Office of Our Lady was sanctioned as a community
prayer in 1185, her votive Mass
celebrated on Saturdays from 1220, and by the thirteenth century
the Salve Regina, in many ways a defining feature of the
Order, was sung at the end of Compline
to conclude the liturgical day. By 1540 she was celebrated on seven
feast days. Bernard of Clairvaux was
particularly noted for his devotion to the Virgin and was buried
before the her altar at Clairvaux. He did much to propagate the
cult, yet vehemently opposed the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Bernard’s devotion to Mary is celebrated by the Italian poet,
Dante Alghieri, (1265-1321), in his monumental work, The Divine
Comedy: |
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