"A school of charity"

"St Benedict calls the monastery a school of charity. It is here that the seeds of love and desire grow into a new manner of life, centered on Christ, and wholly ordered to contemplation. Our vocation is entirely devoted to the mystery of Christ, discovering the paradoxes of life in a self-emptying that leads to fulfillment, and a self-renunciation that leads to freedom and peace. It is not, however, some 'other worldly' sublimation, but rather occurs within the rough and tumble of ordinary, daily events. Monastic life is real life, but structured according to a special rhythm of prayer, work and spiritual reading (lectio divina). This life continually calls us to conversion, charity, self-knowledge and mindfulness of God. In this milieu, real transformation can occur."

"Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey is a cloistered, monastic community of 30 Trappistine nuns of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. We are situated on a farm on a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, about seven miles from Dubuque, Iowa. Our main means of support is the production and sale of Trappistine Creamy Caramels."

"God has blessed our community with vocations and a call to found a new monastery in Norway. The site of the new foundation is near the Klosterruiner on the island of Tautra, off the peninsula of Frosta, near Trondheim in Central Norway. This Cistercian monks' abbey was founded in 1207 and existed until 1537 during the Protestant Reformation. Thus we are bringing Cistercian life back to a country that has been missing it for a long time."

from the website of Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey and Tautra Mariakloster