 This website is intended to help meet the needs of the Associates of the Iowa Cistercians.
The AIC meets monthly at New Melleray or Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey near Dubuque, Iowa.
Membership in the AIC is open to Christian men and women who feel a calling to a contemplative lifestyle in the world and who wish to model that lifestyle on values and practices evident in Cistercian monasteries.
If you are interested in joining the AIC community, please click on Contact Coordinator and send us an e-mail. Please note that because of the growing size of the community, we may need to restrict membership in the future.
In addition, the AIC assists a distinct on-line community of Lay Cistercians called the Conversi. The Conversi community is intended for people who feel an calling to a contemplative and Cistercian lifestyle, but who are unable, because of distance or time, to participate in existing associate programs. For more information, visit our Conversi web site.
|
|
|
 A Cistercian Associate is a person who feels a calling from God to lead a contemplative and spiritual life in the world, a life modeled on the wisdom of Cistercian values and practices, and who seeks a community of like-minded people.
We in the AIC feel called to follow the example of Christ as revealed in the Gospels. To this end, we have found the Cistercian tradition flowing from the Rule of Saint Benedict very important in our formation as lay contemplatives living in the world.
We have observed and participated in the consistency and harmony by which the brothers and sisters incorporate prayer, sacred reading,and work in their daily routines, and how they embrace the Cistercian values and practices that shape their lives.
Through our participation and our involvement, we have discovered that many of these Cistercian values and practices are relevant for those of us outside monastic communities who wish to live in a Christ-centered way in the secular world.
|
|