Trappists

a branch order of Cistercian monks. The Abbey of La Trappe in France took its name from that of the narrow, trap-like mouth of the gorge in which it was situated. The abbey was founded in 1140. In 1664 the abbot, a man of wealth and good family, who had been noted for a wicked life, underwent conviction and devoted himself to the reform of his monastery. The monks were called upon to fast to the verge of starvation, to work severely, to refrain from meat, including fish, to greet each other with the salutation, "Remember Death," and to labor in silence. The abbot further ordered each monk to spend some time each evening digging his own grave, and to sleep on straw in his own coffin. These commands were obeyed even with enthusiasm, and the abbey gained so great a reputation for piety that it became the head of a series of Trappist monasteries. In 1790 the Trappists, with other monastic orders, were banished from France. Groups of Trappist monks established new homes in Algiers, Savoy, Italy, Germany, Ireland, England, and Nova Scotia. One monastery was founded at Gethsemane in Kentucky and another at New Melleray in Iowa. A corresponding order of nuns was established in 1827. The total world's membership of Trappist monks and nuns is about 3,000. See Monasticism