Cistercian is a monastic school, rooted to the place by the stability of the monks, whose very lives make statements to the students about the use of talents and the joy of common service. As a monastic school, the rhythms of the school day are influenced by those of the abbey. Students watch the monks, young and old return to the abbey church for regular community prayer. And the students venture over the hill themselves both individually and with their Form, whether it is for personal prayer, confession or Mass and in so doing they further connect school and abbey life. This life of the abbey, solidified and signified by the beautiful stone of the abbey church, offers stability to the mission of the School, elevating the education beyond simply academic excellence towards the formation of mind and heart.

The monks waited patiently for their church, offering service to the students for decades before receiving their own permanent space of common prayer, a place that has been vital to the present rejuvenation of the abbey through new vocations. So too has the School waited for its own space, waited for a clear center, both of and for the campus, which would further solidify and signify its mission. We hope to finally finish the school in a way that makes clear our central belief: at the center of Cistercian Preparatory School is God. There is a call that emanates from the life of the School, which is echoed in the lives of the monks and the faculty on behalf of the students. This new chapel gives form to years of hearing and responding to that call.

(Remarks by Greg Novinski '82.)