Here are a few interesting principles of vocation awareness which give us some insight into the rich variety of calls given by God: • Each of us is called by God. This call is rooted in Baptism, and is a way of participating in the mission of Jesus. The promotion of vocational awareness is [...]
We recently completed a pleasant five day visit from the Abbot-General of our Order, Dom Bernardus Peeters. He's the former abbot of Tilburg abbey in Holland and he's travelling with his secretary Fr. Raphael who is from Citeaux Abbey in France. Dom Bernardus shared a few stories of how things have been going in Tilburg. [...]
Recently we celebrated the ‘change of stability’ to Kopua of three Brothers - Aelred, Anselm, and Gregory - originally from the Cistercian Monastery of Our Lady of the Philippines, Guimaras Island. Change of stability sounds like a contradiction! Cistercian monks make a vow of stability, committing to a place and community for life. In rare [...]
With a recurring historical theme of Cistercians caring for their environment, the Kopua Cistercian Associate community, having just celebrated the 20th year of their formation, are supporting the monastic community to restore a wetland on its grounds. Father Nicho’s response to the idea when it was first presented in 2021 was: “Last night at [...]
Matariki Weekend June 2022 On the Friday of the first public holiday acknowledging Matariki over 40 volunteers gathered to begin planting 1000 native trees around the Kopua Wetland. We began with a Matariki Waiata sung by Hinekawa Munday. This waiata featured all nine stars in the cluster. After introductions we moved to the planting [...]
Pope encourages Trappists to pursue quest inspired by Jesus’ “dreams" Addressing participants in the General Chapter of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance Pope Francis encourages them to pursue four “dreams” in order to edify and improve oneself and one’s community. By Linda Bordoni from www.vaticannews.va Pope Francis on Friday had words of [...]
Former guesthouse manager, Sybil Gibson, talks about monastic hospitality at Kopua Monastery: The Cistercian Companions of Kopua are blessed to serve God as part of the ministry of hospitality offered to Guests on retreat at Kopua. There are four Companions at the moment Jim, Sybil, Ian and Maria, and we try to live out [...]
Janelle Visser, from Canada, visited us and wrote a brief article about her stay. Janelle is an adventure tourism guide.Last Thursday I put my phone on airplane mode and set my life on monastery mode. Road to Kopua monastery I spent four nights – three full days – at a Benedictine monastery situated on a [...]
Kopua is a hidden treasure of the Church in New Zealand. That it is hidden is not by chance. It’s a Cistercian monastery, and so seclusion is part of its nature and purpose.That doesn’t mean that Kopua, tucked away in the rolling hills of Tararua, is enclosed. In fact, part of the Cistercian charism is [...]
Sadly Br. Tony passed away on the 16th of October 2020 aged 79. Please enjoy to Father Nicho's Homily from the funeral. It relates to Saint Matthew's Gospel 2:2-11. We chose this Gospel of the Feast of the Epiphany for today's liturgy because it relates to brother Tony, who held some [...]