Trappist Monastery Near Jerusalem Victimized by Arson, Defaced

JERUSALEM, Israel (Catholic Online) - Oz Rosenberg and Nir Hasson of Haaretz newspaper in Israel were the first to report the troubling story.  There was another arson attack outside of Jerusalem on Tuesday, August 3, 2012. 

However, this time, the Cistercian ("Trappist") monastery of Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Sept-Douleurs, at Latrun - and the monks who live, work and pray inside - were the victims of this senseless act of anti-Christian hatred. This beautiful monastery was established by monks sent from the motherhouse of Sept-Fons Abbey in France at the request of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in 1890.

Father Louie, the Abbot of the monastery, told the BBC that "at around 3:30 on Tuesday, a monk sleeping in one of the guest rooms had heard a noise, went outside and saw the door burning. The monks managed to put out the fire with an extinguisher." 

A part of monastic life and spirituality is labor, immersed in prayer. Monks support themselves through hard work, dedicated to God and caught up in the ongoing redemptive work of Jesus Christ in and through His Church. They follow a "Rule", a Way of Life. The Cistercians follow the Rule of St. Benedict and the Benedictine motto "Ora et Labora', Work and Prayer.

This holy place, where peaceful monks spend their days in hard work offered up for the salvation of the world - and in intense prayer for authentic peace in the Holy Land - was also defaced - with horrid anti-Christian graffiti. The BBC report noted the graffiti included the phrase "Jesus is a monkey". It also included the words "mutual responsibility", along with the names of the settler outposts of Upper Migron and Maoz Esther."

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