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Abbey of Casamari

Casamari, one of the Cistercian monasteries in which monastic life has had no interruptions since its foundation.

The abbey of Casamari is situated in the territory of Veroli (Frosinone), on the Via Maria, mid-way between Frosinone and Sora, and lies on a rocky hill sloping down to the torrent Amaseno, at about 300 metres above sea-level. It was built on the ruins of an ancient Roman municipium named Cereatae, being dedicated to the goddess Ceres, at Marianae, for it was the birthplace, or at least a residence, of Caius Marius, from whom the abbey later derived its name. The documents witness the presence of a Benedectine monastic community in the 11th century, under the name of Casamari.

In spite of endless change, Casamari is still one of the Cistercian monasteries in which monastic life has had no interruptions since its foundation, except for the short period 1811-1814. The revival of religious life has been made possible by the institution of seminaries (1916) which have in a short time set many young men on the way to the Cistercian ideal. Thus the abbey, together with its dependent houses, was declared a monastic Congregation by the Holy See in 1929. Its Constitutions were approved provisionally in the same year and permanently on June 13th, 1943 by Pope Pius XII. They were approved again in 1979, after a revision according to the instructions of Vatican II. The general Chapter meets every three years. The abbot of Casamari is always the Abbot President ofthe Congregation and is in office for a nine-year period. Owing in part to the influence of the Trappists' severe observance in the 18th-19th centuries, common prayer; above all liturgy and lectio divina, is very important to the Congregation's spirituality. They spend a large part of their time in work, by which they earn a living for themselves and some aid for the poor and missions. Their occupations vary from teaching to sacred ministry as well as scientific, handicraft and agricultural works. In 1830 the Congregation, entrusted by the Holy See, introduced the Catholic monasticism into Ethiopia and started the education of the first group of Ethiopian postulants. In 1940 the first monastery was founded, and there are now four monasteries and two missions with almost 100 monks. In the meantime, from the mother-house, Casamari, have come other groups of monks, giving life to some new monasteries, one of which is in the United States of America and another in Brazil. According to the latest statistics, the Congregation of Casamari now consists of sixteen monasteries and three residences, with 220 monks.