Talk:Trappists

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This is a too brief and slightly skewed version of the Trappists. You should mention that they are a contemplative order, and while their abstinence of alcohol is one aspect of their ovservance, the most notable is their silence. In fact they rarely speak, and have an intricate sign language they have passed down for hundreds of years for communicating without the use of their voice. That being said, they are not forbidden to talk.

  • I recently visited the abbey in the Netherlands (Koningshoeven) and was told by one of the monks that they do use their voice to communicate and that the sign-language is no longer used. In fact, he himself had no knowledge of the signs mentioned.Vodyanoi 20:50, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

It seems a bit biased to only highlight the alcohol abstinence, then following it with the ironic statement that they make liquor and beer.

It's quite ok to think that monks are funny and once-in-a-while a bit schizophrenic.

  • Sounds like what I added August 1, so you must want more of the same. Not that I'm volunteering - I'm not Catholic or anything, and you know more about Trappists than I do. Art LaPella 16:41, August 21, 2005 (UTC)
  • I am unable to even confirm that the Trappists are required to abstain from alcohol. I looked in their constitutions (essentially rules of the order in addition to the Rule of St. Benedict) and while I could find a requirement to abstain from meat (unless ill) I could find nothing at all said about alcohol. I am going to do a bit more research, but I think this article essentially needs to be rewritten. -- Bill McHale 21:19, 9 February 2006 (UTC)
  • The Trappists have not been required to abstain from alcohol since 1836, it's merely a choice (often determined by the abbott). Before this, the Trappist founder did impose abstinence, but no more. In an email exchange with the head monk of the Trappist monastery that brews Chimay beer (Scourmont), I asked this very question and got the following reply: Contrary to Islam and some other religions, that [sic] has never been any rule concerning total abstinence of alcoholic beverage in Christianity. At Scourmont, as in other monasteries of Belgium, at daily meals, monks drink either water or some very light beer (which is not even in the market), not the strong beer that is on the market. - Armand Veilleux. It doesn't get more authoritative than that! Also see some of the trappist brewery websites (linked off trappist beer). Riflemann 15:20, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
  • Are you sure the meals are usually taken in complete silence? I am pretty sure that one of the monks is appointed to

read aloud to the monks during the main meal... Which I believe is mandated in the Rule of St. Benedict. In any case, while I think we can add more to it, I think this article is alot better than it was a few weeks ago.Bill McHale 06:07, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Cleanup notice

It says "see...this article's talk page" for help, and you left us guessing. Grammar, spelling etc. are better than most Wikipedia pages. And if you agree with the objection at the top of this talk page there are more precise templates to use - and I don't use them, because the solution to a missing discussion is to go ahead and add it. Art LaPella 20:56, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Revision

Ok, I have revised the article to more reflect the fact that the Trappists are a religious order dedicated to prayer, penance and work. It still mentions the fact that the Trappists produce beer (But not that they abstain from beer since I found no evidence of that and found at least one reference to them producing beer for the consumption of the momks) but I believe now it does not make them look like simply an excentric bunch of silent beer brewers. -- Bill McHale 00:36, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dead ends

Don't know if it's a result of cleanups, but references 3,4 and 5 on this entry lead nowhere Grubstreet 20:13, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Connecting this article

This article should be connected to Trappista cheese article.

Leomcholwer (talk) 16:38, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Rule 48

The translation of the Rule of St Bendict that I have, (Litugical Press, trans. Leonard Doyle, 1935), makes Rule 48 sound rather different to the implied. It is titled 'On the daily manual labour', and is mostly concerned with the reason for, and extent of, manual labour. It is in the final paragraph that the quotation must have come from, which begins, "And if the circumstances of the place, or their poverty should require that they themselves do the work of gathering the harverst". This gives more of an implication of "if it's needed, that's good to do", rather than the implication of one _should_ do so.

It's entirely possible that the Trappists (or Cistercians generally) have a stricter interpretation than the translation I have, but if so it would be better to make that more explicit. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.70.168.124 (talk) 18:55, 20 May 2008 (UTC)