The Lay Cistercian Review
Volume 1, Issue 1
Advent 2025
The inaugural issue gathers reflections for the season of waiting — on Mary’s Advent vocation, a Christmas Eve at a Trappist monastery, nature as a teacher of simplicity, and the quiet hope of the coming Light.
From the Editor
Editorial Introduction
John Pestian
Editor’s Comments
John Pestian
Articles
Mary and the Lay Cistercian Vocation During Advent
John Pestian
A Midnight Clear: A Utah Trappist Monastery Christmas Eve Story
Michael Patrick O’Brien
A Personal Reflection on Nature as a Teacher of Simplicity
Michael Johnson
Finding Hope in the Humility and Humanity of Mary
Frederick Wise
Prose & Poetry
From the Communities
IALCC Meeting — Ávila, Spain
Ávila, Spain · June 2025