Customer Reviews

Trappist [VHS]

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Monastic life has always been a mystery to both practicing religious people and those not connected to a particular faith. Our view of a Monk is a person behind closed walls, always in prayer, ignorant about the world and highly evolved as a spiritual person.

Trappist opens the door of the lives of the men who serve in this Roman Catholic order of monks considered to be the most strict in their devotion. It captures the history of the monastic movement in the west and gives us an overview of how monastics are dealing with today's world.

Come to the Trappist Monastery of Mepkin, South Carolina where the monks share with you how they came to this peculiar vocation. Listen to authors who have benefited from encountering the monastic life and incorporating it into their works and personal lives. See the openess of the order to those of different faith groups.

We are in an age of spiritual hunger. This film offers us an alternative way in dealing with our spirituality. Embrace its lessons and see where you to can find a spiritual oasis. This is an excellent film in exploring one's vocation, spirituality and preparing oneself for a deeper commitment to God.

So often documentaries dealing with religion often are poorly done. This is the exception, very well photographed,well written,coherently produced. It centers on a community of Monks, Trappists,or cistercians of the strict observance,as is thier proper title. This particular cominity lives on the former estate of henry and clare booth luce in Mepkin ,S.C.This video takes you, in a roundabout way through the monks day, thier lives, and the history of western monasticism. The monks are interviewd and spweak about thier lives m, the changes, and how they continue to live a life of "contradiction" in this world. The former Abbot , Fr. Christian Carr is particuarly affecting,in his 80's working at manuel labor,still filled with the life of the spirit. the video opens and ends with chruch and prayer, and much of the shots are of monks at prayer,or in choir. A terrific introduction to the trappist or simply to the spiritual life. The film exudes the peace it attempts to portray from the monks. A very, very well done show.

INTRODUCTION
"Trappist" is an educational and sometimes moving documentary of the life of one Trappist monastery called Mepkin Abbey, located near Charleston, South Carolina, USA. It weaves together interviews with the monks, visitors, and friends, along with clips of real-life activities and interesting historical flashbacks of the monastic movement through the centuries. It is 55 minutes long and was made in 1997, despite some incorrect information on this website and on the back of the DVD video itself claiming a copyright of 2008. I made a videotape copy of it years ago when it was broadcast on television.

CONTENT OVERVIEW
Mepkin Abbey was started in 1949 and had about 30 monks at the time of the documentary. The monks were of various ages, but they mostly seemed to be in their 50's or much older. There were a few who looked to be in their 30's. Most of them experienced some form of rejection from family and friends when they announced they were becoming monks, but that's understandable especially since the Trappists require complete rejection of family in turn. Some experienced a kind of culture shock when they joined. They see themselves as being counter-cultural and, in a sense, revolutionaries or radicals of the Gospel message of Christ, by living a lifestyle of prayer, Bible study, reading, work, simplicity, poverty, celibacy, obedience, and commitment to a place. One freely admitted that some of the other monks were not people they would normally choose as friends, but theirs was a community of commitment to an ideal and to God, and not necessarily a community of friends. Far from being isolated from the outside world, they host a steady stream of visitors and retreatants, they produce CDs and books, they have a website, they are engaged in building a library of many old and rare books for posterity, and run a high-tech egg business to sustain themselves.

The historical flashbacks of monasticism are interspersed here and there as the video progresses, aided by artwork and photos. We are told of St. Antony of Egypt in about 275 AD who lived the ascetic lifestyle of a hermit, St. Martin of Tours who started the first European monastery in the late 4th century, and of course St. Benedict of Nursia, whose "Rule" in the 6th century has been the foundational document for Western Monasticism to this day. As monasteries grew in wealth and influence, they also became morally lax, leading to various reform movements as happened in the 12th century. In England, monasteries were systematically dissolved in the 16th century by Henry XIII. In France, there were more reforms in the 17th century among the Cistersians, from whom eventually came the Trappists, and later in the 19th century they were attacked as useless relics of the past, forcing many to flee the country. After World War 2, in part because of the monk Thomas Merton, there was a new surge of interest and growth of US monasteries.

CRITIQUE
First, I wish the filmmakers visited a few other monasteries of different Orders, or at least made mention of them and how their lifestyle differed from the Trappists. Second, the video was also much too Western focused, with no mention of Eastern Orthodox Christian monasticism, which can be quite different than monasticism in the West. This could have been done, at bare minimum, through the historical flashbacks. Third, there was also the claim that there were only 700 functioning monasteries in the world, with 100 of them being in the US. I have tried to do some investigation, but found this number hard to verify. I suspect there are many more than that. For example, a look at [...] shows there are 85 functioning Eastern Orthodox Church monasteries today in the US alone. Fourth, other than a few passing remarks of self-critique by the monks and the filmmakers, the film was mostly "descriptive" and did not offer anything like a sober critical appraisal of monasticism in general or its place in the 20th/21st century. The few authors interviewed, like Thomas Moore and Kathleen Norris, and several regular visitors to the abbey, only had good things to say. Finally, to be fair, the film did a great job of interweaving fascinating history, honest and personal interviews with the monks, and video footage of actual daily life to give a reasonable and compelling look at the whole idea of monasticism.

SUMMARY
Overall, this was a very satisfying and, at times, moving documentary. I have watched it several times. There are practical lessons from it that I hope to carry over into my own personal life and my modest role in helping to catalyze, coach, and connect the modern-day house church movement which, it could be said, is an international network of back-to-basics "monasteries" and "friaries."

RAD ZDERO, author of LETTERS TO THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT and THE GLOBAL HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT

This is an excellent production. It is very short, but within that time one can get a basic look at the lifestyle and workings within a trappist monastery. The video does not romantacize the lifestyle and does not promote this lifestyle as an escape from the empty materialistic, consumer driven life many find themselves in. A few of the monks are interviewed and we get a feel for soul searching questions each one of them had during their calling to this lifestyle. Also a good look at how a monastary supports itself through business and it's own community support system.

This is a very good portrayal of trappist men living out their ordinary lives in extraordinary ways. Also, the documentary gives a scholarly background and history of the trappist order.

If you have never been to a trappist monastery or are needing a sample of this contemplative life, the video is a bargain I come back to often.