Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Dallas

02/13/2026

This year, Fr. James Lehrberger will celebrate his 50th anniversary of priestly ordination! To commemorate this wonderful milestone, we will have a special golden jubilee Mass on Sunday, February 22nd at 9am. A reception in our courtyard will follow. Everyone is invited to join us for this joyful occasion!

Fr. James was born in San Francisco on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 1943. He first attended his parish’s grammar school, and then he went to one of the city’s Catholic high Schools, before attending the University of San Francisco and graduating with a B.A. in philosophy. In high scho...

02/06/2026

Father Thomas has written a novel, and it is available now for pre-order on the Ignatius Press website and on Amazon! "Blue Miles" is the fictional memoir of an old monk. The chapters follow the daily schedule of the monastery in which Padre Samuel, the main character, lives. He weaves his life story, which includes an orphaned childhood, alcoholism, and much perseverance in the midst of difficulties, together with anecdotes about the demands and mercies of his community.

Ignatius Press, founded by Fr Joseph Fessio, SJ is a Catholic publishing company specializing in the translations of great theologians like Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac, Adrienne von Speyr and modern philosophers like Peter Kreeft along with gre...

01/29/2026

Here is Fr. Thomas' first column in a new series of reflections on the Hail Mary prayer!

St. Luke gives us the angel Gabriel’s annunciation greeting to Mary as “Chaire, kecharitōmenē” (Lk 1:28). There are thrilling grammatical and theological mysteries packed into these two Greek words.

01/21/2026

Fr. John's latest Texas Catholic column is up. He recently read a novel that is a favorite of multiple recent Popes, and he has some great musings about it!

I recently enjoyed a wonderful apocalyptic novel, “Lord of the World,” by the British author and priest, Robert Hugh Benson. I was excited to read this book because I learned that recent popes (such as Benedict XVI, Francis, and Leo XIV) have spoken about it as a prophetic reflection of our time

12/29/2025

Fr. Thomas has a reflection on the light of Christ in the winter darkness. Merry Christmas to all!

The days are darkest in late December. Our calendar year ends with the briefest appearances of sunlight. The wintry chill that covers so many lands, the leafless trees, and the absence of flowers and plants all provide a hint of death at work in the sleeping earth.

12/24/2025

Merry Christmas!
Midnight mass tonight begins with the Divine Office at 11:20 PM.

11/11/2025

Fr. Thomas' last column on the Our Father prayer, a reflection on the petition "But deliver us from evil," is available here!

The two petitions that conclude the “Our Father” prayer form a single sentence. “And lead us not into temptation” is inseparable from “but deliver us from evil,” according to faith as well as grammar. And just as the word “temptation” needed to be mined for deeper insights, so too do

10/15/2025

Fr. Thomas' latest Texas Catholic column, a reflection on the petition "Lead us not into temptation," is online!

October 6, 2025 By Father Thomas Esposito, O. Cist.Special to The Texas Catholic In the last decade, the liturgical versions of the Our Father have been changed in both French and Italian to soften the apparent harshness of this petition. The French translation is now “Ne nous laisse pas entrer en...

09/14/2025

Here is the latest Texas Catholic column from Fr. Thomas!

This petition is the most scandalous of them all. The verb tenses reveal the heart of the matter.

08/23/2025

We welcome three new novices to Cistercian!

During evening prayer on the vigil of the Solemnity of St. Bernard, we welcomed three new brothers as novices. They are Br. Sebastian Kelly, Br. David Andrews, and Br. Pascal Graves.

During the ceremony, the young men stated their intention, "With the help of God's grace, I hope and desire to serve Christ as true King." Abbot Peter then gave a reflection on The Rule of St. Benedict and exhorted the entire community to center our lives — and all our educational and pastoral activity — on sincere prayer, both individually and as a community. Then he gave each novice his new name and explained why he chose it. Each name reflects an ideal the novice had set for himself. Their presence in our community therefore brings with it a new set of heavenly patrons, as well as new calls to conversion and growth.

Abbot Peter also blessed their new habits (i.e., their white robes) and clothed each of them. While taking their sport coats, he recited the following prayer, "May the Lord remove from you the old man, with his way of life." Then, while helping them put on their new habits, he prayed, "May the Lord clothe you with the new man, made like God in the justice and holiness of truth."

As always, the investiture of novices was a beautiful time of prayer and fraternity. Afterwards, we processed as a community into our recreation room for a party and then dinner. In addition to celebrating the novices, we also celebrated Fr. Bernard's feast day, as well as Fr. Lawrence's (August 10) and Br. Kolbe's (August 14).

Please pray for our new brothers! May they hear God's voice clearly and enjoy the courage to follow him wherever he leads them.

08/18/2025

Yesterday Br. Barnabas renewed his temporary vows for another three years, and our six novices - Br. Jerome, Br. Elijah, Br. Anselm, Br. Gideon, Br. Charbel and Br. Michael - made their first profession of temporary vows. Enjoy these pictures! It is amazing to see seven young men ready to offer themselves to God together in monastic life. God has blessed our community. Please pray for these young men and their studies, discernment and formation; and please pray for our entire community. May we always strive for greater conversion and fidelity to the call of God!