Visiting
The Abbey of Nový Dvůr is not accessible to everyone as this would be incompatible with monastic life. The gatehouse shop is open a few hours a week, at weekends. The church is open during services , for those who wish to pray with the monks. Except for the part next to the hostel, areas around the monastery are reserved for the monks. The monastery does not receive any tourists or architecture students. Tourists come to “have a look”, but the essential part of our lives is not something that can be “seen”.
, for those who wish to pray with the monks. Except for the part next to the hostel, areas around the monastery are reserved for the monks. The monastery does not receive any tourists or architecture students. Tourists come to “have a look”, but the essential part of our lives is not something that can be “seen”.
“Monasteries of contemplative life are like an oasis. […] These apparently useless places are indispensable, like the green ‘lungs’ of a city: they are of benefit for all even those who never visit them or ignore their existence.”
(Benedict XVI)
Even if no witness is aware of our presence, by strengthening the transcendence of God through simple acts, personal prayer and the liturgical office, monks repel indifference and atheism, stifle persecution, combat violence of all kinds, bring peace to bruised hearts and enable divided families to reunite. The list is endless. Those who come up against the walls of a monastery, without being able to enter, sometimes leave impressed by the existence of these monks that they haven’t been able to “see”. They guess the value of their solitary life and contemplation.
By refusing to put on a show for hurried visitors, we are in fact helping them more through our discretion than we would if we complied with their curiosity. If some people have difficulty in understanding this logic, they should realise that our vocation remains difficult even for us to understand and accept.
At certain times, visitors can pray in the church and then go to the gatehouse and shop.
The church
The church is open during services for those who wish to pray with the monks. Mass is at 10 am on Sundays and on certain major festive days and at 6.30 am on ordinary days. Visitors can also attend liturgical services during the day, providing they first notify the monks. → Schedule of services
The gatehouse and shop
The shop sells organic products from Nový Dvůr (particularly mustards and natural cosmetics) or other monastic communities (Sept-Fons and the Poličany Trappistines), as well as rosaries, icons, images and a wide selection of books. Visitors can see a small exhibition of photographs illustrating our lives, or watch two short films by director Marie Šandová → Videos. The first film recounts the history of the monastery, whilst the second depicts the rhythm of a monk’s day.
The shop is open on:
Saturdays from 2.30 to 4.45 pm.
Sundays and public holidays from 9 to 10 am, after Mass (from 11.30 to 11.55 am) and from 2.30 to 3.30 pm.
The shop can be opened specially on request, by contacting a brother: email@novydvur.cz.