Lay Cistercian Review
Serving as a global platform for Lay Cistercians, providing resources, sharing spiritual insights, and promoting the Cistercian values of prayer, simplicity, and community.
Call for Submission
September 5, 2025
Due October 5, 2025
Dear Lay Cistercian brothers and sisters,The Lay Cistercian Review invites submissions for its first issue, centered on the theme of “Simplicity, Hope, and Humility in Advent.” This inaugural issue will be published on November 30, 2025, which is the First Sunday of Advent.Advent serves as a profound reminder that Christ enters our world not with worldly power, but with hidden humility and a quiet presence that transforms the heart. As Lay Cistercians, this calls us to focus on the essentials: silence that deepens prayer, humility that shapes our relationships, work lived as service, and stability rooted in community. Through these practices, we embrace the very simplicity and hope with which Christ chose to enter our world.We welcome reflections, essays, poetry, artwork, and prayers that explore how these Advent virtues shape our Cistercian vocation and daily life. Submissions not selected for this issue will be considered for future editions.The Lay Cistercian Review aims to support our shared vocation to live the Rule of St. Benedict in the world. By sharing our reflections, struggles, and joys, this journal seeks to be a source of encouragement and companionship on our journey.The deadline for submissions is Sunday, October 5, 2025. Submissions should not exceed 2,500 words. Please review the attached Style Sheet Guidelines for detailed formatting requirements before submitting your work.Please submit your work to lcr@laycistercianreview.org in Word, PDF, or LaTeX format, and kindly cc john.pestian@mac.com in case there are any issues with the new email address.All submissions will be considered in light of our Lay Cistercian commitment to the Rule of St. Benedict. Contributions should, whether implicitly or explicitly, reflect the spirit of simplicity, hope, and humility, as well as the journal’s mission to nurture the Lay Cistercian way of life.Please feel free to forward this call for submissions to others, as our mailing list is still incomplete.Together, may we help one another enter more deeply into the simplicity, hope, and humility of Advent, drawing closer to Christ who comes quietly, gently, and with love.In peace,Editorial TeamLay Cistercian Review