The Oriental Rite Cistercian Monasticism dates back to 1930. It was pioneered by a pious Eritrean diocesan priest, Abba Haile Mariam Ghebre-Amalak alias Fr. Felix, when he became a Cistercian monk of Casamari Abbey in southern Italy, starting his novitiate on December 7, 1930. He died in 1934 but his work lives on. In 1940, monks of the Cistercian Congregation of Casamari opened a monastery at Beleza, 14 kms. north of Asmara, Eritrea. In 1948, the community was transferred to Asmara. The latter monastery became Prioratus Sui Juris, i.e. an autonomous province in the context of the Cistercian Congregation of Casamari (all the houses in Eritrea and Ethiopia are under this monastery).
The purpose of the Cistercians is to seek God in a balanced life of prayer and work, "Ora et Labora", according tothe Rule of St Benedict.
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