Born in Durham, England, in 1943, Bell attended Leeds and received a doctorate from Oxford in 1971; he devoted his adult scholarly life to Cistercian Studies. Rare was his mastery of early modern Cisterciensia as well as the medieval patrimony of the movement. Several of Bell's works were on the Trappist abbot de Rancé. Bell was married to Terryl N. Kinder, also an authority on Cistercian history. He taught at Memorial University of Newfoundland, publishing 34 books and hundreds of articles. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He was Anglican and served as a deacon at the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Here is the obituary Terryl Kinder wrote for her husband.

The photograph shows Céline and Thérèse posing together before the performance of a play about Joan of Arc. Thérèse wrote the play for her convent community. The performance was held as a gift in honor of their older sister, Mother Agnes of Jesus, also a nun at Lisieux.
​Such plays were often performed in the days and weeks before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, because Lent is an ascetic season, a time in which plays and entertainment are to be reduced. Even today, Mardi Gras is a time of theatrical performance in monasteries. 
This photo is a valuable document that shows nuns wearing costumes over their habits, and wigs over their veils!

Media reports have drawn attention to the fact that the new archabbot of St. Peter's in Salzburg, Jacob Auer, is only 33 years old. The first thing to recall is, of course, the biblical dimension of that number and its significance in the life and mission of Jesus Christ. And then there was Bernard of Clairvaux, who was made abbot of Clairvaux in his mid-twenties.
Spiritual and hagiographical meditations aside, it turns out that 33 is not even that young in terms of St. Peter's very own history. St. Peter's archivist Gerald Hirtner quickly calculated that Jakob Auer ranks fourth (!) in terms of young abbots. In other words, he isn't even that young. There were significant and hugely successful abbots elected to lead St. Peter's at a younger age, namely Amand Pachler and the supremely significant Placidus Mayrhauser.
These are only some points of comparison from the Early Modern period, for which precise biographical information is available. With an abbey as significant as St. Peter's, whose history reaches back into the seventh century, there were certainly dozens of medieval abbots elected while in their early thirties. 
Postscript, 5 March 2025: Blogger Georg Schrott picked up the ball on this topic and played it back regarding abbeys in the Upper Palatinate in Bavaria. See this report on young abbots there.

Coordinator Tyler Sergent has sent out the information relevant for Cistercian researchers planning to attend Kalamazoo this May. The 2025 Cistercian & Monastic Studies Conference is part of the 60th International Congress on Medieval Studies, held 8-10 May at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. It is a highlight of the year in medieval research; indeed the huge conference started out as a rather small annual assembly of .... Cistercian Studies people! Now, thousands of experts and beginning scholars descend upon the sleepy midwestern campus and exchange ideas and build cameraderie. 
The full Congress program is available online here.
Two new developments: there is no longer the daily mass said by monks in a seminar room. Used to be, participants wanted mass daily. I do think there are other masses being said daily in classrooms, but officially there is only the one at 5:15PM on Saturday in Kanley Chapel.
Finally, Sergent writes that the traditional sit-down Cistercian dinner is no longer on the program. "University facilities are not really able to accommodate this kind of event on campus anymore," he explains. There will, however, be a cocktail party with ample time to sit, relax, and visit together. The sit-down dinner used to end with a wondeful, if eccentric, moment when everyone rose from their seats and joined in singing the Salve Regina according to the Cistercian setting. It was – in its own way – a delight! But time goes on, and things change. 

This photo from 1899 shows Cistercian priests from Lilienfeld Abbey at the opening ceremonies for municipal water works in their village. Notice that the laymen at center-left have very high top hats (also the first layman on the right). Most of the Cistercians are wearing hats that are not quite as high. Proper top hats don't seem to be standard for the clerics. Many of the monks are wearing medals on their chests, signs of civic or ecclesial awards and honors. 

It is carnival time, and not a year goes by without someone dressing as a monk or nun or bishop on Mardi Gras. The result is usually not particularly edifying. When kids do it, however, the result is endearing and often reflects more respect for the religious state. Above, we have a Trinitarian missionary on the left and a lovely "Little Thérèse" of Lisieux on the right, even carrying her flowers. Her rosary almost reaches to the ground!
Such juvenile practices are not to be underestimated in their cultural influence. Many saints "played" saying mass as children (Peter Canisius), and missionary magazines for kids would often show children in the religious roles that they aspired to. Robert A. Orsi published about this in 2004: "Children [in the USA] were encouraged to play mass at home using (if they could afford it) make-believe mass kits sold by Catholic retailers or else household objects (if they could not.) Candy Necco wafers were popular Communion hosts among children all over the country." (94)

The Agnus Dei is not only a part of the mass often chanted, it is also a term for the small wax medallions which portray, on one side, the Easter lamb. The other side shows a given saint.
They had a special significance for the Cistercians of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, a famous abbey in Rome, because they had been given the privilege of preparing the wax molds in a delicate and intricate process. The wax was infused with holy oil. The week after Easter, the pope would bless the Agnus Dei medallions, but not every year, only in the first and seventh years of his pontificate. They were then distributed to the faithful. A similar practice (distributing pieces of the Easter candle) was also known in the first centuries of Christendom.
Here is a video of the pope surrounded by Cistercians in 1959.

The Cistercian dimension begins in 1599, so reports Chiaravalle's homepage, when the "Foglianti" Cistercians in San Bernardo alle Terme in Rome obtained from Pope Clement VIII "an exclusive and perpetual commission" to produce the Agnus Dei. The Feuillants were disbanded in 1802 and aggregated with the Cistercian Congregation of St. Bernard in Italy, and the privilege passed to Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.

O schwere Gottes Hand, wie bist allhie zu Land so schmerzlich zu gedulden: Ach wie muß man so theur, in disem strengen Feuer, bezahlen alle  Schulden. Hätt ich mir die Pein zuvorgebildet ein, die man allhie muß leiden; so hätt ich also sehr gewißlich nimmermehr getracht nach schnöden Freuden.
Lebhafte Vorstellungen vom Fegefeuer, wie die oben zitierten Zeilen aus einem Augsburger Lied ca. 1690, sind von tiefster kulturprägender Bedeutung für das europäische Abendland vom Mittelalter bis in das 20. Jh. Klöster wurden zu einem großen Teil von Spenden finanziert, die bezahlt wurden, um die Pein der Seelen im Fegefuer zu lindern bzw. zu beenden. Das Mittel dazu war fürbittendes Gebet, vor allem in der Hl. Messe. 
Der obige Textausschnitt ist deswegen eine wertvolle Quelle, weil die Augsburger Lyrik zeitgenössische Vorstellugen vom Purgatorium liefert und uns ein zuverlässiges Bild von jenen Gefühlen machen lässt, die in der Betrachtungswelt der Geldgeber herrschten. Das Lied hilft, die seelsiche Motivation hinter den Seelgerätsstiftungen, die wir heute etwas nüchterner Messintentionen nennen, besser zu verstehen. 

Fr. Luke was the last monk of St. Mary's Monastery in New Ringgold, Pennsylvania (Diocese of Allentown). Google reviews claim that the "beautiful old monastery" has long been up for sale: "It has 17 bedrooms and a beautiful chapel on 12 1/2 acres." Fr. Luke was Prior and co-founder of St. Mary's, where four formerly Trappist monks had started anew around 1975. They had had differences of opinion about observance and liturgy at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts. Anderson had made his solemn profession in Spencer in 1953 and was ordained to the priesthood the year thereafter. 
The community at St. Mary's transferred to the Common Observance and attained the status of a priory of the Cistercian Order. They earned their livelihood first by making computer punch cards (long before the PC!). Later, they became tailors, making pants. Over the years, more than a dozen novices had entered St. Mary's, but none stayed. 
Fr. Luke passed away on 4 January 2025 at the age of 97, the last of the four founding confreres. Alfred Schlert, Bishop of Allentown, officiated at the requiem.
Anderson wrote a thesis at the Angelicum titled The concept of truth in the philosophy of William James (1965). He also had a master's degree from Princeton University. He served on the editorial board of the Cistercian Fathers Series from ca. 1970 and was also an editor of what was supposed to be the English translation of Bernard's collected works (a joint initiative of Cistercian Publications and Consortium Press in the early 1970s). He contributed "The Rhetorical Epistemology in Saint Bernard's Super Cantica" to the acclaimed collection titled Bernardus Magister in 1992. In 2005, he published The Image and Likeness of God in Bernard of Clairvaux's Free Choice and Grace, which he dedicated to St. Teresa of Calcutta, with whom he had worked on several occasions, holding workshops and giving retreats for the Missionaries of Charity. His retreats and conferences were especially popular; he was a regular retreat master at numerous monasteries and held countless university lectures.

Anyone visiting a contemplative monastery in the last decades knows that they usually sell products that are in some way sweet or pious, or both. There is usually a selection of alcohol as well. Selling such goods is a way of raising funds, and even if the monastery does not have a proper gift shop (most do), there will certainly be something on sale at the porter's gate, even if it is as modest as a home-made rosary. 
This approach to raising fund is a modern phenomenon, that's for sure, but just how modern is it and how has it been received? Christians convinced of the value of abstinence have long voiced criticism of the alcohol sales. Anti-monastic polemicists love to focus on this topic (Klueting 1990). 
But how about the aesthetics, or let's just say advertising, of presenting monastic goods to a wide audience? Some monastics (see my honey post from Dec. 10, below) are clearly gifted and take this work seriously. In the following pictures, all taken from around 1910, we can see the modest beginnings of such visual work.

This one, above, is interesting because it shows a drawing of a Trappist monk with a sun hat at his feet. Notice that this Viennese newspaper ad includes "Palestinian Wine" and Cognac.

This Trappist liqueur is, interestingly, marketed in the feminine form: Trappistin. I don't think it was produced by Trappistines. The drink is somehow understood to be a feminine object. They also sell chocolate. 

This Viennese shop, called St. Jerome's, specialized in medicine for digestive problems, constipation, gout, and even asthma. The shop carried products from many monasteries, a sales model often used in today's abbey shops. 

Carthusian liqueur, by the way, is its own topic. The Green Chartreuse is famous, and was available "in better stores everywhere." 

This shot shows the context in which some Cistercian or Trappist products were advertised: next to ads for Russian tea at Christmastime.