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The red roof of a palatial building jutting out of the rolling pineapple fields of Polo and Landan in Polomolok, South Cotabato was out of place and intriguing. More so when the motorcycle driver added that reclusive women lived there and all they did daily was work and pray in perpetual silence.
Both sides of the cement road going up the 35-hectareTrappistine Monastery of Our Lady of Mt. Matutum was covered with huge ferns, trees and plants that abundantly grow in the wild. Further, neatly arranged cornstalks ready for harvest lined the right slope, offering a pleasant sight upon entering the monastery property.
The Cistercian Order was first established in 1098 at the monastery of Citeaux in and later on spread throughout the world, including Asia . Its female members are called Cistercian nuns or more popularly, Trappistines. The Trappistine Monastery of Our Lady of Mt. Matutum in Landan, Polomolok (South Cotabato) is the first of its kind in the Philippines.
“This is not a tourist spot. Rather, a place for silence, prayer and meditation,” explained Sr. Virginia.
Typical of Cistercian or Trappistine monasteries, they have a guesthouse with accommodations for people who want to commune with God and be temporarily withdrawn from the world. The guesthouse is a quadrangle with a cloister garden, a traditional architecture found in any Trappist monastery.
Anyone seeking solitude or temporary healing from the cares of the world will certainly find solace in the Trappistine Monastery with its Benedictine dictum of “Ora et Labora (Prayer and Work).”
The monastery sits on top of an elevated slope flattened at the top, surrounded by other mountains and verdant fields of pineapples and corn. It also offers a majestic view of Mt. Matutum , after which the monastery was named. The air is cool and crisp and the only sound you can hear are those of birds and a few barks from their watchdogs.
Constructed in 1994 and completed in 1998, the monastery has three buildings – the guesthouse, the chaplain’s house and the monastery proper situated behind the guesthouse.
The Trappistine nuns support themselves by selling cards, cookies and religious articles to visitors. The cards have beautiful photos of pastoral scenes that were taken by Italian Trappistines experienced in photography.
One project of the nuns also includes maintaining an out-patient dispensary for the sick and poor of the surrounding area. Funded by the monastery, it is run by professional health service personnel.
A “person of the world” will certainly find the Trappistine daily way of life highly disciplined and routine. It is a lifestyle marked by a climate of silence, solitude, prayer and worship of God in joy and simplicity.”
For P250 a day, guests can have the use of the guesthouse with its own toilet, ceiling fan and bed. Accommodations include meals. Guests, however, have to wash their own eating utensils.
All that they ask from their guests is to maintain the atmosphere of silence in the evenings and especially during prayer and siesta hours. Smoking is not allowed and before leaving their rooms, guests must be sure that the lights are off and the faucets closed.
One can go to the Mt. Matutum Trappistine Monastery in Landan via Polomolok from Gen. Santos City in South Cotabato . The distance from Polomolok to Landan is about 13 km. There are jeeps going to Landan or one can take a taxi from Gen. Santos City or hire a tricycle or motorcycle from Polomolok.
A visit to the Trappistine Monastery is a truly moving experience filled with a quiet peace. One who enters the atmosphere of silence can benefit from a time of recollection and freedom from distractions that are part of daily life in the world.
On leaving, there still remains the memory of the beauty of the monastery’s natural setting and a deep gratitude for “all things wise and wonderful.