Abadia de Nossa Senhora de São Bernardo
In São José do Rio Pardo, in the interior of the State of São Paulo, the Cistercian monks of the Abbey of Our Lady of St Bernard welcome those seeking a time of prayer and retreat. Founded during the first half of the 20th century, the monastery combines the centuries-old Cistercian tradition with a history deeply rooted in Brazil. Here, the rhythm of the Divine Office, silence and monastic life offers an opportunity to step away from everyday life and return to what matters most.
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A Cistercian monastery with European roots in Brazil
The story of the Abbey of Our Lady of St Bernard begins shortly before the Second World War.
In 1939, the German Cistercian Alfons Heun, abbot of Hardehausen Abbey, arrived in São José do Rio Pardo. Hardehausen, in Germany, had been suppressed by the Nazi authorities, and Heun's presence in Brazil would eventually lead to a new Cistercian foundation. He initially served locally and was involved in the construction of the nearby sanctuary dedicated to Saint Roch.
A few years later, on February 22, 1943, the Monastery of Our Lady of St Bernard was canonically established. The foundation subsequently passed into the care of the Congregation of St Bernard in Italy, the Cistercian congregation to which the community still belongs today. The present monastery buildings were inaugurated in 1958.
This makes São José do Rio Pardo a particularly interesting chapter in Cistercian history: a European monastic tradition taking root in the Brazilian interior and gradually becoming a fully Brazilian community.
From monastery to abbey
Another important chapter came in 1996, when the monastery was raised to the status of an abbey.
Its first abbot was Dom Orani João Tempesta, himself born in São José do Rio Pardo. He had entered the Cistercian community there as a young man and later served as vice-prior and prior before becoming the abbey's first abbot. Soon afterwards he was appointed bishop and would eventually become Cardinal Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro.
The community is now led by Dom Paulo Celso Demartini, O.Cist. Together with historian Paulo Paranhos, Dom Paulo also co-authored a book devoted entirely to the history and memories of the Cistercian community in São José do Rio Pardo, published in 2023 and officially presented in 2024.
The story of the abbey is therefore not simply one of a building or an institution. It is the story of a community that has become part of the religious and cultural history of the city over more than eighty years.
Going on retreat at the Abbey of Our Lady of St Bernard
The monastery has a Pastoral Center used for accommodation and spiritual retreats. It also welcomes people who wish to explore a possible monastic vocation.
A stay at the abbey offers above all an opportunity to enter a different rhythm. The liturgy provides fixed points throughout the day, while the monastery itself offers a setting in which to make room for prayer, reading, silence and rest.
It may be a place to come during a period of discernment, to deepen one's prayer, or simply to take a few days away from the constant demands of ordinary life.
There is no need to fill every hour. Monastic hospitality is valuable precisely because it gives time back its space: time to listen, time to read, time to pray and time simply to remain silent.
A monastery in a city marked by Euclides da Cunha
A retreat here also offers an opportunity to discover São José do Rio Pardo, a city with a particularly strong connection to Brazilian literary history.
Between 1898 and 1901, the writer and engineer Euclides da Cunha, author of Os Sertões, lived in São José do Rio Pardo while supervising work on the city's metal bridge over the Rio Pardo. The city today preserves several sites connected with his life and work.
The Casa Euclidiana preserves books, manuscripts, correspondence, photographs and other material relating to the writer, while the Recanto Euclidiano, beside the river, contains monuments associated with his memory and the small cabin in which he worked.
The city's historic metal bridge, cultural sites and banks of the Rio Pardo make it possible to extend a retreat with a quieter discovery of local history.
