The Cistercian Rite is to be found in the
liturgical books of this reformed branch of the
Benedictines. The collection, composed of fifteen books, was made by the General Chapter of Cîteaux (the place from which the order takes its name), most probably in 1134; they were later included in the Missal, Breviary, Ritual and Martyrology of the order. When
Pope Pius V ordered the entire Church to conform to the
Roman Missal and
Roman Breviary, he exempted the Cistercians, because their rite had been more than 200 years in existence. Under
Claude Vaussin, General of the Cistercians in the middle of the seventeenth century, several reforms were made in the liturgical books of the order, and were approved by
Pope Alexander VII,
Pope Clement IX and
Pope Clement XIII. These approbations were confirmed by
Pope Pius IX on 7 February 1871 for the Cistercians of the
Common and the Strict Observance (
Trappists). ==References==