We divide the History of the Monastery into 6 large parts.
1. The Origin
2. Splendor and decadence
3. Serious threat
4. Sunset
5. Restoration
6. Selected bibliography
7. Photographs
1. ORIGIN
According to the new toponymic gazetteer of Galicia, the Spanish name of Osera, when passing to the Galician language is Oseira, derivation of Latin Ursus, equivalent to bear, allusion to the abrupt place where the monastery is located, in a concavity of the Sierra Martiñá, on the right bank of the river of the same name. It is located in the province of Orense, 34 kms away, Cea town hall, very close to the place where this province meets those of Pontevedra and Lugo.
Its historical journey began in 1137, when a small nucleus of monks retired to solitude to live the experience of God, joining the order of the Cistercian in 1141, under the dependency of Claraval. At first they began with very modest buildings that were expanded as the economic potential of the house was unfolded, thanks to the continuous donations made to them, and to the purchases made by the monks themselves.
The monastic temple, built in the last decades of the 12th century and in the first decades of the 13th century, of large proportions, is designed for a respectable community, which betrays a considerable number of monks, since it is one of the largest churches in the order in Spain. The community in turn showed a powerful spiritual vitality from the first moment, due to the fact that they had lived in Oseira san Famiano, a German pilgrim who in 1142 embraced monastic life, and died in 1150 in Galesse (Italy), whose city is patron. His body is incorrupt in the basilica that he has dedicated in that city.
Among the oldest and most lucrative possessions that Oseira had, we can mention the town and port of Marín, where he exercised admirable social justice, promoting fishing among his settlers and defending the entrance of the Pontevedra estuary by means of a fort. The fishing fleet that was organized there supplied fish to the region and to the monks themselves.
2. SPLENDOR AND DECADENCY
There were great abbots, such as Dom Lorenzo (1205-1223), promoted to the headquarters of Claraval, the only Spaniard worthy of such honor; Sun Fernando Pérez (1223-1232), former dean of Santiago and chief chancellor of the kingdom; Don Fernando Yáñez, of great historical importance for having been chosen to give life to the Abbey of Alcobaça, in Portugal, on the occasion of his monks being martyred by the Arabs in 1195; he returned to Oseira, being elected abbot (1232-1240); Sun Suero de Oca (1485-1512, distinguished character of the nobility, but persecuted by misfortune, since he was twice married, and when he lost his second wife, he decided to give a radical turn to his life, he became a monk of Oseira , He became an excellent abbot of the monastery, having displayed great zeal in recovering the assets of the house, poorly measured by his predecessors.
Oseira went through a crucial period in the 15th century, a difficult time in the history of the Church, which was followed by a worse one in 1513, with the arrival of the commendatory abbots, strangers to the abbey that brought her to the edge of the disappearance. Fortunately, it did not last long, because otherwise the monastery would have disappeared like so many others. The Congregation of Castile ended it all in 1545, so poorly judged today by some historians that it is unknown. It is a pity that they come copying without more light topics without any foundation. If Oseira had been oppressed by Castilian "centralism" -as some undocumented person writes today-, it is certain that we could never contemplate an architectural grandeur as colossal as the one it presents, and precisely everything was built at the time of the Congregation of Castile,
3. SERIOUS THREAT
In 1552 the monastery suffered a horrific fire, which reduced all the buildings outside the temple to ashes. These were critical circumstances in which a new house was planned in Valladolid, and as no abbey undertook to send monks, many believed that it was a good occasion to move the community of Oseira to occupy the new planned house, leaving only a small contingent in the monastery. of monks to tend to the colonists and take care of the hacienda. But all the plans were thwarted before the arguments of the abbot of Oseira, fray Marcos del Barrio, precisely born in the heart of Castile. The transfer was abandoned, and the reconstruction of the monastery began on the same site that it always had with the grandeur that everyone can admire today.
The monks of Oseira were great patriots, in that they not infrequently helped with food and funds to sustain wars or also feeding those in need in times of famine, until their generosity reached the ears of Philip II, who sent the abbot of Oseira a laudatory letter. We could cite illustrious names of abbots and monks who ruled the abbey, held important positions in the universities, or were in charge of the Congregation of Castile, but this is not the place.
The Napoleonic invasion did not make Oseira feel its devastating weight, as in other monasteries -although if in any of the priories that suffered looting- perhaps due to its situation away from the main communication routes and because access was difficult at that time. Because of this, not a few monks scattered from their houses sought refuge in the monastery, as well as the general of the Congregation of Castile and the bishop of Salamanca, Fray Gerardo Vázquez, who was a monk of the Cistercian.
4. SUNSET
In 1820, on the other hand, when the constitutional period, the opposite happened: the monks were expelled and the monastery was at the mercy of the mobs that assaulted and looted it completely. When they returned in 1823, they found a dismantled manor house, devoid of doors, windows, and furniture. In 1824, shortly after the monks returned, when the reconstruction began, a fourteen-year-old boy from Madrid appeared in Oseira, requesting admission. They admitted him easily, for bringing all the documents in order and presenting a distinguished bearing. He took the habit, made the novitiate and shortly after professing, he was assigned to schools.
In 1835 he was in San Martín de Castañeda, his priesthood had just been released, and there he was surprised by the confiscation decrees, being thrown into the world, and when he saw that the Congregation of Castile was not remaking, he became a missionary in Africa, from where he returned ill And when he recovered, when he was preparing to return to the mission, he received an order from the government to go to the Antilles, where a field of action awaited him that would condition his life. There he worked the unspeakable, having been the most important work of his life the foundation of the Sisters of the Love of God, destined for the cultural formation of women in those islands. This is Father Jerónimo Mariano Usera y Alarcón, who passed away holy in Havana on May 17, 1891. His beatification process is well underway in Rome. It is a legitimate glory of the Spanish Cistercian and Oseira.
As a result of the confiscation, all the monks were thrown out of the monasteries, with an express prohibition on being able to rejoin the corporation. On this occasion the Castilian congregation, with a brilliant record, the most cultured branch of the entire order, disappeared forever.
5. RESTORATION
For nearly a century the monastery had been abandoned, the buildings having reached the brink of imminent ruin. Without a doubt they would have disappeared forever, if God did not arrange the events so that he would find a generous heart that was interested in saving him. The name of Don Florencio Cerviño González, bishop of Orense (1922-1941), deserves to be engraved with gold letters in the history of the abbey, who shortly after taking possession of the diocese and visiting the monastery, heartbreak before Attacking the art and faith of our elders, he conceived the idea of ??bringing him back to life, not stopping until he managed to install a group of Cistercian monks in him on October 15, 1929.
Despite the fact that the first years were very hard for the small community, due to the lack of livelihoods and being surrounded by ruins on all sides, they remained faithful to the founding charism, enduring as many setbacks as they found. They could do little for the restoration of the building, due to lack of resources. However, it was not until 1966 that the restoration works began in earnest, followed day by day, under the direction of the monks themselves, who carried them out with the perfection that everyone can see. So striking has the work been carried out that the Diputación de Orense itself, which is the one that has most helped the restoration work, awarded the Gold Medal to the monks in 1990, while she took it upon herself to present it to the international council the work carried out in order to be eligible for the Europa Nostra Award, This body is usually granted by well restored or recovered buildings. It was awarded, in effect, in the same year 1990, having been transferred from Madrid to be awarded by Queen Sofia of Greece.
Along with the restorative work, the monastery has been enriched with a remarkable library and a small archive, which are rendering notable services to the culture, recovering the monastery again the distinctive characteristic of the ancient monks, who were the best transmitters of the culture.
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