What is the attraction of the monastery? What special ingredient do they hold that attracts ever growing numbers of people of all ages to their doors? Why do people from a society engulfed in materialistic values flock to places that represent the very opposite.

These were the questions I was asking myself as I drove to the beautiful Mount Melleray Cistercian Abbey in County Waterford on one of those glorious summer days last week. On such a day it was not difficult to see why people would want to visit this sacred sanctuary that sits peacefully in the midst of the most awe-inspiring scenery.

From its slightly elevated position on the landscape, this majestic building that sits with its back protected from the elements by the surrounding Knockmealdown Mountains - which that day were cloaked in magnetic blue and purple hues - looks out on a vast landscape of green and gold.

Quiet sheltered paths with occasional rest seats, winding streams, fields filled with gently grazing cattle and overall an abundance of birdsong, helps all comers to focus on the important questions of life and meditate on the beauty of the creator of our world.

But Melleray is a place that has been built, both physically and spiritually. When these monks - also known as Trappists because of the austerity of their monastic life - first arrived here in 1833 due to religious persecution in France, this was a barren mountain landscape of 600 acres, which they managed to lease from a nearby landlord.

The task of reclaiming the area without money, aid or influence posed a gigantic task for the 64 monks led by Fr Vincent Ryan, who had initially settled in Rathmore, but the property and land they acquired there was inadequate to give them a means of livelihood.

The monk's whole life is devoted to God through constant prayer, and because his life is a constant attitude of prayer whether he is actually praying, working or serving others, it is all done for the purpose of giving honour and glory to God. So putting their total trust in God, those early monks set to work at what many would have looked upon as a foolhardy, impossible task.

A gamekeeper's lodge, which they named Bethlehem, became their first abode and from here they began their monastic daily ritual of prayer, manual work and rest - thought there was little of the latter in those early days.

But soon help was at hand and people from the surrounding counties came, in their thousands, with spades with pick-axes, ready to work with the monks. And this is how Mount Melleray came to be built.

The story of this wonderful monastery is therefore one of courage, perseverance and overall hope and trust in God in the face of the impossible. This same quality of prayerful hope and total trust in God's providence is evident in the community of mainly elderly monks who live here today. The numbers have diminished from a high of 150 or so to about 25 monks today, who, in these difficult times for the Irish Church, continue to pray and work, ever harder, to ensure that this holy place is preserved for all who wish to come to rest awhile and be find true nourishment to cope with the stresses and strains of the virtual jungle that is modern life. These dedicated followers of St Bernard are wonderful witnesses for our transient age.

There is no doubt but that this special monastery will one day, and soon, be brimful once again with an abundance of young monks. It is happening close by, on the continent, and it will happen here too. That is certain. But today's young people need a lot of help to discern God's call as Archbishop Raymond Burke, points out.

''People say there are not enough vocations. Yes, there are. How would God not call enough young men to serve his people as true shepherds? The problem is we are not doing enough to help these young men to hear the call, and to support and encourage them in their response to it.

Many older people still haven't caught on how bankrupt a totally secularised culture is. The young people know it. They have lived with it. They have lived with it in their homes. A number of them are afflicted by, for instance, problems like pornography and the internet and so forth. They have been exposed to all of this and also the breakdown of morals in the schools and so forth. They want holiness of life.''

The monks at Mount Melleray are organising a Monastic Evening on Saturday next, August 21 from 2.15 - 6.15 p.m. to which they are inviting people - men, women, young and elderly alike - who would like to learn more about the monastic life.

The following questions, amongst others, will be discussed:

What sort of a person joins a monastery? How do monks spend their time? What is lectio divina and the Prayer of the Church? Who are the Cistercians? How do they serve the Church and the world? Which elements of their life and prayer can lay people share?

Anyone who has thought about these questions, and/or others, is invited for this afternoon of discovery and shared prayer.

If you wish to attend please contact Fr. Denis Luke, vocations director at the monastery:

email: dluke@eircom.net

Tel: 058-54404.