Our Lady Porta Caeli — Cistercian Monastery
Our Monastery · Owerre-Akokwa
A gate of heaven in the heart of Nigeria.
Our Lady Porta Caeli (Gate of Heaven) Cistercian Monastery — a Trappist community on the Akokwa–Umuchu boundary, living prayer, silence and work under the Rule of St. Benedict.
Who We Are
A hidden life, offered for the Church and the world.
We are the monks of Porta Caeli Cistercian Monastery, between Akokwa in Imo State and Umuchu in Anambra State. A Trappist community living under the Rule of St. Benedict and the Constitutions of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance.
Our life is simple: hours of prayer, quiet work, and time with Scripture. We are sons of Saints Robert, Alberic and Stephen Harding, and of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.
“We are not separate from the world; we stand apart to pray for it.”
Our Story
It began with a mother’s prayer.
The story of Porta Caeli is the story of a family’s faith — a vision received in prayer at Awhum, carried home to Akokwa, and built into stone by a mother and her son.
Early 1970s
A mother’s pilgrimage
After the Nigeria–Biafra war, Late Mrs. Ezinne Comfort Ezenna begins devotional visits to Our Lady of Mount Calvary Cistercian Monastery, Awhum — often accompanied by her young son Kelvin Okechukwu, today a priest and monk of this monastery. There she receives the vision of a house of prayer in her own town, and confides it to Brother Chukwuka Ife, a monk from Akokwa.
1999
The foundation
With the consent of Late Most Rev. Dr. Gregory O. Ochiagha, Catholic Bishop of Orlu, the monastery is founded by the initiative of Mrs. Ezinne Comfort Ezenna, her son Chief Sir Anthony Ifeanyichukwu Ezenna (KSG) and their family.
2006
The citadel of prayer opens
The monastery — with its church built by Chief Anthony Ifeanyichukwu Ezenna, and an enclosure and dormitory for the monks — is opened to the glory of God.
1 January 2007
The handover
Living up to his promise, Chief Sir Anthony hands the keys and documents to Bishop Ochiagha, who entrusts them to Rt. Rev. Dom Cyprian Doghuje, Abbot of Our Lady of Mount Calvary, Awhum — the founding motherhouse.
18 September 2025
Recognition by the Order
The monastery is officially erected and recognized by the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance during the General Chapter in Rome.
7 December 2025
Inauguration — and the Novitiate
The Abbot General visits Porta Caeli, celebrates the inauguration Mass of the Foundation, and opens the Novitiate for the formation of new candidates.
Today
A living community
Trappist monks living together in prayer, silence and work. Guest houses erected by the founding family and by the family of Nneoma Mrs. Grace Okpara welcome visitors and retreatants throughout the year.
Vision
A place of unceasing praise.
To be a “Gate of Heaven” in Akokwa — a place of unceasing praise, contemplative prayer, silence and hospitality, where society and pilgrims can encounter God’s mercy, love and healing, deepen their faith, and find rest from the noise of the world.
Mission
To seek God above all things.
We, the monks of Our Lady Porta Caeli Cistercian Monastery, respond to God’s call to live in solitude, silence and community in the heart of Nigeria — seeking God above all things through the liturgy: Holy Mass, the Divine Office, sacred reading and manual work.
Ut Deus Glorificetur
That God May Be Glorified.
Leadership & Community
Governed by the Rule, led in charity.
The monastery is governed by a Superior under the Rule of St. Benedict and the OCSO Constitutions, with oversight from a Father Immediate of the Order.
Rev. Fr. Maria-Wilson Amadi
Superior
[Portrait photograph to be supplied by the monastery.]
Rev. Edward Komaya
Secretary
[Community photograph to be supplied by the monastery.]
Come and stand at the gate.
Visit the monastery, pray with the community, or begin a conversation about your vocation.