This thread was wonderful and has probably reached its natural end. I would like to close it out with the prayer Brother Elias used to close the retreat I went on recently.
He was asked to offer a prayer and the humble Trappist monk simply said…
Dear Lord Jesus
Thank you.
Amen. ***
Not so fast!
The evolution of an abbey church…
At St. Wandrille abbey in France, the 5th abbey church (14th century) fell into ruins in the 17th century. The ruins still stand:
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(full-size):
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A new abbey church was constructed in the '60s from a reconstructed 14th century barn. Unfortunately at the time of my visit it was closed for renovations:
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To continue their liturgy during the several months of renovations, the monks converted the chapter room into their conventual chapel and moved the chapter room to the calefactory. The monks told me that they actually preferred the chapter room as chapel, due to its simplicity and superior acoustics for their Gregorian chant:
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(full-size):
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The abbey also has several smaller chapels on its property. I posted the chapel of St. Saturnin earlier. Here is the more recent Chappelle Notre-Dame de Caillouville-la-Neuve consecrated in 1977, and built between 1952 and 1968 by the monks themselves to replace a chapel destroyed by bombing in 1944:
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(full-size):
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Interestingly the monks of this abbey, which founded the abbey I’m associated with, have a younger average age than the monks of the abbey they founded; there are several young monks, which is very encouraging.
One of the crown jewels of the abbey has to be its 12th century refectory:
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(full-size):
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This refectory is the oldest in use in Europe: it was built in 1027 though modernized three times, in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. This is where I took my meals during my visit, along with the monastic community. I can say that in October, it was cold and damp, and many monks wore hats, scarves and woollen sweaters at meal times.
I have a soft spot in my heart for this abbey. For one, it founded our monastery in Quebec in 1912, which was raised to the status of abbey in 1952.
Secondly, I am friends with its former choir and oblate master (who now fills in as chaplain at the nun’s abbey in Deux-Montagnes just outside of Montreal), and its organist, who also was on loan to our abbey for 3 years.
Lastly, it is one of the few places where one can hear the Divine Office using the same schema that Saint Benedict himself devised, but in its post-Vatican II form (i.e. novo vulgate, post-VII collect, etc). The liturgy is entirely in Latin. The Mass is also in Gregorian chant. On weekdays, entirely in Latin. On Sundays, because of the large number of visitors, with Latin Propers and Ordinary but the rest in French as at our abbey. Again, proof of a “living” tradition, that is a tradition that keeps its essence, but adapts to the times. The psalter schema in use is the oldest continuous schema in licit use by the Church to this day, 1500 years old.
The Divine Office is entirely in Latin; recto-tono for Vigils (except for major feasts), and in Gregorian chant for the other hours. Compline is chanted traditionally, in the dark from memory, a very moving experience.
They also have a small foundation in Paris, Abbaye Ste-Marie de Paris. There are only about 3 or 4 permanent monks but it serves as a pied-à-terre for monks visiting Paris or studying in Paris. I spent three days there in 1910. It is located very conveniently in the 16th arrondissement. Only monks or oblates can stay there; as oblate, my cell was in the monks’ cloister. Their liturgy is sung, but entirely in French.
