Brecht Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Our Lady of Nazareth, is an abbey of Trappistine nuns located in Brecht, in the Campine region of the province of Antwerp (Flanders, Belgium). Life in the abbey is characterized by prayer, reading and manual work, the three basic elements of Trappist life.
In 1235, Bartholomeus van Tienen and his son Wicbert moved to Lier to establish a third Cistercian nunnery after Bloemendaal (around 1210) and Maagdendaal (1221). In May 1236 his daughters Christina, Sybilla and Beatrijs followed, who had also initially entered Bloemendaal. Blessed Beatrice (1200–1268) was its first prioress. In 1245, the sisters asked the General Chapter for permission to move the convent. Two years later this is also a fact and the sisters move into a new convent north of the town of Lier on the location known as 'Nazareth'.
For five centuries the abbey flourished, until 1797, when it was closed in the aftermath of the French Revolution, when the French Revolutionary Army occupied the Austrian Netherlands. The abbey did not recover from the closure even after the Belgian Revolution in 1830, when Belgium gained independence from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
In the early 20th century several attempts were made to re-establish the abbey at different locations. During World War II in 1943, Henri van Ostayen was in favor of locating the new abbey in Brecht, of which he was burgomaster, but was killed in Antwerp by a V-1 flying bomb before the end of the war. His proposal was however taken up by Dom Robertus (Edward Jozef Modest) Eyckmans, Abbot of the nearby Trappist Westmalle Abbey. He was able to obtain the agreement of Soleilmont Abbey to provide the 12 nuns necessary to settle a new foundation. On 12 October 1945 the organization for founding a new abbey was established, and in 1946 about 16 hectares of land were acquired in Brecht for the new building, as the old site in Lier was no longer available. The monks of Westmalle Abbey prepared the site of the nuns' monastery, which was ready by the end of 1949. [1]
Thirteen Trappistine nuns left Soleilmont and headed for Brecht on 23 June 1950: Abbess Agnes Swevers with Sisters Lucia Delaere, Heleen Steylaers, Humbelina Roelandts, Idesbalda van Soest, Lutgard Smeets, Maria Marlier, Petra Belet, Juliana Rutten, Harlindis Gerits, Roberta Koeken, Alberica Hauchecorne, and novice Roza van den Bosch. The monastery was formally opened on 25 June 1950, and on 3 February 1951 it was raised to the status of an independent abbey. The church was dedicated on 22 October 1954.
Brecht Abbey went on to found Our Lady of the Redwoods Abbey in 1962 in Whitethorn, California, the United States, [2] then in 1970 the Priory of Our Lady of Klaarland in Bocholt, Belgium.
The nuns in the abbey produce several products under the International Trappist Association seal. Starting in 1964, they began to market dishwashing detergent, and subsequently expanded to other cleaning products, cosmetics, and liturgical objects, as well as hand-crafted banners and flags. [3]
Our Lady of Nazareth is one of five Trappist monasteries connected by a cycling route ("Sample the 5 Trappists!") through Flanders and Brabant. [4]
Malle is a municipality located in the Campine region of the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the villages of Oostmalle and Westmalle. In 2021, Malle had a total population of 15,620. The total area is 51.99 km2.
Trappist beer is brewed by Trappist monks. Thirteen Trappist monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, England, France, and Spain—currently produce beer, but the Authentic Trappist Product label is assigned by the International Trappist Association (ITA) to just ten breweries which meet their strict criteria. As of 2021, Achel is no longer recognized as a Trappist brewery because it does not have any living monks.
The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Catholic religious order of cloistered monastics that branched off from the Cistercians. They follow the Rule of Saint Benedict and have communities of both monks and nuns that are known as Trappists and Trappistines, respectively. They are named after La Trappe Abbey, the monastery from which the movement and religious order originated. The movement first began with the reforms that Abbot Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé introduced in 1664, later leading to the creation of Trappist congregations, and eventually the formal constitution as a separate religious order in 1892.
Westmalle is a village in the Belgian province of Antwerp which is part of the municipality of Malle.
Westmalle Brewery is a Trappist brewery in the Westmalle Abbey, Belgium. It produces three beers, designated as Trappist beer by the International Trappist Association. Westmalle Tripel is credited with being the first golden strong pale ale to use the term Tripel.
Affligem Abbey is a Benedictine abbey in the municipality of Affligem, Flemish Brabant, Belgium, 19 km (12 mi) to the north-west of Brussels. Dedicated in 1086, it was the most important monastery in the Duchy of Brabant and therefore often called Primaria Brabantiae.
The Abbey of Our Lady of the Mississippi is located near Dubuque, Iowa. The nuns there are members of the branch of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, commonly referred to as Trappistines. They are a part of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Dubuque.
Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order belonging to the Roman Catholic branch of the Catholic Church.
Westmalle Abbey, otherwise the Trappist Abbey of Westmalle, is a monastery of the Cistercians of Strict Observance in Westmalle in the Belgian province of Antwerp.
Westmalle Castle is located in the village of Westmalle, which is part of the municipality of Malle in the Campine region of Flanders, Belgium. Westmalle Castle is situated at an elevation of 29 meters.
Dom Martinus Dom, O.C.R., was a Belgian Trappist monk. He served as the first abbot of the Trappist Abbey of Westmalle, where he founded the Westmalle Brewery.
Klaarland Priory or the Priory of Our Lady of Klaarland is a Trappistine monastery in Lozen in Bocholt in the province of Limburg, Belgium.
St. Sixtus' Abbey, Westvleteren, which belongs to the Cistercians of Strict Observance, or Trappists, is a Roman Catholic abbey located in Westvleteren, in the Belgian Province of West Flanders. The abbey is famous for its spiritual life, characterised by prayer, reading, and manual work, the three basic elements of Trappist life. It has also a reputation for its brewery, one of several producers of Trappist beer in Belgium.
The Trappist Abbey of Achel or Saint Benedictus-Abbey or Achelse Kluis, which belongs to the Cistercians of Strict Observance, is located in Achel in the Campine region of the province of Limburg. The abbey was famous for its spiritual life and its brewery, which was one of only a few Trappist beer breweries in the world. Life in the abbey was characterised by prayer, reading and manual work, the three basic elements of Trappist life. The monastic community came to an end in January 2021, with the last two monks moving to Westmalle Abbey.
Chimay Abbey is an abbey in Wallonia in the city of Chimay, Hainaut, Belgium.
Soleilmont Abbey is an abbey of Trappistine nuns situated in the forest and commune of Fleurus, at Gilly near Charleroi, Belgium, founded, according to tradition, in the 11th century, which became Cistercian in 1237. The nuns were expelled as a consequence of the French Revolution in 1796, but soon re-established themselves in 1802. The community became Bernardine in 1837, and Trappist in 1919.
The Abbey of Our Lady of the Redwoods is a monastic community of the Trappistine branch of Cistercian nuns located in Whitethorn, California, within the Diocese of Santa Rosa.
Koningshoeven Abbey is a monastery of the Trappists founded in 1881 in Berkel-Enschot in North Brabant, the Netherlands.
