The Congregation of the Annunciation (Congregatio Annuntiationis B.M.V.), formerly known as the Belgian Congregation, is a congregation of monasteries within the Roman Catholic Benedictine Confederation. Founded in 1920, the Congregation includes fifteen independent male monasteries spread throughout ten countries. Additionally, two female monasteries are members of the Congregation, while a further ten are affiliated with the Congregation.
In 1920, the Belgian Congregation of the Annunciation was founded by three of the great abbeys of Belgium: St. Andrew's Abbey in Bruges, Keizersberg Abbey, and Maredsous Abbey. [1] These monasteries shared descent from the Abbey of Beuron. Their respective abbots, Theodore Neve, Robert de Kerchove, and Columba Marmion, chose to unite their communities into a new congregation.
Yet even before its inception, the international character of the Annunciation Congregation was nascent. Gerard van Caloen, founder of St. Andrew's Abbey, dreamed of reviving the missionary apostolate of such early Benedictines as Boniface, Apostle of the Germans. [2] While acting as the Beuronese Congregation's procurator in Rome, Van Caloen saw that the Brazilian Congregation was in need of assistance. Thus, in 1898, he facilitated the foundation of St. Andrew's Abbey as a procura for monastic restoration. Upon being raised to an abbey in 1901, St. Andrew's Abbey was incorporated into the Brazilian Congregation, but was detached from it in 1920 to form the Congregation of the Annunciation.
Under Van Caloen's successor, Abbot Theodore Neve, the monks of St. Andrew's Abbey established mission stations in the Belgian Congo. The abbey would go on to create monastic foundations in China, India, Poland, the United States, and Zaire. Likewise, Maredsous established an Irish foundation in 1927, which in turn has expanded to Nigeria. The Polish community at Tyniec near Kraków has founded two additional houses in Poland, and one in Slovakia.
Over the years, the Annunciation Congregation has also expanded by incorporating previously existing abbeys. Thus, the Abbey of St Matthias (Germany), Egmond Abbey (Netherlands), the Abbey of Our Lady of Exile (Trinidad and Tobago), and St Benedict's Abbey, Singeverga (Portugal) have contributed their mature monastic communities to the Congregation.
In 1968, the monastery of Mont César, Louvain (Belgium) withdrew from the Congregation to join the Flemish Province of the Subiaco Congregation.
Under the Constitutions of the Congregation of the Annunciation, canonical visitations of member houses are conducted four years. Likewise, the General Chapter convenes every four years. The General Chapter, organized at one of the Congregation's European abbeys, brings together a superior and an elected delegate from each of the Congregation's monasteries.
The Abbot President of the Congregation of the Annunciation is Father Maxymilian Newara of the Monastery of Lubin, Poland The Abbot President is elected every eight years.
Member houses and dependencies: [3]
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict, are a mainly contemplative monastic religious order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks, in reference to the colour of their religious habits, in contrast to other Benedictine orders such as the Olivetans, who wear white. They were founded in 529 by Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through the formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica, possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit. They retained a close relationship until her death.
The English Benedictine Congregation (EBC) is a congregation of autonomous abbatial and prioral monastic communities of Catholic Benedictine monks, nuns, and lay oblates. It is technically the oldest of the nineteen congregations affiliated to the Benedictine Confederation.
Glenstal Abbey is a Catholic Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of the Annunciation located in Murroe, County Limerick, Ireland. It is dedicated to Saint Joseph and Saint Columba. As of 2018, the abbot of the monastery was Brendan Coffey.
St. Andrew's Abbey is a male Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of the Annunciation located in Valyermo, in the Mojave Desert, northern Los Angeles County, southern California.
The Beuronese Congregation, or Beuron Congregation, is a union of mostly German or German-speaking monasteries of both monks and nuns within the Benedictine Confederation. The congregation stands under the patronage of Martin of Tours, who is the patron saint of the Archabbey of Beuron.
Maredsous Abbey is a Benedictine monastery at Maredsous, in the municipality of Anhée, Wallonia, Belgium. It is a founding member of the Annunciation Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation.
Gerard van Caloen (1853–1932) was a Belgian Benedictine liturgist, missionary, monastic founder, abbot, and bishop. He was rector of the abbey school at Maredsous, where in 1882 he published the Missel des Fidèles, the first French-Latin missal. He also introduced British-style association football to the school. In 1886, he was professor of liturgy at the College of Sant'Anselmo in Rome.
St. Matthias' Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
The Subiaco Cassinese Congregation is an international union of Benedictine houses within the Benedictine Confederation. It developed from the Subiaco Congregation, which was formed in 1867 through the initiative of Dom Pietro Casaretto, O.S.B., as a reform of the way of life of monasteries of the Cassinese Congregation, formed in 1408, toward a stricter contemplative observance, and received final approval in 1872 by Pope Pius IX. After discussions between the two congregations at the start of the 21st century, approval was given by Pope Benedict XVI in 2013 for the incorporation of the Cassinese Congregation into its offshoot, the Subiaco Congregation. The expanded congregation was given this new name.
St. Andrew's Abbey, Bruges was a Benedictine abbey in Sint-Andries, Bruges, Belgium, which was destroyed in the French Revolution. Its modern successor St. Andrew's Abbey, Zevenkerken, founded in 1899–1900, is a Benedictine abbey of the Congregation of the Annunciation.
Andreas Amrhein was a Swiss Benedictine monk who founded the Benedictine Congregation of Saint Ottilien and the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing to combine the Benedictine way of life with activity in the mission field.
Maurus Wolter was the first abbot of the Benedictine Beuron Archabbey, which he founded with his brother Placidus in 1863.
Monastère Notre-Dame-des-Sources, Kiswishi, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a Benedictine monastery of the Annunciation Congregation. Established in 1944 in Katanga Province, the monastic community was relocated to Kiswishi (Kisuishi), around 17 km from Lubumbashi, in the early 1960s. As of 2000, the monastery was home to 39 monks, under the leadership of Conventual Prior Fr Boniface N'Kulu Lupitshi.
Abbaye Saint-Benoît de Koubri, Koubri, Kadiogo Province, Burkina Faso, is a Benedictine monastery of the Subiaco Congregation. Founded in 1961, the monastery is located around 30 km from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. As of 2000, the monastery was home to 27 monks, under the leadership of Abbot Fr André Ouédraogo.
St. Benedictusberg Abbey, also Mamelis Abbey, is a Benedictine monastery established in 1922 in Mamelis, a hamlet which administratively falls within Vaals, Netherlands. It is a rijksmonument.
Ursmer Berlière, born Alfred Berlière (1861–1932) was a monk of Maredsous Abbey and a monastic historian whose bibliography ran to 360 publications.
The Brazilian Congregation is a monastic congregation of the order of Saint Benedict. Founded in 1827, it is a member of the Benedictine Confederation.
Hildebrand de Hemptinne was a Belgium Benedictine monk of Beuron Archabbey, the second Abbot of Maredsous Abbey, and the first Abbot Primate of the Order of St. Benedict and the Benedictine Confederation.
