Sept-Fons Abbey

Last updated

Sept-Fons Abbaye Facade Eglise Fr Sept-Fons Abbaye Facade Eglise.jpg
Sept-Fons Abbaye Facade Eglise

Sept-Fons Abbey, Notre-Dame de Sept-Fons or Notre-Dame de Saint-Lieu Sept-Fons is a Trappist monastery at Diou in Bourbonnais in the diocese of Moulins in France. Around ninety monks currently live in the monastery, many of whom are novices sent from monasteries around the world.

Contents

First foundation

It was founded in 1132 as a Cistercian monastery by Guichard and Guillaume de Bourbon, of the family of Bourbon-Lancy which gave kings to France, Italy, and Spain; this gave rise to the name "Royal Abbey". The initial generosity of the founders ensured that the building of the church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of the monastery was soon completed.

Thereafter however the monks found themselves poverty-stricken, and were driven to selling off parts of the endowment in order to provide themselves with the necessities of life. They were much encouraged by a visit from Bernard of Clairvaux in 1138. Pope Adrian III took the monastery under his protection in 1158; and Pope Alexander III ratified the foundation by bull in 1164.

The community remained a small one, and until the reform of 1663, the number of monks never exceeded 15.

At first the monastery was only known under the name of "Notre-Dame de Saint-Lieu". It was only after a century that "Sept-Fons" was added, derived either from seven fountains or from seven canals leading water to, the abbey.

From the middle of the 15th century the abbey suffered a great deal from the incessant wars. The monks were often forced to leave it; it was frequently looted and its buildings demolished. Under such circumstances, the discipline of the community was bound to suffer.

Trappist Reform

In 1656 Eustache de Beaufort, at the age of 20 years, was made abbot. For the first seven years there was no improvement; but after that time he resolved on a complete change and decided to join the abbey to the Trappist reform. There were then only four monks, who refused to accept the new rule; he therefore granted each of them a pension and dismissed them. It was not long before a number of novices presented themselves for admission. They were sent to the abbey of La Trappe, to make their novitiate under Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé, whom Eustache also visited for advice in 1667.

After this, with royal aid, Sept-Fons was rebuilt on a grander scale, and continued in prosperity until the abbey was suppressed in 1791 in the French Revolution.

Second foundation

In 1845, when the Trappists of the Abbaye du Gard were obliged to abandon their monastery, their abbot, Stanislaus, purchased the ruins of Sept-Fons, where he installed his community and rebuilt the church and regular structures. In 1847 he was elected vicar-general of the Congregation of the Ancient Reform of Our Lady of La Trappe, which followed the constitutions of de Rancé. In 1892, when the three congregations were united in one order, the then abbot of Sept-Fons, Sebastian Wyart, was elected first abbot-general, and, a little later, abbot of Cîteaux.

Its earlier foundations included Notre-Dame de la Consolation near Beijing, China, Notre-Dame des Iles, New Caledonia, Notre-Dame de Sept-Douleurs at Latroun in modern-day Israel, and Notre-Dame de Maristella Estado de São Paulo, Brazil.

Nový Dvůr

More recently the community at Sept-Fons has settled a daughter house at Nový Dvůr in the Czech Republic, the first monastic foundation since the fall of the Communist government, and in 2001 commissioned the English minimalist architect John Pawson to undertake the building conversion.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trappists</span> Roman Catholic religious order

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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbey of Notre-Dame des Neiges</span>

The Abbey of Notre-Dame des Neiges or Our Lady of the Snows is a Cistercian monastery in the Ardèche département of south-central France. The former Trappist monastery has been resettled by Cistercian nuns in 2022. The abbey was built in 1850, located on the territory of the commune of Saint-Laurent-les-Bains, about one and a half miles east of the village of La Bastide-Puylaurent (Lozère).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aiguebelle Abbey</span>

Aiguebelle Abbey is a Trappist monastery situated in the communes of Montjoyer and Réauville in the département of Drôme, on the borders of the Dauphiné and of Provence, France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cistercian nuns</span> Female members of the Cistercian Order

Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order of the Catholic Church.

The Abbey of Notre-Dame du Lac, known as the Oka Abbey, was a Trappist Cistercian monastery located in Oka, Quebec. The main monastery building is of grey stone; it has a dozen outbuildings, all of which are situated on a 270-hectare property. With a decline in the number of monks by the early 21st century, the monastery decided to end operations there and established a non-profit centre at the abbey to preserve the site's heritage.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fontgombault Abbey</span> Benedictine monastery at Fontgombault, Berry, France

Fontgombault Abbey, otherwise the Abbey of Notre-Dame, Fontgombault, is a Benedictine monastery of the Solesmes Congregation located in Fontgombault in the département of Indre, in the province of Berry, France. It was built in the Romanesque architectural style. The monastery, founded in 1091, was dissolved in 1791 and refounded in 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nový Dvůr Monastery</span>

The Nový Dvůr Monastery is the only men's monastery of the Trappist Order in the Czech Republic. It is located in Dobrá Voda part of Toužim in the Karlovy Vary Region, close to the Premonstratensian monastery of Teplá.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Trappe Abbey</span> Monastery in Soligny-la-Trappe, Orne, France

La Trappe Abbey, also known as La Grande Trappe, is a monastery in Soligny-la-Trappe, Orne, France. It is known for being the house of origin of the Trappists, to whom it gave its name.

Tamié Abbey is a Cistercian monastery, located in the Bauges mountain range in the Savoie region of France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scourmont Abbey</span>

Scourmont Abbey is a Trappist monastery on the Scourmont plateau, in the village of Forges which is part of Chimay in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The abbey is famous for its spiritual life and for running the Chimay Brewery, one of the few producers of Trappist beer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation of the Feuillants</span>

The Feuillants were a Catholic congregation originating in the 1570s as a reform group within the Cistercians in its namesake Les Feuillants Abbey in France, which declared itself an independent order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melleray Abbey</span> Abbey in La Meilleraye-de-Bretagne, France

Melleray Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, founded about the year 1134. It was situated in La Meilleraye-de-Bretagne in the vicinity of Châteaubriant in Brittany, in the present Loire-Atlantique, France, and in the Diocese of Nantes. Between 1817 and 2016 it was a house of Trappist monks. Since 2016 it has been used by the Chemin Neuf Community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé</span> French abbot and founder of the Trappist Order (1626–1700)

Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé was a French abbot of La Trappe Abbey, a controversialist author, and a founding father of the Trappists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Igny Abbey</span> Abbey in Marne, France

Igny Abbey or Val d'Igny Abbey is a Cistercian abbey located in Arcis-le-Ponsart, Marne, France. It was founded in 1128 for Cistercian monks, dissolved in 1791 during the French Revolution, re-established in 1876 for Trappist monks, destroyed in 1918, reopened in 1929 for Trappist nuns and modernised in 2008–12 to accommodate three or four pre-existing communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port-du-Salut Abbey</span> Abbey in Mayenne, France

Port-du-Salut Abbey, also the Abbey of Notre-Dame du Port du Salut is a Trappist monastery located in Entrammes, Mayenne, France. The main monastery building dates from around the 13th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbey of Our Lady of Atlas</span> Trappist monastery in Tibhirine, Algeria

The Abbey of Our Lady of Atlas is a Catholic monastery of Trappists, inaugurated on March 7, 1938, in Tibhirine, close to Médéa, in Algeria.

Jean-Baptiste Chautard OCSO was a French Trappist abbot and religious writer.

References

    Wikisource-logo.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Notre-Dame de Saint-Lieu Sept-Fons". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.

    46°32′42″N3°42′19″E / 46.54500°N 3.70528°E / 46.54500; 3.70528