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Maredsous Abbey

Coordinates:50°18′08″N4°46′00″E/ 50.302348°N 4.76665°E/50.302348; 4.76665
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Maredsous Abbey

Maredsous Abbey(French:Abbaye de Maredsous) is aBenedictinemonastery atMaredsous,in the municipality ofAnhée,Wallonia,Belgium. It is a founding member of theAnnunciation Congregationof theBenedictine Confederation.

The abbey was founded as aprioryon 15 November 1872 byBeuron Abbey,with the financial support of the Desclée family, who donated some land and paid for the plans and construction of the buildings which were designed byJean-Baptiste Bethune.

In 1878, the priory was raised to the status of abbey byPope Leo XIIIand became a member of the Congregation of Beuron. The abbey was subsequently affiliated with the Congregation of the Annunciation within the Benedictine confederation, from 1920. By a pontifical letter ofPope Pius XIdated 12 October 1926, the abbey church was awarded the title ofminor basilica.

Though various cheeses are products of the abbey's own dairy, Maredsous Beer is no longer brewed there but in the Duvel Moortgat brewery in Flanders, which has been authorised to make and supply it.

History

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Interior of the Basilica of St. Benedict

Maredsous Abbey was founded on 15 November 1872 byBeuron AbbeyinGermany,[1]the founder of many religious houses, at the instigation ofHildebrand de Hemptinne,a Belgian monk at Beuron and later abbot of Maredsous.

The foundation was supported financially by theDesclée family,who paid for the design and construction. The Desclée brothers, printers of liturgical publications, were interested in the restoration of Christian art. Like Hemptinne, Jules Desclée had served in thePapal Zouaves.The brothers chose a picturesque site on an estate of Henri Desclée's in the Province of Namur, for the erection of a monastery in which to establish the monks of Beuron.[2]

The buildings are the masterwork of the architectJean-Baptiste de Béthune(1831–1894), leader of theneo-gothicstyle in Belgium. The overall plan is based on the 13th centuryCistercianabbey of VillersatVillers-la-VilleinWalloon Brabant.Construction was finished in 1892. Along the aisles are arranged side chapels.As it is a monastic church, one will not be surprised by the importance of the choir where the stalls of the monks are arranged, and where, several times a day, they sing the Office. By a brief of October 12, 1926,Pope Pius XIerected it as a Basilica.[3]

The frescos however were undertaken by theart schoolof the mother-house at Beuron, much against the will of Béthune and Desclée, who dismissed the Beuron style as "Assyrian-Bavarian".[citation needed]

The Abbey holds an annual traditional Christmas market, with a popular indoor skating rink.

Abbots

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  1. 1872-1874: Jean Blessing, Supérior
  2. 1874-1876: Placide Wolter, Prior
  3. 1877-1878: Gérard van Caloen, Prior
  4. 1878-1890: Placide Wolter, Abbot
  5. 1890-1909:Hildebrand de Hemptinne,Abbot
  6. 1909-1923:BlessedColumba Marmion,Abbot - buried in the abbey church
  7. 1923-1950: Célestin Golenvaux, Abbot
  8. 1950-1968: Godefroid Dayez, Abbot
  9. 1968-1969: Olivier du Roy, Prior
  10. 1969-1972: Olivier du Roy, Abbot
  11. 1972-1978: Nicolas Dayez, Prior
  12. 1978-2002: Nicolas Dayez, Abbot
  13. 2002-current:Bernard Lorent,Abbot

Work

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Foundations

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Maredsous has either founded, or has been instrumental in the foundation of, a number of other Benedictine houses:Sant'Anselmo all'AventinoinRome(1893); abbeys inBrazil(1895);St. Andrew's Abbey, Zevenkerken,Bruges(1899);Keizersberg AbbeyinLeuven(1899);Glenstal AbbeyinIreland(1927); Gihindamuyaga inRwanda(1958);Quévy AbbeyinHainaut(1969).

School of art

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The idea of an art school, inspired by that at the mother house, led to the foundation of the School of Applied Arts and Crafts, also known as the St. Joseph School. There was a difference of opinion as to whether it should serve more as a place for training poor children as carpenters, blacksmiths, plumbers and cobblers, or whether it should function more as a centre of fine arts and crafts. It was the latter view that prevailed when the school opened in 1903 under the leadership of Father Pascal Rox, and in due course the production began of neo-gothic works of high quality (vestments, pieces of silver, bindings and so on) destined mostly for the abbey itself. The school's activities were curtailed byWorld War Iand it was almost closed down in 1919, but it survived by widening its remit to undertaking paid work in a more modern style for outside customers. From 1939 onwards, the emphasis changed more explicitly towards the training of artists rather than skilled craftsmen. In 1964, after establishing an international reputation, the school merged with the Namur School of Crafts to form the I.A.T.A. (Technical Institute of Arts and Crafts).[4]

Publications

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Products

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Maredsous cheese

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Main article:Maredsous cheese

Maredsous Abbey is known for the production of Maredsous cheese, a loaf-shapedcheesemade fromcow's milk.In 2016 the Cheesemaking Museum was opened, where visitors can see how milk is transformed into cheese and how the cheese is matured.[6]

Maredsous beer

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The abbey also licenses its name toBrouwerij Duvel Moortgat,since 1963 the makers ofMaredsous beer.

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Maurus (Rudolf) Wolter", Portal Rheinische Geschichte
  2. ^Vermeersch, Arthur. "Henri and Jules Desclée." The Catholic EncyclopediaVol. 16 (Index). New York: The Encyclopedia Press, 1914. 7 October 2022Public DomainThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
  3. ^"La Basilique Saint-Benoît', Abbaye de Maredsous
  4. ^"Institut d'enseignement des arts techniques sciences et artisanats".IATA.
  5. ^Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church;2nd ed., revised, 1983. Oxford University Press; p. 871
  6. ^"Maredsous Abbey", Visit Ardenne

Sources

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  • Misonne, Daniel, 2005.En parcourant l'histoire de Maredsous.Editions de Maredsous.

Further reading

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  • Cottineau, L. H.Répertoire topo-bibliographique des abbayes et preurés.Mâcon, 1929; col. 1744
  • A. Pratesi "Maredsous" inEnciclopedia cattolica;vol. 8 (1952), pp. 61 ff.
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50°18′08″N4°46′00″E/ 50.302348°N 4.76665°E/50.302348; 4.76665

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