Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac

Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac taken from Lake Memphrémagog

We enjoyed a visit to Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac when we toured the Eastern Townships in Quebec this month. It is a Benedictine monastic community and a total of 24 monks live here in a lifetime commitment to a monastic life of prayer, work, humility, obedience and silence. Latin Gregorian chants are the preferred form of liturgical prayer at the Abbey but due to COVID restrictions, there was no singing nor any public services at this time. It is possible in non-pandemic times to stay at a guest house on the grounds if you want a time of rest, solitude and silence, even if you are not religious.

The lay employee who conducted our tour of the Abbaye told us the average age of the monks is 70 years old with the youngest being 40 and the oldest, 99-1/2 years old. There is an apple orchard on the grounds and a dairy where cheese is made. Much of the labour is done by paid employees, but the monks have a few hours each day to contribute to the work that is done. 

I mentioned author Louise Penny in my previous post. The Abbaye of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac was the inspiration for the fictional Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups in her book A Beautiful Mystery, the eighth installment in the Chief Inspector Gamache series. I re-read the book while we were away and it made the tour of this Abbey all the more interesting. 

As Louise Penny describes in her novel, the abbey is full of natural light and few religious icons adorn the walls. The monks sit in rows facing each other during the Liturgy of the Hours where they meet for prayer, scripture reading and singing seven times a day. Looking at the daily schedule below, they have about four hours each afternoon where they have time to work.

A lady beside me on the tour whispered in my ear,  "I am really ashamed these days to call myself a Roman Catholic". She was referring to past residential school abuses of indigenous children by Catholic as well as Protestant clergy and teachers. Sadly, religious institutions are still easily entangled in systems that are politically motivated, racist, money-hungry and power-seeking. The age of the monks at this abbey is likely typical of the average age of people attending churches across Canada. Many younger people are not choosing to be part of a church community at all, let alone making a lifelong commitment to religious service in a monastery.  

The beautiful property around the abbey was closed to the public. I watched this old monk walking along the pathways between services. Will there be replacements for these old men when they die? Quebec has become a very diverse and secular province and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church has waned. The local people here enjoy the wonderful cheese made at Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac. The recordings of the Gregorian Chants sung here are sold in area shops and tourists pay to tour the building. I am sure it is a wonderful place to visit to take a break from the pace of our busy world. 

Here is a YouTube recording of a Gregorian Chant by the monks at Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, as well as some beautiful autumn scenery around the abbey.