Bornem Abbey is the only

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

abbey of Common Observance in the

Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. The current Abbey is the successor of the former St. Bernard's Abbey, Hemiksem, destroyed in the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. Both are built in honour of Saint

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...

History

The original foundation was made by Don

Pedro Coloma, Baron of Bornhem Don Pedro Coloma (died 27 December 1621), Baron of Bornhem and Lord of Bobadilla, was a Spanish officer in the Army of Flanders who established a noble line in the Habsburg Netherlands, a branch of the famous House of Coloma. Family Coloma was t ...

, who established a convent of the

Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross The Crosiers, formally known as the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross ( la, Canonici Regulares Ordinis Sanctae Crucis), abbreviated OSC, is a Catholic religious order of canons regular of Pontifical Right for men.Mauro Cappellari Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

(later Pope Gregory XVI), the old monks of Hemiksem returned in Bornem. In 1835 Mgr Corselis gave the new monastic community the same rights as the old Abbey of Hemiksem. The first abbot, Robertus van Ommeren, was ordained in Rome. The monastic life flourished and the abbey refounded

Val-Dieu Abbey Val-Dieu Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Wallonia in the Berwinne valley near Aubel in the Pays de Herve ( province of Liège, Belgium). History In 1216 a small number of monks from Hocht Abbey in Lanaken, near Maastricht, settled in ...

in 1844. During the First World War the abbey becomes a strategic point in the defence of

Klein-Brabant

("Little Brabant") is a Flanders, Flemish region in the B ...

. In 1914 the abbey church tower was used as a lookout, and a target of the German artillery. At the end of battle the tower stood as the last major strategic point in Bornem. The community is active in the local parish of Bornem and of great importance of local cultural life. The monks have an

abbey beer An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

, named Bornem, which is brewed by

Brouwerij Van Steenberge is a brewery in Ertvelde, East Flanders, Belgium. Beers * Augustijn * Bornem Blonde * Bornem Double * Bornem Triple * Celis White * Gulden Draak (Dutch for Gilded Dragon) (10.5% ABV) * Gulden Draak 9000 Quadruple (10.70%) * Leute Bokbier * ...

. However at the end of the 20th century the number of monks decreased drastically and today only two monks, including Abbot van Schaverbeeck are living in the conventual buildings. In 2014 the abbey was bought by the city of Bornem. In 1998 a monument for Pedro Coloma was erected in front of the main entrance.

Library

The historical library contains 3,000 books that could be saved form the old library of Hemisksem Abbey. Dom Henri was librarian between 1858 to 1865 and took care of the old collection. The abbey is still famous for its collection of valuable books of Cistercian history. The current collection contains 30,000 books and manuscripts and other important valuable works from the 14th century.

Abbots

# Robertus van Ommeren #

Amadeus de Bie Gerardus Franciscus Amadeus de Bie (16 March 1844 - 25 June 1920) was a Belgian abbot of Bornem Abbey (Common Observance). He became the 74th Abbot-General of the Cistercian Order. In 1862 he entered Bornem Abbey, and chose his monastic name in ...

: 74th Abbot-General of the Cistercian Order. # Thomas Schoen # Godefridus Indewey # Eugenius Dirckx # Robertus Peeters # Gerardus Wassenberg # Edmundus Van Dam # Leo Van Schaverbeeck

Notable monks

Henricus Smeulders Dom Henricus Smeulders, O.Cist. (13 May 1826 – 28 June 1892), born Joseph-Gauthier-Henri, was a Belgian Abbot of the Common observance. He was considered one of the major historical figures of Cistercian history of the second half of the 19th c ...

: Apostolic Commissioner to Canada (1883-1884). * Benedictus Van Doninck : Abbot of

.Mensen in de Oorlog: Van Doninck Benedictus
WO1bornem.be. Accessed 3 June 2017.

References

{{Authority control Cistercian monasteries in Belgium Libraries in Belgium Bornem