The is an independent anglophone Catholic Benedictine monastery located in the commune of Brignoles, from Toulon, France. The Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon established the monastery as a Public Association of the Faithful in 2011. The current location was purchased in 2020. The Association was suppressed in June 2022 after two members of the community were ordained priest and deacon without the bishop's knowledge. The suppression has been appealed and the monks have indicated they intend to continue their traditional life of prayer, study, and work regardless of the outcome.

History

The Templars and the Hospitallers

At the beginning of the 11th century, a family from Rians built the Romanesque church, which they later gave, in 1025, to the abbey of Saint-Victor de Marseille. It was later acquired by the

Order of the Templars , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

in the 12th century, shortly after their creation. The

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

enlarged the domain by constructing new buildings, which took the name of Saint-Christophe because it was now suitable for receiving pilgrims on their way to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

, via the nearby Via Aurelia. In 1312, when Pope Clement V ordered the dissolution of the Order, this house of the Templars (or secondary commandery) came under the jurisdiction of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, then under the commandery of Beaulieu.

21st century

The old commandery came back to religious life in August 2020, when several members of an English-speaking community, already present in La Garde-Freinet since 2011, purchased the property and renamed it Monastère Saint-Benoît after their community. The monastery church was once again given its medieval dedication to

Saint Christopher Saint Christopher ( el, Ἅγιος Χριστόφορος, ''Ágios Christóphoros'') is veneration, venerated by several Christianity, Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Empire, Roman emperor Deciu ...

. Building projects to restore the heritage buildings are underway.

Buildings

The monastery buildings were listed as historical monuments on 21 December 1984. The site is also listed as a cultural heritage monument. The monastery is the depository of several monastic

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s, including Blessed Notker the Stammerer and Saint Lambert of Maastricht.

Monastic life

The monastery, now dedicated to the founder of the Benedictines, respects the

rule of Saint Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

in its daily life; the prayers of the

canonical hours In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or selection from, such prayers. In ...

punctuate the routines of the day. The monastery celebrates the offices according to the older monastic and

Tridentine Rite In the Catholic Church, the use of preconciliar rites after the Second Vatican Council has resulted in certain Latin liturgical rites coexisting with older ("preconciliar": "before the Second Vatican Council") versions of those same rites. In t ...

. During Holy Week, the Roman Missal of 1953, the edition before the reorganization of

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

, is used. Founded on December 7th, 201

the monastic community consists of three monks, of whom one is solemnly professe

a man o
many
great and important gift

Another monk is in simpl
vows
, and the third is a Novitiate, novice, clothed on 10 July 2022 (that is, his investiture). Noviciate is a minimum of one year but may be extended as necessary up to two year

The small but rapidly growin
community
receives large numbers of vocatio
enquiries
and a constant stream of vocation visitors throughout th
year
so that a major concern is to have sufficient accommodatio

to welcome and form those men – who are by no means few – who are knocking at the door of the monaster

The small monastic family is a little larger, with the prospect of further growth throughout this yea

The number of the monastery's

oblate In Christianity (especially in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Methodist traditions), an oblate is a person who is specifically dedicated to God or to God's service. Oblates are individuals, either laypersons or clergy, normally livi ...

s and associates also continues to grow. The Australian Dom Alcuin Reid is its

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

and founder. He was ordained a priest, with another monk ordained a deacon, clandestinely and outside France, in April 2022. The bishop of the

Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon 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 ...

, Dominique Rey, then suspended the two monks ordained, although they argued it was invalid, indicating that he had not given authorization for this ordination. In a statement published on the monastery's website, the ordination was defended as being the recommendation of the

canonical visitation In the Catholic Church, a canonical visitation is the act of an ecclesiastical superior who in the discharge of his office visits persons or places with a view to maintaining faith and discipline and of correcting abuses. A person delegated to car ...

of the diocese and necessary to protect the liturgical integrity of the monastery, which had lacked a resident priest. On 10 June 2022, Dominique Rey suppressed the public association of the faithful "under pressure from the Vatican." The monastery is still open and active and the monks have stated their intention to remain faithful to their life and vocation regardless of sanctions imposed on them by Church authorities.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website

Dom Alcuin Reid - Essays in Catholic Word Report

Facebook Page

YouTube channel
Church buildings of the Knights Hospitaller Traditionalist Catholicism in France Order of Saint Benedict Benedictine monasteries in France Communities using the Tridentine Mass