Chevetogne Abbey

Chevetogne, Belgium

Chevetogne Abbey, also known as the Monastery of the Holy Cross, is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery dedicated to Christian unity located in the Belgian village of Chevetogne. Currently, the monastery has 27 monks.

In 1924 Pope Pius XI addressed the apostolic letter Equidem verba to the Benedictine Order encouraging them to work for the reunion of the Catholic and Eastern Churches, with particular emphasis on the Russian Orthodox Church. The following year, a community was established by Dom Lambert Beauduin (1873–1960) at Amay, on the river Meuse. Because of Beauduin's close friendship with Cardinal Mercier and Pope John XXIII, as well as his relations with Eastern Christians, he became a pioneer of the Catholic Ecumenical movement. His initial focus was on unity with Orthodox and Anglicans, but was eventually extended to all those who bear the name of Christ.

In 1939, the community of Amay Priory moved to its current location at Chevetogne, occupying a former Jesuit novitiate. Since then, an Eastern church was built in 1957 and painted with frescos by Rhallis Kopsidis and Georges Chochlidakis, and a Western church was completed with a library in its basement. The library has approximately 100,000 volumes and subscribes to about 500 specialized journals and periodicals. Chevetogne Priory was raised to the status of an abbey on 11 December 1990.

In order to live a life of Christian unity, the monastery has both Western (Latin Rite) and Eastern (Byzantine rite) churches which hold services every day. While the canonical hours of the daily monastic office are served separately, the monks share their meals together and are united under one abbot. Along with prayer, the monks engage in publishing a journal, Irénikon, since 1926, making recordings of church music, and producing incense, all of which can be bought in the monastery shop.

References:

Comments

Your name



Details

Founded: 1939
Category: Religious sites in Belgium

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.7/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Raul Mal (3 years ago)
It is an amazing place! I like the orthodox byzantine church.
Michael Sheludko (3 years ago)
Amazing site, legendary abode of spiritual masters. Blessed land.
Boddy Uche (4 years ago)
A place to have a deep spiritual reflection and refreshment.
Sixtus Massawe (4 years ago)
A good place to remember
Robbie Coumans (4 years ago)
We zijn hier regelmatig naar de vieringen gekomen op zaterdagavond. Voor ons 125 km. op en weer 125 km. terug naar huis. Dat hebben we er altijd graag voor over. Nooit één keer spijt van gehad. Je maakt hier werkelijk de meest ultieme Godsverering mee. Ongelooflijk mooi gezongen gebeden door de monniken, alles uitsluitend ter Ere Gods! Hebben hier een keer de Nachtmis in de Kerstnacht meegemaakt. Dat was een fenomenale ervaring. Fantastisch! Aanrader om de Monastère de Chevetogne te bezoeken. Vergeet dan niet even binnen te wippen in de Mariakapel beneden! Dankjewel voor de likes!
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Goryokaku Fortress

Goryōkaku (五稜郭) (literally, 'five-point fort') is a star fort in the Japanese city of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaido. The fortress was completed in 1866. It was the main fortress of the short-lived Republic of Ezo.

Goryōkaku was designed in 1855 by Takeda Ayasaburō and Jules Brunet. Their plans was based on the work of the French architect Vauban. The fortress was completed in 1866, two years before the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate. It is shaped like a five-pointed star. This allowed for greater numbers of gun emplacements on its walls than a traditional Japanese fortress, and reduced the number of blind spots where a cannon could not fire.

The fort was built by the Tokugawa shogunate to protect the Tsugaru Strait against a possible invasion by the Meiji government.

Goryōkaku is famous as the site of the last battle of the Boshin War.