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I’m glad that Rorate picked this up. I tried to get it from Le Figaro yesterday, but there is a paywall in place that I couldn’t get around.
This Saturday, July 11th, Notre-Dame de Bellefontaine Abbey officially receives a new monastic community. For Dom Louis-Marie, Abbot of Le Barroux, the decision is above all the fruit of spiritual discernment: “From the beginning, it has been a matter of following the signs of heaven and the signs of the Lord.”
On November 13, 2025, the last Trappist monks departed Notre-Dame de Bellefontaine Abbey, bringing to a close more than two centuries of uninterrupted presence at this monastery in the Mauges region. The future of the site remained uncertain. This Saturday, July 11th, a new chapter opens with the official installation of twelve monks from the Abbey of Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux, who now ensure the continuity of a monastic life nearly a thousand years old.
This arrival is far more than a simple replacement of one community by another. It marks the return of Benedictines to a monastery whose origins reach back to the early twelfth century.
There’s more. This is like a balm for the soul. I have no doubt whatsoever that this foundation from Le Barroux will flourish and, perhaps in its own time, renew monastic life in another worthy and salvageable monastery. You can hear the office chanted by the monks at Le Barroux HERE.
?? ????? ???? — Douze moines de l’abbaye du Barroux, dans le Vaucluse, s’installeront aujourd’hui à l’abbaye Notre-Dame de Bellefontaine, en Maine-et-Loire, relançant ainsi une vie bénédictine interrompue depuis 1642, après le départ des moines trappistes en 2025. pic.twitter.com/tpq7Q749LX
— L’Écho Chrétien (@lechochretien) July 11, 2026
But the TLM must be suppressed in favor of the one “unique” Roman Rite… right?
we’re screwed https://t.co/JiQb535w2L
— Theologia Scholastica (@theoscholastica) July 11, 2026
White to move and mate in 4.
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
Yes, it’s a great show, but with all due respect, is it truly appropriate for the beginning of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? The sad irony is that the massive growth of the Church in Africa took place during the time of the Traditional Latin Mass. In more recent years, the Church does continue to grow, but unfortunately not at the pace of years ago and not even at the rate of the many evangelical and independent sects.