Charles Van der Cruyssen

Charles Van der Cruyssen (born July 11, 1874 in Ghent , † April 30, 1955 in Florenville ) was a Belgian entrepreneur, volunteer and under the religious name Maria Albert OCSO 53rd abbot of the Trappist monastery Orval .

Life

coat of arms

Van der Cruyssen was born as the eldest son of the Ghent entrepreneur Charles Van der Cruyssen and his wife Jeanne Moerman. After completing his studies, Charles worked in his parents' wallpapering company, and in 1896 he went into business for himself with his brother. A few years later he was able to accept public contracts from the Belgian government, including the construction of the Belgian pavilion at the 1905 World Exhibition in Liège and the 1906 World Exhibition in Milan .

Van der Cruyssen played a leading role in the Belgian national middle class movement and was a member of the national board of the Catholic Young Garden. He also founded the “God and Fatherland” club.

After the outbreak of World War I he volunteered for the army and had already risen to the rank of sergeant in September 1914, and in January 1916 he was made a lieutenant. In 1918 he was seriously injured and captured by the German army, but was able to escape. He was awarded six medals and the French and Belgian War Cross and was celebrated as a war hero.

Entry into the Trappist order

After the war, Van der Cruyssen entered the Trappist monastery La Trappe in Soligny in France under the religious name Maria Albert , made his solemn profession in November 1924 and was ordained a priest in December 1925. Before joining the order, he had left his private fortune to the Belgian Federation of Catholic Middle Classes and the “God and Fatherland” club.

In 1926, planning work began to rebuild the Belgian Trappist monastery Orval near Florenville, which was destroyed during the First Coalition War in 1793 and which was financed by private donations. Fr. Maria Albert participated together with other monks in the organization of the construction work and successfully collected donations. On February 29, 1936, he was appointed the first abbot of the newly built monastery, making him the 53rd abbot of Orval Abbey.

In 1949 he suffered two severe strokes and had to resign as abbot on October 17, 1950 due to his health. He died in the monastery on April 30, 1955.

literature

Father Maria Albert is mentioned in the correspondence of the Associatio Perseverantiae Sacerdotalis : CAPS 46.10 (1925) p. 155.

Web links

• L'histoire remarquable de dom Albert van der Cruyssen, 53e Abbé d'Orval

predecessor	Office	successor
Gabriel Siegnitz	Abbot of Orval Monastery 1936–1950