François-Marie Van Langendonck

François-Marie Van Langendonck (born November 30, 1760 in Leuven , † November 2, 1836 in Vleteren ) was a Belgian Capuchin , Trappist , prior and monastery founder who lived in monasteries in Belgium, Germany, France and Belgium again.

life and work

André Van Langendock entered the Capuchin monastery in Dendermonde and took the religious name Justus . After the dissolution of his monastery by the French Revolution , he entered the exile monastery of the French Trappists in Darfeld in 1801 and took the religious name François-Marie . In 1803 he made solemn profession and was a monk under Abbot Augustin de Lestrange , from 1808 under Abbot Eugène de Laprade . When the monks moved to the nearby Kleinburlo monastery in 1804 , he stayed as director and confessor of the nuns in Darfeld. Among them was his niece Marie-Françoise Van Langendonck (* 1782), who died there in 1808.

After the Cistercian order was abolished by Napoleon in 1811, Van Langendonck stayed with the French-speaking nuns from Darfeld until 1816 in the fortified farmstead of Borsu (also: Borsut) near Verlaine in Belgium. From 1816 to 1826 he was a monk, novice master and prior (under Abbot Germain Gillon , 1769–1835) in the newly founded monastery Le Gard . Then he belonged to the founding community of the monastery (priory) Mont des Cats and was there prior from 1827 to 1831. But since he did not want to recognize the authority of the Bishop of Cambrai (Louis Belmas, 1757–1841) because he took the oath at the time Having sworn the civil constitution of the clergy and also agreed to the July Revolution of 1830 , he founded the Abbey of Saint Sixtus in 1831 with the approval of Abbot Gillon, 15 km from Mont des Cats monastery, but located in Belgium and therefore withdrawn from the authority of Bishop Belmas Westvleteren (today: Vleteren). Van Langendonck died there in 1836 with a reputation for holiness.

literature

• Immo Eberl, The Cistercians. History of a European Order , Stuttgart, Jan Thorbecke Verlag, 2002.
• Wilhelm Knoll, 30 years of Trappist settlement in Darfeld 1795-1825. A contribution to the church history in the Coesfeld district , Mainz, Bernardus-Verlag, 2012.
• Bernard Peugniez, Le guide routier de l'Europe cistercienne. Wit des lieux. Patrimoine. Hôtellerie , Strasbourg, Editions du Signe, 2012.

Web links

• http://www.abbaye-montdescats.fr/?page_id=223 (appreciation, French)