Trappist Abbey Achel

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Trappist Abbey Achel (2012)

The Achel Abbey (official name: St. Benedictus-Abdij , also: Achelse Kluis ) was a Trappist monastery in Achel ( Limburg province ) in Belgium from 1844 to 2011 (2018) .

history

North of Hamont-Achel on the outermost border with the Netherlands (towards Valkenswaard and Eindhoven ) there was a Roman Catholic church for Dutch Catholics as early as 1656, who were forbidden from attending church services in their country from 1648 to 1672. In 1686 the funds for the establishment of a hermitage (St. Josef) were donated. Since then the place was known as "Achelse Kluis" (Acheler Klause). The convent, which lived according to the Rule of Benedict from 1731 , was dissolved by the French Revolution in 1796 .

In 1846 the Belgian Trappist Abbey Westmalle founded a daughter monastery in the Acheler Klause in the form of a priory , which was elevated to an abbey in 1871 and was named Saint Benedict . In 1885 the architect Pierre Cuypers built a neo-Gothic abbey church. In 1917 and 1943 the monks had to evacuate their monastery from the German invaders. In 1946 a new monastery building was built, with a new church, which in 1998 was still equipped with a large organ. In 1998, with the help of Trappists from Westmalle and Rochefort, the monastery brewery , which had been destroyed in 1917, was reopened in order to secure the abbey’s economic existence. In 2011 the abbey, which had shrunk to a few monks, was dissolved and the Westmalle convent was subordinated. The monastery was administered by Westmalle until 2018. Since 2018 it has housed a community of the Fazenda da Esperança .

Founding of subsidiaries

Upper (selection)

  • 1846–1868: Joseph-Marie de Moock
  • 1868–1880: Bonaventure Hoes (1810–1880)
  • 1880–1882: Augustinus Schaapen (1816–1882)
  • 1891–1912: Malachias Verstraaten (1843–1913)
  • 1920–1927: Vitalis Klinski (1886–1966)
  • 1952–1965: Gabriël van de Moosdijk (1886–1981)
  • 1995–2006: Marc Gallant (1928–2018)
  • Prior Gaby

Prominent monks from Achel

  • Franziskus Janssens (1881–1950), Abbot General of the Cistercian Order 1927–1936, joined Achel in 1901
  • Vincent Hermans (1907–1993), General Procurator of the Trappist Order 1967–1977

literature

  • Dominicus De Jong, OCR: De oorspronkelijke hiring rule van de Achelse Kluis . In: Bulletin de la Commission royale d'Histoire 116, 1951, pp. 61-122.
  • Karl Suso Frank : Article Achel , in: LThK , 3rd ed., Vol. 1, Sp. 112.
  • Bernard Peugniez : Le Guide Routier de l'Europe Cistercienne . Editions du Signe, Strasbourg 2012, p. 376.
  • Jan Smulders (* 1954): Achter de kloostermuur. A bezoek aan de Achelse Kluis . Codfish, Swalmen 2001.
  • Edmundus van Well: De Achelsche kluis. Divorcee of Abdij van OLV van La Trappe te Achel . De Jong, Achel 1974.

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 17 ′ 56.4 ″  N , 5 ° 29 ′ 16 ″  E