SAINT-WANDRILLE, France — The son of a noble family from the Verdun region of France in the seventh century, Wandrille held a prestigious position at the court of his kinsman, King Dagobert I.

However, desiring a life devoted to God, he retired to different abbeys in Europe such as the Abbey of Montfaucon-d'Argonne, in France, Bobbio Abbey founded by the Irish missionary St. Columbanus (543-615) in Italy, and the Abbey of Romainmôtier in Switzerland, before returning to Normandy.

In 649, St. Ouen of Rouen gave him the opportunity to settle in the valley of Fontenelle and established the monastery of Fontenelle, or Abbaye Saint-Wandrille (Abbey of St. Wandrille), using the Rule of St. Columbanus.

Monastic life flourished (save for the time of the Norman invasion) until the French Revolution — when monastic life was thwarted; the Benedictine charism flourished again, though world wars took their toll, too.

Through it all ora et labora (pray and work) remained their motto. And so it remains — amid new restoration.

Because of the damages caused by the French Revolution and the Second World War, the abbey started different restoration projects 10 years ago, to restore the cloister — “the only complete Gothic cloister in Normandy” — and to build a guesthouse to welcome larger groups.

After completing the third project, which consisted of “preserving the ruins of the old abbey church that was destroyed after the revolution,” the abbey’s fourth and last project is now underway: “to restore the east wing of the monastery, which is slowly but surely collapsing.”

This project will, in turn, enable the monks to create vital spaces, such as an infirmary and a library to both expand the available space and better preserve the abbey’s vast 250,000-plus collection.

A Land of Saints

The restoration will ensure that it is a Benedictine home for future generations.

“The monastery has existed for nearly 14 centuries, though with interruptions,” Dom Jean-Charles Nault, abbot of the Abbey of St. Wandrille since 2009, told the Register. “There was a major disruption during the Norman invasions in the ninth and 10th centuries, and a second one during the French Revolution, when monastic life came to a halt in France.”

Following the devastation of the French Revolution, Dom Nault explained, “Dom Prosper Guéranger revived Benedictine monasticism in France by reestablishing monastic life at the Abbey of Solesmes in 1833,” which had been suppressed during the revolution.

Dom Guéranger’s efforts helped restore the Benedictine Order in France, with Solesmes becoming a key center for the founding or revival of many other monasteries, including St. Wandrille.

“Although there was a third disruption at the beginning of the 20th century, with the anticlerical laws in France that obliged the monks to go into exile to Belgium,” Dom Nault added, “the community was able to stay together, before coming back in 1931, almost one century ago.”

While 30 Benedictine monks reside today in the “historical monument,” the French abbot noted that “there is nothing left from the very beginning, but from the 11th century onward, there are buildings from every era — like the prefecture, which is the oldest one in Europe still in use.”

Despite the destructions brought by invasions, revolutions and world wars — as well as the exile or martyrdom of its monks — the monastery endured, with each generation returning, determined to reclaim their home and restore monastic life.

To this day, the monastic community of brothers perpetuates “a tradition of prayer and work, silence and simplicity.” Renewing an ancient monastic brewing tradition in 2016, the Abbey of St. Wandrille became the first abbey in France since the French Revolution to brew beer within its confinements — thus living “by the work of their hands,” as the Benedictine Rule prescribes.

In keeping with the living tradition of the Church, the abbey has preserved the Latin liturgy following the Missal of Paul VI, and Gregorian chant, to which the abbey’s first abbot after the revolution, Dom Joseph Pothier, contributed significantly to its reconstitution, restoration and renewal — a heritage that, throughout the centuries, has shaped souls and formed saints.

“Our monastery is called ‘Land of Saints’ because we have 40 monks that are canonized or beatified,” Dom Nault noted, “of which the last one [Blessed Louis François Lebrun], martyred during the French Revolution, was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1995.”

“There is something very enthusiastic about living in a Land of Saints,” he added. “It’s an honor, but it’s also a responsibility, to know that we must walk in the footsteps of our predecessors.”

Symbolic Reconstructions

Recalling how he assigned the various projects to commissions of monks to assess what was needed for each, Dom Nault shared that “there was a sort of providence because their plans corresponded exactly to the original area of the building’s complete restoration.”

“We realized that the best way to consolidate the building was not simply to add a bay or install larger buttresses; it was to rebuild it as it originally was.”

Amidst the decline of Catholicism in France, the reconstruction of the Abbey of St. Wandrille emerges as a powerful sign of renewal and hope for the future of the Church in France.

“The major work we are undertaking reflects the vitality of our community. We have received no negative feedback, only positive responses, that it is beautiful to see a 14-century-old community that believes in its future, seeks to pass on its heritage, and continues to bear witness to Christ.”

Reflecting on the importance of transmitting their spiritual heritage to younger generations, Dom Nault added: “For young people, coming into something with deep roots is really essential. We live in a world that is constantly shifting and changing, and I can see that what moves people when they come to us is precisely this stability and keeping of tradition.”

Rediscovering the Treasures of the Faith

While monastic vocations are not widespread, laypeople can also share the fruits of monastic life by becoming oblates who associate with a monastery, uniting their work and prayer to the life of a monastic community without making any vows.

“The monks are truly the heart of the monastery, but from the monastery, there is a radiance that extends into secular life,” François, an oblate of the Abbey of St. Wandrille, told the Register, “allowing even those in the world to live in connection with the monastery.”

Drawn by the Rule of St. Benedict and the intense way of living the Christian life that the monastery offers through its liturgies, prayers and chant, François and his wife relocated from Paris with their young daughter to live near the abbey almost three years ago.

“By singing the Office seven times a day — beginning at 5:00 a.m. with Matins and ending at 9:00 p.m. with Compline — we feel that our whole day is dedicated to the Lord,” François shared. “This alone is very powerful and is deeply nourishing, being able to return to the Lord throughout the day and consecrate each moment to him, to place everything in his hands.”

“We also rediscovered a living tradition of Gregorian chant at the abbey, splendid melodies, refined over time, drawn from the word of God, that truly lead us deeper into the mystery.”

Explaining that while he had “always known the Mass,” François shared that he really rediscovered the solemn liturgy in Latin at St. Wandrille, where he “began for the first time to enter into the meaning of each word, each gesture, and to truly pray at every moment.”

“The abbey is truly precious as a source of inspiration, showing the value of the liturgy, Gregorian chant, silence and continuous prayer,” he added, “but, ultimately, it is up to us to bring it to life beyond Saint-Wandrille.”

“That is the heart of our oblature,” he explained. “We draw spiritual nourishment from Saint-Wandrille, and then we strive to carry that life and those treasures beyond its walls.”

‘It Is in the Parishes That We Radiate’

Because “the abbey is only frequented by those who know it,” François explained that the goal of the oblature is to “help rediscover the intensity of the spiritual life to as many as possible,” in particular in light of the decline of faith in France.

“For me, the erosion of Catholicism we see in France took place three or four generations ago because the faith was passed down without being truly understood, perhaps because we stopped transmitting its deeper meaning, stopped passing on what truly gave this Christian life its intensity when lived personally,” François said. “And so, it became a kind of social monument.”

Yet, he explained, “many people are in search of something, not necessarily the Benedictine charism, but in search of true richness, of meaning.”

For this reason, François explained that the oblature has “different commitments in parishes, offering teaching, guidance and support, and to introduce the Benedictine life,” saying that “it is at the abbey that we are spiritually renewed, and it is in the parishes that we radiate.”

“In a parish right now, we are holding conferences on the Council of Nicaea, as we are celebrating its 1,700th anniversary,” François shared. “Each session is dedicated to explaining the meaning of each passage of the Nicene Creed. I chose the section of the Creed that speaks of the divinity of Christ, which was the central issue of the Council of Nicaea: to affirm, in the face of the Arians, that Christ was God and not just a man.”

“The goal is to help people understand what happened 1,700 years ago,” he added, “so that today we can draw both apologetic tools to confront heretics and spiritual treasures to nourish our intimate life with God.”

Also, near Rouen, in “a parish that seeks to foster traditional prayer,” François shared that he and his family “often go there to pray, to sing, and to help bring this tradition to life among the people of God — not just within the privileged setting of the abbey, but throughout the entire Body of Christ.”

“I see how my daughter loves Gregorian chant — for her, it’s a living, spiritual song filled with prayer — how she loves the brothers, and loves the Lord, and it’s beautiful to see how much she can understand at only 3 years old.”

“For us, this is something so profound that we cannot keep this treasure to ourselves.”

Editor’s Note: Readers interested in supporting the Abbey of St. Wandrille’s restoration projects can donate through their official restoration fund.