Chevetogne Abbey

Chevetogne Abbey, also known as the Monastery of the Holy Cross, is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery dedicated to Christian unity located in the Belgian village of Chevetogne in the municipality of Ciney, province of Namur, halfway between Brussels and Luxembourg. Currently, the monastery has 27 monks.

Chevetogne Abbey

History
Chevetogne Abbey: Byzantine church
Chevetogne Abbey: Latin church

In 1924 Pope Pius XI addressed the apostolic letter "Equidem verba" to the Benedictine Order encouraging them to work for the reunion of the Catholic and Eastern Churches, with particular emphasis on the Russian Orthodox Church. The following year, a community was established by Dom Lambert Beauduin (1873–1960) at Amay, on the river Meuse. Because of Beauduin's close friendship with Cardinal Mercier and Pope John XXIII, as well as his relations with Eastern Christians, he became a pioneer of the Catholic Ecumenical movement. His initial focus was on unity with Orthodox and Anglicans, but was eventually extended to all those who bear the name of Christ.

In 1939, the community of Amay Priory moved to its current location at Chevetogne, occupying a former Jesuit novitiate. Since then, an Eastern church was built in 1957 and painted with frescos by Rallis Kopsidis and Georges Chochlidakis, and a Western church was completed with a library in its basement. The library has approximately 100,000 volumes and subscribes to about 500 specialized journals and periodicals. Chevetogne Priory was raised to the status of an abbey on 11 December 1990.

Life of the monastery

In order to live a life of Christian unity, the monastery has both Western (Latin Rite) and Eastern (Byzantine rite) chapels which hold services every day. While the canonical hours of the daily monastic office are served separately, the monks share their meals together and are united under one abbot. Along with prayer, the monks engage in publishing a journal, Irénikon, since 1926, making recordings of church music, and producing incense, all of which can be bought at the monastery shop.

Monks
  • General view of the main building and the Eastern church
  • Interior of the Eastern church
  • Procession to the refectory on Pentecost
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References
  • Dom J.-B. Van der Heijden, L'église orientale de Chevetogne, architecture, décoration, symbolisme, Éditions de Chevetogne, Chevetogne, 1962, 64 p.
  • Van der Heijden, Dom J. B. L'Eglise Byzantine de Chevetogne. Brussels: Thill S.A., Bruxelles, 1993.
  • Jacques Mortiau et Raymond Loonbeck, Dom Lambert Beauduin, visionnaire et précurseur (1873-1960), un moine au cœur libre, Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 2005, 280 p. ISSN 0769-2633

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