Mater Ecclesiae Abbey

Mater Ecclesiae Abbey
	Abbazia Mater Ecclesiae
	A view of the abbey from Lake Orta
Monastery information
Order	Benedictines
Established	1973
Mother house	Viboldone Abbey
Dedicated to	Mary, Mother of the Church
Diocese	Abbey nullius
People
Founder(s)	Mother Anna Maria Canopi, O.S.B.
Abbess	Mother Anna Maria Canopi, O.S.B
Architecture
Status	active
Site
Location	I-28016 Orta San Giulio, Novara, Italy
Coordinates	45.7963°N 8.3999°E

Mater Ecclesiae (Mother of the Church) Abbey (Italian: Abbazia Mater Ecclesiae) is an Italian Benedictine territorial abbey of nuns founded in 1973.[1] The abbey is located on Lake Orta in northern Italy, considered one of the most scenic sites in the country.

History

By 1973 the community of Benedictine nuns of the Abbey of Viboldone, near Milan, which had been established in 1941 to care for the needy children of wartime Italy, had grown to the point that they considered opening a new foundation. They were offered the facilities of the former bishop's residence on San Giulio Island for this, which they accepted.

Six nuns were chosen to undertake this enterprise, under the direction of Mother Anna Maria Cànopi, O.S.B., who was appointed as the first prioress of the new monastery. Within fifteen years the small community had expanded so much that new quarters were needed. They then transferred to the former diocesan seminary in the center of the little island, which was a massive complex built around 1840. At that time, the monastery was raised to the status of an abbey, with Cànopi being elected as the community's first abbess.

The community had grown to over 80 members by 1989, and it was decided to establish a new foundation. For this site, they chose the village of Saint-Oyen, in the Aosta Valley, where they opened the Monastery of Regina Pacis (Latin for Queen of Peace). As of 2006 they numbered about fifteen nuns.

The community of Mater Eccesliae has continued to flourish and today numbers about 100 nuns.[1]

Crafts

The nuns of Mater Ecclesiae Abbey support themselves through their work in creating and repairing liturgical vestments and accessories, in writing icons and making translations from German and French spiritual books. Through their research they have developed a reputation for the quality of their restoration work with antique items.

Additionally, Cànopi, the abbess, has become a noted spiritual writer.

gollark: What is your pH, nobody?

gollark: Now, if *Factorio* has taught me anything, you don't even need to go underground, just hit some big green patches with a pickaxe.

gollark: Well, if MInecraft has taught me anything, you can find uranium ore at about y=11 and then smelt it with some coal in a furnace made from 8 cubic metres of stone.

gollark: Why follow those rules? Just make nukes and threaten anyone who complains with nuclear annihilation.

gollark: smh not having your own 1MW power station at home

References

"Abbazia Mater Ecceliae". OSB International.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[OSB-1] "Abbazia Mater Ecceliae". OSB International.