Abbaye Notre-Dame de la Paix, Chimay

The history of the ND de la Paix abbey is unusual! Founded on parchment at the beginning of the 13th century, the community comes from the abbey of Gomerfontaine. It crossed the Franco-Belgian border, had five successive settlements and was the origin of four abbeys or priories. 

With the agreement of his wife Pétronille, the knight Hugues de Chaumont, returning from the crusade, made, in 1205, a donation to the nuns of the Order of Cîteaux. He thus founded the abbey of Gomerfontaine. This was located less than a hundred kilometers northwest of Paris. The community of Chimay is his heir. Better, she continues it. Indeed, there has been no break in the succession of abbesses from the beginning until today, which is rare in monastic history. As evidenced by the date of the dedications: October 13.  The church of Gomerfontaine was consecrated on October 13, 1266, that of Chimay on October 13, 1925.

At the beginning of the 18th century, Madame de Maintenon, the secret wife of Louis XIV, wanted to make the small abbey of Gomerfontaine a second Saint-Cyr which she intended for young girls of the bourgeoisie. She had one of her former students appointed abbess there. A hundred letters testifies to the moral and financial support she gave her for fifteen years. Gomerfontaine bore, in the 18th century, the title of royal abbey.

Like all convents and monasteries, the abbey was closed in 1792 by order of the National Assembly. Monastic life resumed twelve years later, under the direction of Mother Pauline Ducastel. The latter received the encouragement of the former abbess, Madame Elizabeth de Sarcus, and endeavored successfully to reconstitute a community where the customs of Gomerfontaine were resumed. The community experienced five successive locations due to political events and material contingencies. In 1877, she obtained her affiliation to the Trappist Order. Forced to emigrate in 1904, she finally settled in 1919 in Chimay, Belgium. In 1926, it regained the rank of abbey. In 1937, the Abbaye ND de la Paix de Chimay founded the first and still only Trappistine abbey in the Netherlands: that of Koningsoord, near Tilburg.

Interested in this story? Let yourself be guided by a professional historian. He will show you the plan of the monastery, the cloister and the church.

Will catch your attention:

• an antiphonary (1842)
• the twelve stones of the Dedication
• two statues from the School of Crafts of the Abbey of Maredsous
• the coat of arms of the Abbey
• typical Cistercian stained glass windows
• Brabant sculptor Yves Bosquet's "Christ Royal" (1997)