Abbaye Notre-Dame de la Paix, Chimay

Get ready to dive into the past and present of the community of nuns of Chimay as well as into the history of monastic and more specifically Cistercian life.

The royal abbey of Gomerfontaine was founded in Picardy in 1207. The community of Chimay is its 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 religious history. The date of the dedication bears witness to this: as a sign of continuity with the church of Gomerfontaine which was consecrated on October 13, 1266, the dedication of the abbey church of the sisters of Chimay took place in 1925, also on October 13.

In the 18th century, Gomerfontaine received the moral and material support of Madame de Maintenon, the secret wife of Louis XIV, who wanted to make it a second Saint-Cyr.

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)