Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine

As we continue our explorations of Provence, we decided to venture out on a Sunday and attend mass at a Benedictine monastery.  This is a modern monastery built in 1980 but is modelled on Romanesque architecture. Unlike the nearby Trappist monastery we visited, the congregation and brothers were as modern as the building. It was pleasantly surprising to see a full choir of at least forty monks with a generous handful under the age of thirty. The congregation also was mixed in age with many families. We felt right at home, except for the fact that everything was in Latin!

Neither Keith nor myself have ever gone to a completely Latin mass before and it was an experience. I must say that the readings and homily were in French, but everything else was chanted, and people followed along in their missal but rarely joined in. It was a surprise at how pre-Vatican II the mass was. Just one small but telling example is how the priest consecrated the communion with his back to us. The most unusual aspect of the mass for us however was how every major blessing was done by the priests and then taken to a brother who we assumed to be the Abbot for another blessing, so the serves were continually walking between the altar and the choir.  In addition, there was actually a rail that divided the congregation from the choir and this is where we knelt down to receive communion. The whole thing was a completely new experience and the singing was heavenly. It really is so intriguing to get these glimpses into religious life and the style of worship that our grandparents experienced.


In addition the abbey had some lavender and I was able to snap a picture of this interesting "bee". If anyone knows what it actually is let us know.