Brecht Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Our Lady of Nazareth, is an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

Trappistine The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Catholic religious order of cloistered monastic ...

nuns located in

Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a ...

, in the

Campine The Campine () or Kempen () is a natural region situated chiefly in north-eastern Belgium and parts of the south-eastern Netherlands which once consisted mainly of extensive moors, tracts of sandy heath, and wetlands. It encompasses a large n ...

region of the province of

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

(

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

). Life in the abbey is characterized by prayer, reading and manual work, the three basic elements of Trappist life.

Early history

In 1235, Bartholomeus van Tienen and his son Wicbert moved to Lier to establish a third

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

nunnery after Bloemendaal (around 1210) and Maagdendaal (1221). In May 1236 his daughters Christina, Sybilla and Beatrijs followed, who had also initially entered Bloemendaal. Blessed Beatrice (1200–1268) was its first prioress. In 1245, the sisters asked the General Chapter for permission to move the convent. Two years later this is also a fact and the sisters move into a new convent north of the town of Lier on the location known as 'Nazareth'. For five centuries the abbey flourished, until 1797, when it was closed in the aftermath of the French Revolution, when the

French Revolutionary Army The French Revolutionary Army () was the French land force that fought the French Revolutionary Wars from 1792 to 1802. In the beginning, the French armies were characterised by their revolutionary fervour, their poor equipment and their great nu ...

occupied the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

. The abbey did not recover from the closure even after the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was a conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The ...

in 1830, when Belgium gained independence from the

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed from 1815 to 1839. The United Netherlands was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars through the fusion of territories t ...

Modern history

In the early 20th century several attempts were made to re-establish the abbey at different locations. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1943, Henri van Ostayen was in favor of locating the new abbey in Brecht, of which he was

burgomaster Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, ) is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or executive of a city or town. The name in English was derived from the Dutch . In so ...

, but was killed in

by a

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...

before the end of the war. His proposal was however taken up by Dom Robertus (Edward Jozef Modest) Eyckmans, Abbot of the nearby Trappist

Westmalle Abbey Westmalle Abbey, otherwise the Trappist Abbey of Westmalle ( or the "Abbey of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart"), is a monastery of the Cistercians of Strict Observance in Westmalle in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The community was founded in ...

. He was able to obtain the agreement of Soleilmont Abbey to provide the 12 nuns necessary to settle a new foundation. On 12 October 1945 the organization for founding a new abbey was established, and in 1946 about 16

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s of land were acquired in Brecht for the new building, as the old site in Lier was no longer available. The monks of Westmalle Abbey prepared the site of the nuns' monastery, which was ready by the end of 1949. Thirteen

nuns left Soleilmont and headed for Brecht on 23 June 1950: Abbess Agnes Swevers with Sisters Lucia Delaere, Heleen Steylaers, Humbelina Roelandts, Idesbalda van Soest, Lutgard Smeets, Maria Marlier, Petra Belet, Juliana Rutten, Harlindis Gerits, Roberta Koeken, Alberica Hauchecorne, and

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

Roza van den Bosch. The monastery was formally opened on 25 June 1950, and on 3 February 1951 it was raised to the status of an independent abbey. The church was dedicated on 22 October 1954. Brecht Abbey went on to found Our Lady of the Redwoods Abbey in 1962 in Whitethorn, California, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, then in 1970 the

Priory of Our Lady of Klaarland Klaarland Priory or the Priory of Our Lady of Klaarland (''Priorij Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Klaarland'') is a TrappistineOrder of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.: Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae) monastery in Lozen in Bocholt ...

Bocholt, Belgium Bocholt (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg. On 1 January 2021, Bocholt had a total population of 13,144. The total area is 59.34 km2 which gives a populatio ...

Products

The nuns in the abbey produce several products under the

International Trappist Association Trappist beer is brewed by Trappists, Trappist monks. Thirteen Trappist Monastery, monasteries—six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, and one each in Austria, Italy, Beer in England, England, France, and Spain— produce beer, but the ''Authent ...

seal. Starting in 1964, they began to market dishwashing detergent, and subsequently expanded to other cleaning products, cosmetics, and liturgical objects, as well as hand-crafted banners and flags. Our Lady of Nazareth is one of five Trappist monasteries connected by a cycling route ("Sample the 5 Trappists!") through Flanders and Brabant."Tastes of Abbeys", Routebureau Brabant
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References

Sources

* Van Remoortere, J., 1990: ''Ippa's Abdijengids voor Belgie'' (pp. 72–75). Lannoo * Cassianus, J., 1985: ''Brecht, Abdij Nazareth''

External links

Abbey of Our Lady of Nazareth
{{Coord, 51.316523, 4.6323994, format=dms, type:landmark_region:BE, display=title Christian monasteries in Antwerp Province Christian monasteries established in the 1230s Christian monasteries established in the 20th century Cistercian nunneries in Belgium Trappistine monasteries in Belgium Brecht, Belgium