Who we are
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I'd say a visit is worth a thousand images, so the best way to find out what's going on at Val Notre-Dame Abbey is to come and see! But let's be serious. You've got a busy schedule and you'd like a quick summary of our way of life?
Find out more
If you'd like to find out more, or simply get in touch with us, you can write to us at the following address:
Silence
Life in our time tends to be noisy. Sometimes we wonder how to create spaces of silence, if only to hear ourselves think a little... Here, in the heart of the forest, we manage to hear the silence! And even though we can always run away from it, as a community we help each other to keep it. It's scary at first, but soon you can't live without it.
Balance
Our life as monks tends towards balance. It's more a goal to aspire to than an achievement to keep! But over the last 900 years or so, we've developed a good formula. A bit of work, a bit of prayer, healthy food, a well-organized schedule, reading, free time for sport, art or other passions, all lived in a climate of fraternal respect and calm.
Nature
Is there anything that recharges the batteries like a walk in the forest? Here, the forest is everywhere, even in the Abbey. We've preserved an area of vegetation in the center of the complex, called the préau. Everywhere, there are large windows that give the impression of living outside, the cells have little balconies overlooking the forest, and the roofs are covered with grass! In our free time, we can stroll the trails, climb Mount St. Joseph, walk along the banks of the Assomption River... We have a lot of land, and it's a good reflection of the inner freedom that comes with living here.
Fraternal life
Although each monk must learn to live in solitude, brotherhood is omnipresent. We always converge on one another, whether for times of sung prayer, meals or work, not to mention the times when we bump into each other in the corridors, in the library, in accompaniment, or at community meetings... The Abbey is like a big family home, in which we help each other to find our inner child, and to give him back all his freedom!
Spiritual life
God is like the sun: there's always a way of closing the curtains to keep it out, but if you've seen our photos, you'll understand that we'd rather bathe in light than keep it out! In a climate of silence and clarity, we learn to see the best in our brothers, and then in ourselves too. But every time we think we've managed to catch God, we open our hands to see that they're empty, and he's waiting for us elsewhere, to help us keep moving forward, to access the best in ourselves... We monks have all felt an immense love calling us to come and seek it here, in the silence. If all this sounds like madness to you, it is, but it's the most beautiful madness in the world!
History and evolution of monastic life at Val Notre-Dame Abbey
Monastic life, as lived at Val Notre-Dame de Saint-Jean-de-Matha Abbey since March 2009, is rooted in the Benedictine Rule. This little Rule for beginners, as it is called by its author, was written in the 6th century by Benedict of Nursia, the father of the monks of the West.
Long applied in European monasteries alongside other monastic rules, it became the only one in force in all monasteries from the 9th century onwards. It reached its apogee at Cluny, France's great Benedictine monastery in the 10th century. In 1098, 21 monks from the Benedictine monastery of Molesmes, wishing to live the Rule more closely and in greater solitude, withdrew to the wilds of Cîteaux. Hence the birth of the’Cistercian Order, with saints Robert, Alberic and Stephen, who will be joined by the more popular saint Bernard de Clairvaux.
By the 17th century, the Cistercian Order had drifted away from full observance of the Rule of St. Benedict. It was then that another great monastic figure appeared on the scene: Armand Jean de Rancé, the "Stormy Abbot", as he was known, the reformer of the monastery of La Trappe in France. The Trappists emerged from this reform.
In 1881, faced with threats of expulsion from an anti-religious government, the Trappist monks of the monastery of Bellefontaine, in France, set up a foundation in Oka, Canada. Known as La Trappe d'Oka, this monastery reached its peak in the 1950s with a total of 177 monks, and became famous for its famous cheese: Oka cheese.
In 2002, with the community numbering barely thirty monks, the premises had become too large and the environment too noisy, so the monks opted for a transfer. The Lanaudière region was chosen, and the monks settled at Val Notre-Dame at the foot of Montagne-Coupée. It is in this enchanting setting and in a luminous monastery with sober, avant-garde lines that they continue to seek God under the guidance of the Rule of Saint Benedict.
