Benedictine Monks Ensure Continuity In Anjou. Bellefontaine Abbey Renewed From Traditional Benedictines Of Le Barroux.

Bellefontaine Abbey, Anjou.

Illustration: RORATE CÆLI

This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at,
RORATE CÆLI

Philippe Marie.
Tribune Chrétienne.
11 July 2026.

Saturday, 11 July 2026, Notre-Dame de Bellefontaine Abbey officially received a new Monastic community. 

For Dom Louis-Marie, Abbot of Le Barroux, the decision is above all the fruit of Spiritual discernment: “From the beginning, it has been a matter of following the signs of Heaven and the signs of the Lord.”

On 13 November 2025, the last Trappist Monks departed Notre-Dame de Bellefontaine Abbey, bringing to a close more than two Centuries of uninterrupted presence at this Monastery in the Mauges region. 

The future of the site remained uncertain. 

This Saturday, 11 July 2026, a new chapter opened with the official installation of twelve Monks from the Abbey of Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux, who now ensure the continuity of a Monastic life nearly a thousand years old.

The remainder of this Article can be read in full at
RORATE CÆLI HERE

“Read All About It”. Sung By: Emeli Sandé.

“Read All About It”.

Sung By: Emeli Sandé.

Available On YouTube

HERE

Saint John Gualbert. Abbot. Feast Day 12 July. White Vestments.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint John Gualbert.
   Abbot.
   Feast Day 12 July.

Double.

White Vestments.

English: Saint John Gualbert and Saints.

Church of Santa Trinita, Florence, Italy.

Italiano: San Giovanni Gualberto and Saints.

Santa Trinita, Florence, Italy.

Photo: 4 July 2006.

Source: Unknown.

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Basilica di Santa Trinita (Holy Trinity),

Piazza Santa Trinita, Florence, Italy.

Photo: 30 October 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: LivornoDP

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint John Gualbert.

Merciful Knight Becomes Monk.

Available on YouTube

HERE

John Gualbert was born at Florence, Italy, towards 999 A.D. One Good Friday, escorted by his armed attendants, he met the murderer of his brother. who was alone and unattended.. He was about to pierce him with his lance, when the murderer threw himself at his feet and craved pardon for the sake of Jesus Christ Crucified. John remembered the loving words of the Gospel and embraced him as a brother.

Still more touched by Grace, he became a Monk, and soon a Law-Giver, like Moses (Epistle). He Founded at Vallombrosa, in Tuscany, Italy, a new Order [Editor: The Vallumbrosan Order] to which he gave The Rule of Saint Benedict (Communion) and which is still flourishing after more than eight Centuries of existence.

Simony reigned everywhere in Italy. His firmness and eloquence banished this disorder from Tuscany and brought back his Country to integrity of Faith and Manners. So, when he died in 1073, they inscribed on his tomb: "To John Gualbert. citizen of Florence, liberator of Italy".

Mass: Os justi.
Commemoration: Saint Nabor and Saint Felix.

“The Merciful Knight”.

Birmingham Museum Art Gallery, 

Birmingham, England.

Date: 1863.

Source: NATIONAL MUSEUM, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN.

Author: Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

John Gualbert (985 A.D. – 12 July 1073), also known as Giovanni Gualberto, or, John Gualberto, is an Italian Roman Catholic Saint, the Founder of The Vallumbrosan Order.

A member of the Visdomini Family of Florentine nobility, one Good Friday he was entering Florence, accompanied by armed followers, when in a narrow lane he came upon a man who had killed his brother. He was about to kill the man in revenge, when the other fell upon his knees with arms outstretched in the form of a Cross and begged for mercy in the name of Christ, who had been Crucified on that day.

John forgave him. He entered The Benedictine Church at San Miniato to Pray, and the figure on The Crucifix bowed its head to him in recognition of his generosity. This story forms the subject of Burne-Jones's picture "The Merciful Knight", and has been adapted by Shorthouse in "John Inglesant".

John Gualbert became a Benedictine Monk at San Miniato, Italy. He fought actively against Simony, of which both his Abbot, Oberto, and the Bishop of Florence, Pietro Mezzabarba, were guilty.

English: Church of Saint John Gualbert,

Livorno, Italy.

Italiano: Livorno, Valle Benedetta:

chiesa di S. Giovanni Gualberto.

Photo: 25 April 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Etienne (Li)

(Wikimedia Commons)

Unwilling to compromise with them, he left the Monastery to lead a more perfect life. His attraction was for the cenobitic, and not eremitic life, so, after staying for some time with the Monks at Camaldoli, he settled at Vallombrosa, where he Founded his Monastery.

The area surrounding his Monastery was wild and deserted when he first arrived. John thought that it would be more conducive to contemplation and discipline if the grounds were better kept. But, instead of a Traditional garden, he opted to have his Monks plant trees (firs and pines, mostly), creating a Park and Nature Reserve to enhance the Prayerful environment. Mabillon estimates its Foundation before 1038.

He was Canonised in 1193 by Pope Celestine III.

Saint John Gualbert’s Feast Day was not included in the Tridentine Calendar, but was added to the General Roman Calendar in 1595. Owing to its limited Worldwide importance, his Feast Day was removed from that Calendar in 1969. 

But, 12 July continues to be his Feast Day, as indicated in the Roman Martyrology, and, according to the new Rules given in the Roman Missal of the same year, he may now be Celebrated everywhere with his own Mass on that day,

He is the Patron Saint of Foresters, Park Rangers, and Parks.

Salisbury Cathedral (Cathedral Church Of The Blessed Virgin Mary) (Part Three).

Salisbury Cathedral.

Artist: John Constable.

Date: Circa 1825.

This File: 9 December 2014.

User: Tohma

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

The West Front is of the Screen-type, clearly deriving from that at Wells. It is composed of a Stair Turret at each extremity, with two niched Buttresses nearer the centre line supporting the large central Triple Window. 

The Stair Turrets are topped with Spirelets, and the central section is topped by a Gable, which contains four Lancet Windows, topped by two round Quatrefoil Windows, surmounted by a Mandorla containing Christ in Majesty. 

At Ground Level, there is a Principal Door flanked by two smaller Doors. The whole is highly decorated with Quatrefoil motifs, Columns, Trefoil motifs and bands of Diapering.

Salisbury Cathedral’s Great West Front.

Photo: 27 August 2017.

Source: Own work.

Author: Chauhan.shweta14

(Wikimedia Commons)

The West Front was almost certainly constructed at the same time as the Cathedral.[20] This is apparent from the way in which the Windows coincide with the interior spaces. 

The entire façade is about 108 feet (thirty-three metres) high and wide. It lacks full-scale Towers and/or Spires, as can be seen, for example, at Wells, Lincoln, Lichfield, etc.[21] 

The façade was disparaged by Alec Clifton-Taylor, who considered it the least successful of the English Screen façades and a travesty of its prototype (Wells). He found the composition to be un-coordinated, and the Victorian statuary “poor and insipid”.[22]

Salisbury Cathedral’s North Façade.

Photo: 12 August 2014.

Source: Own work.

Author: Diego Delso

(Wikimedia Commons)

The West Front accommodates over 130 shallow niches of varying sizes, seventy-three of which contain a statue. The line of niches extends round the Turrets to the North, South and East faces.

There are five levels of niches (not including the Mandorla) which show, from the top, Angels and Archangels, Old Testament Patriarchs, Apostles and Evangelists, Martyrs, Doctors and Philosophers and, on the lower level, Royalty, Priests and worthy people connected with the Cathedral. 

The majority of the statues were placed during the middle of the 19th-Century, however seven are from the 14th-Century and several have been installed within the last decade.

Salisbury Cathedral.

Photo: 7 June 2015.

Source: flickr.com

Author: JackPeasePhotography

(Wikimedia Commons)

Salisbury Cathedral is unusual for its tall and narrow Nave, which has visual accentuation from the use of Light-Grey Chilmark Stone for the Walls and dark polished Purbeck Marble for the Columns. 

It has three levels: A tall pointed Arcade, an open Gallery, and a small Clerestory.[23] Lined up between the Pillars are notable tombs, such as that of William Longespée, half-brother of King John and the illegitimate son of King Henry II, who was the first person to be buried in the Cathedral.[24]

Another unusual feature of the Nave is an unconventional modern Font, installed in September 2008.[25] Designed by the water sculptor William Pye, it is the largest working Font in any British Cathedral, and replaced an earlier portable neo-Gothic Victorian Font.

PART FOUR FOLLOWS.

Saint Nabor And Saint Felix. Martyrs. Feast Day, Today, 12 July. Red Vestments.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Nabor And Saint Felix.
   Martyrs.
   Feast Day 12 July.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

The Virgin Mary and Saints Nabor and Felix; 

Francis of Assisi; Claire of Assisi; John the Baptist; 

Mary Magdalene; Catherine of Alexandria.

Artist: Orazio Samacchini (1532–1577).

Date: Circa 1570.

Collection: Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Italy.

Source/Photographer: Santie Beati

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Nabor and Saint Felix, who had Saint Ambrose for their panegyrist, received The Palm of Martyrdom at Milan under the Roman Emperor Diocletian in 303 A.D.

Mass: Salus autem.

English: The Chapel of Saint Nabor and Saint Felix,

Bad Krozingen-Schmidhofen, Germany.

Deutsch: Die Glocke Kapelle St. Felix u. Nabor,

Bad Krozingen-Schmidhofen, Deutschland.

Available on YouTube

HERE

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Nabor and Felix (☩ 303 A.D.) were Christian Martyrs thought to have been killed during The Great Persecution under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. A tomb in Milan is believed to contain their Relics.

In the Apocryphal “Acts of Saints Nabor and Felix” (which are imitated from The Acts of other Martyrs (such as those of Saint Firmus and Saint Rusticus), the two are said to have been Roman soldiers from Mauretania Caesariensis, serving under Maximian. They were condemned in Milan and executed by decapitation in Laus Pompeia (Lodi Vecchio).

A pair of Saints, “Nabor and Felix”, were also said to have been Martyred at Nicopolis, in Lesser Armenia, in 320 A.D. alongside Saints “Januarius and Marinus”. They may be distinct, or it may have been a merging of the story of the Italian Saints with the local couple, Januarius and Pelagia.

The Chapel of Saints Felix and Nabor,

Bad Krozingen, Germany.

© Kur und Bäder GmbH Bad Krozingen.

Illustration: MAGNIFY

The Roman Catholic Church recognises Nabor and Felix as Martyr Saints, inserting them, under the date of 12 July, in The Roman Martyrology, its official List of Saints.

They were also included in The General Roman Calendar from before the 12th-Century, with a Feast Day that was reduced to a Commemoration when Saint John Gualbert was added to the Calendar in 1595.

The 1969 Revision removed mention of Nabor and Felix from The General Roman Calendar, but the rules in The Roman Missal, published in the same year, authorise Celebration of their Mass on their Feast Day everywhere, unless, in some locality, an Obligatory Celebration is assigned to that day.

The following Text is from MAGNIFY

The Patron Saints of this Chapel in Schmidhofen, Germany, Saints Nabor and Felix, were Roman soldiers who were believed to have been Martyred for their Christian Faith in 304 A.D. in Milan, Italy. The unusual Patronage was probably conferred via the Benedictine Monastery of Saint Trudpert, Münstertal, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, to Schmidhofen.

The first documentary reference to this Chapel dates to 1370. In Schmidhofen, people would Pray for the Intercession of Saints Nabor and Felix, when they had pain in their ears.

In any event, the two Saints were considered to have brought about the miraculous healing of two people, who were hard of hearing, at the beginning of the 18th-Century. The site therefore became a lively centre of Pilgrimage. These Pilgrimages encouraged Saint Trudpert Monastery to rebuild the Chapel in 1759.

Rheims Cathedral, France. (Part Three).

English: The High Gothic architecture

of Rheims Cathedral, France.

Français: Vue de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims.

Photo: 7 June 2015.

Source: File:Cathédrale 01554 Reims.JPG by G.Garitan

Author: Source: G.Garitan

Derivative: User:MathKnight

(Wikimedia Commons)

Rheims Cathedral, France.

Available on YouTube at

YOU TUBE

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

Please note: “Reims” (French) is often spelled “Rheims” in English.

The three Portals are laden with Statues and Statuettes; among European Cathedrals, only Chartres has more sculpted figures. The Central Portal, Dedicated to The Virgin Mary, is surmounted by a Rose Window framed in an Arch, itself decorated with Statuary, in place of the usual sculptured Tympanum. The “Gallery of The Kings” shows the Baptism of Clovis.

The facades of The Transepts are also decorated with sculptures. That on the North Side has Statues of Bishops of Rheims, a representation of The Last Judgment and a figure of Jesus (le Beau Dieu), while that on the South Side has a modern Rose Window with the Prophets and Apostles.

Fire destroyed the roof and the Spires in 1481. Of the four Towers that flanked the Transepts, nothing remains above the height of the roof. Above the Choir, rises an elegant Lead-covered Timber Bell-Tower that is 18 metres (59 feet) tall, reconstructed in the 15th-Century and in the 1920s.

The Great West Doors,

Rheims Cathedral, France.

Photo: 8 September 2007.

Source: Own work.

Author: Szeder László

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Interior of the Cathedral is 138.75m (455 ft) long, 30m (98 feet) wide in The Nave, and 38m (125 feet) high in the centre. It comprises a Nave with Aisles, Transepts with Aisles, a Choir with Double Aisles, and an Apse with Ambulatory and Radiating Chapels. It has interesting Stained-Glass, ranging from the 13th-Century to the 20th-Century. The Rose Window over the Main Portal and The Gallery, beneath, are of rare magnificence.

The Cathedral possesses fine Tapestries. Of these, the most important series is that presented by Robert de Lenoncourt, Archbishop under François I, representing The Life of The Virgin. They are now to be seen in the former Bishop's Palace, The Palace of Tau.

Sculpture over The Great West Door,

depicting The Crowning of The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Rheims Cathedral, France.

Photo: 4 November 2011.

Source: FLICKR

Author: Tony Bowden

(Wikipedia Commons)

The North Transept contains a fine Organ in a flamboyant Gothic Case. The Choir Clock is ornamented with curious mechanical figures. Marc Chagall designed the Stained-Glass. installed in 1974. in the axis of the Apse.

The Treasury, kept in The Palace of Tau, includes many precious objects, among which is The Sainte Ampoule, or Holy Flask, the successor of the ancient one that contained the oil with which French Kings were anointed, which was broken during The French Revolution, a fragment of which the present Ampoule contains.

Notre-Dame de Reims Cathedral, the former Abbey of Saint-Remi, and The Palace of Tau were added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1991.

The Web-Site of Rheims Cathedral can be found HERE

PART FOUR FOLLOWS.

“Tædet Animam Meam”. “Requiem Aeternam”. “Officium Defunctorum”. Composed By: Tomás Luis De Victoria (1548 - 1611). Composed For The Funeral Of The Mother Of Two Emperors.

“Tædet Animam Meam” are the opening words

in Chapter 10 of The Book of Job.

Job laments his afflictions and begs God

to be delivered from them.

“Tædet Animam Meam”

and “Requiem Aeternam”.

Tomás Luis De Victoria

(1548 - 1611).

Available on YouTube

HERE

“Tædet Animam Meam”.

Chapter 10 of The Book of Job.

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition.

Text from: BIBLE GATEWAY

My Soul is weary of my life, I will let go my speech

against myself, I will speak in the bitterness of my Soul.

I will say to God: Do not condemn me:

tell me why Thou judgest me so.

Doth it seem good to Thee that thou shouldst calumniate me, and oppress me, the work of Thy own hands,

and help the counsel of the wicked ?

Hast Thou eyes of flesh: or, shalt Thou see as man seeth ?

Are Thy days as the days of man,

and are Thy years as the times of men:

That Thou shouldst inquire after my iniquity,

and search after my sin ?

And shouldst know that I have done no wicked thing,

whereas there is no man that can deliver out of Thy hand.

Thy hands have made me, and fashioned me 

wholly round about, and dost Thou thus cast me down headlong on a sudden ?

Remember, I beseech Thee, that Thou hast made me as the clay, and Thou wilt bring me into dust again.

Hast Thou not milked me as milk, and curdled me like cheese ?

Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh:

Thou hast put me together with bones and sinews:

Thou hast granted me life and mercy,

and Thy visitation hath preserved my Spirit.

Although Thou conceal these things in Thy heart,

yet I know that Thou rememberest all things.

If I have sinned and Thou hast spared me for an hour:

why dost Thou not suffer me to be clean from my iniquity ?

And if I be wicked, woe unto me: and if just, I shall not

lift up my head, being filled with affliction and misery.

And for pride, Thou wilt take me as a lioness, 

and returning Thou tormentest me wonderfully.

Thou renewest Thy witnesses against me, and 

multipliest Thy wrath upon me, and pains war against me.

Why didst Thou bring me forth out of the womb: 

O, that I had been consumed that eye might not see me !

I should have been as if I had not been,

carried from the womb to the grave.

Shall not the fewness of my days be ended shortly ?

suffer me, therefore, that I may lament my sorrow a little:

Before I go, and return no more, to a land that is 

dark and covered with the mist of death:

A land of misery and darkness, where the shadow of death,

and no order, but everlasting horror dwelleth.

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless otherwise stated.

“Officium Defunctorum” is a musical setting of The Office Of The Dead, composed by the Spanish Renaissance Composer, Tomás Luis de Victoria, in 1603. It includes settings of the movements of The Requiem Mass, accounting for about twenty-six minutes of the forty-two minute composition, and the work is sometimes referred to as “Victoria’s Requiem”.

“Officium Defunctorum” was composed for the funeral of The Dowager Empress Maria, sister of King Philip II of Spain, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, wife of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, and mother of two Emperors; it was dedicated to Princess Margaret for “the obsequies of your most revered mother”.

The Empress Maria died on 26 February 1603 and the great obsequies were performed on 22 April 1603 and 23 April 1603. Victoria was employed as Personal Chaplain to The Empress Maria from 1586 to the time of her death.

Victoria published eleven volumes of his music during his lifetime, representing the majority of his compositional output. “Officium Defunctorum”, the only work to be published by itself, was the eleventh volume and the last work that Victoria published.

The date of publication, 1605, is often included with the title to differentiate the “Officium Defunctorum” from Victoria's other setting of The Requiem Mass (in 1583, Victoria composed and published a book of Masses (Reprinted in 1592) including a “Missa Pro Defunctis” for Four-Part Choir).

“Officium Defunctorum” is scored for Six-Part SSATTB Chorus. It includes an entire Office of The Dead: In addition to a Requiem Mass, Victoria sets an Extra-Liturgical Funeral Motet, a Lesson that belongs to Matins (scored for only SATB and not always included in concert performances), and the Ceremony of Absolution, which follows The Mass.

Polyphonic sections are separated by unaccompanied Chant Incipits that Victoria printed himself. The Soprano II usually carries the “cantus firmus”, though “it very often disappears into the surrounding part-writing, since the Chant does not move as slowly as most “cantus firmus” parts and the polyphony does not generally move very fast”.

The sections of the Work are as follows:

“Tædet Animam Meam”.

Second Lesson of Matins (Job 10:1-7);

“Missa Pro Defunctis”

(Mass for The Dead).

With the Council of Trent, the Liturgy 

of the Requiem Mass was standardised.

Victoria sets all of the 

Requiem Mass sections, except the:

Dies Irae (Sequence);

Introit;

Kyrie;

Gradual;

Offertory;

Sanctus;

Agnus Dei;

Communion;

“Versa Est In Luctum Cithara Mea”

(Funeral Motet).

The Absolution:

Responsory;

“Libera Me”.

“Kyrie”.

“Versa Est In Luctum Cithara Mea”

(Funeral Motet).

Composed by: Alonso Lobo

(1555 - 1617).

Available on YouTube

HERE

Saint Pius I. Pope And Martyr. Feast Day 11 July. Red Vestments.

Attribution of Floral Background:

Designed by macrovector / Freepik

Pope Saint Pius I.

Source: http://www.catholic-forum.com/

saints/pope0010.htm

This File: 18 August 2012.

User: File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske).

Comment: Transferred from en.wikipedia

by User:Gikü using CommonsHelper.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Pius I.
   Pope.

   Martyr.
   Feast Day 11 July.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

The Cycle makes us honour, today, a Saint whom "God anointed with His Holy Oil" (Gradual) and whom He invested with the fullness of His Priesthood (Introit, Alleluia) by raising him to The Pontifical Throne, after Pope Saint Hyginus, in 142 A.D., (others say in 167 A.D.).

He prescribed that the Feast of The Resurrection should only be kept on a Sunday, which, thenceforth, became the Chief of all Sundays.

Pope Saint Pius I established a Baptistry in the house which Saint Pudentiana and Saint Praxedes had placed at his disposal, and where their father, the Senator Pudens, had already received Saint Peter.

Pope Saint Pius I transformed into a Titular Church the adjoining Baths of Novatus, where is held the Station on the Tuesday in The Third Week of Lent. On account of the stay of the First Sovereign Pontiff, he dedicated it under the Title of Pastor,

To fulfil his Office of Good Shepherd, he feared not to renounce his own life (Gospel), and endured many hardships, which hastened his end, for his Sheep and for Christ, the Supreme Pastor [Third Lesson at Matins].

He received, at the same time as the Crown of Martyrdom, the Crown of Life that God has promised to those who love Him (Epistle), and was buried in 150 A.D., on the Vatican Hill.

Mass of a Martyr: Státuit.

The following Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Pope Saint Pius I (died circa 154 A.D.) was the Bishop of Rome from circa 140 A.D., to his death, circa 154 A.D., according to the Annuario Pontificio.

Pope Saint Pius I is believed to have been born at Aquileia, in Northern Italy, during the Late-1st-Century A.D. His father was called “Rufinus”, who was also said to be of Aquileia, according to the Liber Pontificalis.

It is stated in the 2nd-Century A.D. Muratorian Canon, as well as in the Liberian Catalogue, that he was the brother of Hermas, author of the Text known as The Shepherd of Hermas. The writer of that Text identifies himself as a former slave. This has led to speculation that both Hermas and Pius were Freedmen.

Pope Saint Pius I governed The Church in the middle of the 2nd-Century A.D., during the reigns of the Emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.

He was the ninth successor of Saint Peter. He decreed that Easter should only be kept on a Sunday. Although being credited with ordering the publication of the Liber Pontificalis, compilation of that document was not started before the beginning of the 6th-Century A.D. He is said to have built one of the oldest Churches in Rome,

Pope Saint Pius I endured many hardships during his reign. The fact that Saint Justin taught Christian Doctrine in Rome, during the Pontificate of Saint Pius I, and that the Heretics, Valentinus, Cerdon, and Marcion, visited Rome at the same time, is an argument for the Primacy of the Roman See during the 2nd-Century A.D.

Pope Saint Pius I opposed the Valentinians and Gnostics, under Marcion, whom he excommunicated.