Carmel de Fouquières

A retreat at the Carmel de Fouquières-lès-Béthune, in the Pas-de-Calais, is now hosted by two priests of the Fraternité Saint Thomas Becket, who settled in 2024 in the former Carmel. Guests come for silent retreats, Mass sung in Gregorian chant, and a large enclosed park, 2 km from Béthune train station.

The former Carmel de Fouquières-lès-Béthune, a century of Carmelite life

The Carmel de Fouquières-lès-Béthune, in the Pas-de-Calais, welcomes retreatants in a large brick house surrounded by an enclosed park. Carmelite nuns lived here for a century, until they left in 2023.

The house is older than the Carmel itself. It is said to have been, in the 16th century, the château of the governor of Béthune.

The enclosure still bears traces of the sisters' life: their former cemetery, the procession courtyard, a kitchen garden, an orchard, and a watercress bed. This is fed by the Fontaine Saint-Martin, a spring that rises beneath the house and also waters the orchard.

The Fraternité Saint Thomas Becket, priests in a former Carmel

Since 2024, the former Carmel de Fouquières-lès-Béthune has been home to two priests of the Fraternité Saint Thomas Becket. They are neither Carmelite friars nor Carmelite nuns. It is a community of secular priests, diocesan priests who live together without belonging to a religious order. It is dedicated to young people and families.

The Fraternité grew out of a group of young people gathered around Father Jean-Pierre Gac, then a scout chaplain in Nantes. Having become parish priest of Chaumont-sur-Loire in 1986, he gave it the name of Thomas Becket: the Château de Chaumont was the site of the last meeting between the Archbishop of Canterbury and King Henry II of England. The motherhouse is in Onzain, in the Loir-et-Cher, and the Fraternité has five houses in France.

Its priests are recognized by their green hooded habit, the green of hope. Scouting holds an important place in their life, as does the preaching of retreats. At Fouquières, the two priests pray three offices a day and celebrate Mass in Latin, sung in Gregorian chant.

A silent retreat at the Carmel de Fouquières

The preached retreats at the Carmel de Fouquières-lès-Béthune draw inspiration from the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius and the saints of France. They are lived entirely in silence, meals included. Participants speak only with the preacher, during informal one-on-one conversations.

Days alternate between teachings, meditation, reading, and periods of silence in the chapel. The liturgy sets the rhythm: Mass, the rosary, and Compline, the evening prayer. No one is required to attend the offices.

Outside, the park is bordered by a cow pasture and a grove of aspen trees. The Blanche stream runs along the property. Between teachings, guests can walk in the park or find a quiet spot to read.

Staying at the Carmel de Fouquières-lès-Béthune

The Carmel de Fouquières-lès-Béthune has 14 rooms accommodating one to three people, on the two floors above the ground floor. They are simple and bright, with a sink and a table. Showers and restrooms are at the end of the hallway. Please bring your own sheets and towels.

The priests welcome couples, families with children, young people, and groups: up to 14 people with accommodation and 100 people for day visits. For scouts, the house can lodge a pack or a brownie unit of 24 children, or a patrol of 7 to 8 teenagers. Students also come to study for their exams in a peaceful setting.

Meals are provided only during retreats organized by the Fraternité. At other times, guests cook for themselves. The contribution to expenses is left to each guest, with no suggested amount, and the priests adapt to smaller budgets. The house is not open year-round: dates and the length of stay, from one day to one week, are arranged with the priests at the time of the stay request.

Béthune train station is 2 km away, a 25-minute walk, and a free bus connects the two. By car, the Carmel is 500 m from the Béthune highway exit, with on-site parking. Allow 2 hours 15 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes from Paris and 50 minutes from Lille. The house is not accessible to people with reduced mobility, and pets are not accepted.

Around Fouquières-lès-Béthune: Béthune, slag heaps, and the mining basin

Fouquières-lès-Béthune lies on the border of Artois and Flanders, in the former mining basin, with its slag heaps and miners' cottages. From the Carmel, a path runs alongside the Blanche. The Two Rivers Trail crosses a pond area and then climbs up to slag heap 28.

The center of Béthune has preserved its belfry on the Grand-Place, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the belfries of Belgium and France. The city, heavily destroyed in 1918, was rebuilt in the interwar period, as was its church of Saint-Vaast.

The Nord-Pas-de-Calais mining basin is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, since 2012. The Louvre-Lens, a branch of the Louvre museum, is about twenty kilometers away.