Notre-Dame de Wisques Abbey

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Notre-Dame de Wisques Abbey, a monastery in Pas-de-Calais

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The region of Wisques, called Morinie, benefited from initial evangelization in the 3rd century. Saint Omer, who became the first bishop of Thérouanne around 640, founded the Sainte-Marie church, the current cathedral of Saint-Omer, and the monastery that would take the name of its second abbot: Saint-Bertin Abbey, which flourished until its violent dispersal in 1791.

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Not far from Wisques, some remains of Clairmarais Abbey survive, founded in 1140 by Thierry d'Alsace according to the rules of the Cistercian Order, whose monks were dispersed during the Revolution, as well as those of the Longuenesse Charterhouse, founded in 1298, where the holy pilgrim Benedict Joseph Labre tried unsuccessfully to enter in 1767.

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In 1833, Dom Prosper Guéranger, who would visit Clairmarais in 1871, restored Benedictine life in France at Saint-Pierre Abbey in Solesmes, which gave rise to the Solesmes Congregation.

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In 1889, for its first foundation, Sainte-Cécile Abbey in Solesmes acquired an estate in Wisques with two châteaux, with the aim of establishing, as in Solesmes, a monastery for monks and another for nuns. The nuns arrived first and initially occupied the large château. A small group of monks, chaplains to the nuns, settled in the small château. 

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In 1894, the priory was elevated to an abbey and the nuns settled in the new monastery at the top of the hill. On July 14, the Bishop of Arras came to bless it and presided over the election of the first Abbess: Mother Thérèse Bernard was elected. The monks settled in the large château, and Saint-Paul Abbey began its own history.

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In 1901, the crisis that led to the separation of Church and State forced the Congregation to leave France. The community went to settle in Oosterhout in the Netherlands, on a property called Vrede Oord, Place of Peace... Vocations continued to come from France, then Dutch women began presenting themselves from 1909 onwards. In 1919, after the Great War, the religious situation had calmed down in France. Leaving a new monastery of twenty-four nuns in Oosterhout, the community returned to Wisques.

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In 1936, the community reached its numerical peak with 84 nuns and novices. At the request of the Father Abbot of Solesmes, Mother Thérèse sent four nuns to Canada to train aspirants to monastic life and found their monastery, Sainte-Marie des Deux Montagnes.

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In 1940, in February, Mother Thérèse passed away, and Mother Jacqueline de Villepin was elected Abbess. The war forced her to disperse the community, but with a few nuns, she remained in one wing of the monastery occupied by the Germans. Little by little, they reclaimed the lost ground, and the community began to regroup in 1942.

In 1964, after the monastery was restored, work on the sanctuary resumed and was completed with the joyful Dedication of the church.

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In 1971, elected abbess in the post-Council context, Mother Germaine Simon kept her eyes fixed on Solesmes and its orientations, and worked to maintain the Community in unity.

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In 1989, under the abbacy of Mother Gertrude Oger, elected in 1986, the monastery celebrated the centenary of its foundation. In 2002, Mother Gertrude passed the torch to Mother Marie-Élisabeth Bossu, who transmitted it in 2018 to Mother Anne-Laetitia Derreumaux, our current abbess!

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The prayer life of the Benedictine nuns of the abbey

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The way of life of the communities of the Solesmes Congregation is based on 4 pillars:

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• Contemplative life

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• Solemn liturgy

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• Attachment to the living Tradition, expressed among other things through Gregorian chant

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• Love of the Church

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The abbey is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, celebrated on December 8.

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The manual and intellectual work of the nuns of Wisques

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Manual or intellectual work, in silence, holds an important place in the life of the community. It is experienced as a joyful service and includes monastery services: kitchen, laundry, housekeeping, refectory, sewing, bookbinding, shoemaking, garden, liturgy, library, intellectual work... and craft activities that provide a living: jams, knitting, cards, painted candles... hospitality is a service that a few sisters fulfill on behalf of the entire community.

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