Saint-Michel de Kergonan Abbey
In Brittany, in the heart of Morbihan, between the entrance to the Quiberon peninsula and the Carnac stone alignments, stands Saint-Michel de Kergonan Abbey.
There, the Benedictine nuns of the Solesmes Congregation sing divine praises and pray for the world. They invite you to dive into the ocean of the Church's prayer.
Retreats organized by the community
The eventful history of Saint-Michel de Kergonan Abbey
The monastery was founded at the end of the 19th century by Sainte-Cécile Abbey in Solesmes.
On August 17, 1898, 23 sisters designated to establish a new Benedictine abbey in Breton soil arrived at the station in Plouharnel, a small village at the entrance to the Quiberon peninsula. The community was placed under the patronage of Saint Michael the Archangel, whose name means "Who is like God?", quite a life program for the young community!
Living under the Rule of Saint Benedict, devoted to contemplation and praise, the nuns were to "make the ocean sing", according to the beautiful expression of Mother Cécile Bruyère, abbess of Sainte-Cécile. Upon their arrival, the sisters found an unfinished monastery, just one wing in beautiful Breton granite, but there was no church yet.
In July 1901, the Combes law forced the community to leave France, and they found refuge on the Isle of Wight (in Great Britain). In 1905, the priory was elevated to the rank of abbey, but it was not until 1919 that the nuns could return to France and find their monastery in Kergonan still under construction. Everything had to be done, and they had no money left.
The Second World War forced the community to a new departure. The monastery was requisitioned by German troops and the nuns settled near Vannes, at Coët-Candec. A few sisters remained at Kergonan's farm to cultivate the land, care for the animals and ensure the community's supply. It was only on October 18, 1945, that the entire monastic family was reunited in Kergonan to resume ordinary Benedictine life.
In 1970, after 3 years of work, the abbey church was finally completed. A set of buildings was built around the cloister allowing, among other things, the installation of workshops. In 1998, the abbey's centenary was the occasion for a great celebration. Many joined the sisters on this occasion, families, friends, religious and priests, neighbors...
On April 19, 2007, an accidental fire devastated the church and damaged part of the main building. It took 5 years for the church to be used again. The result of community reflection, the new church reconnects with the monastic tradition of a nuns' choir placed between the nave for the faithful and the sanctuary. Nuns and faithful thus form a single assembly of prayer and together turn toward the light of the world: Jesus Christ.
The abbey's nuns, a family where everyone has their place
Today, the community is composed of 20 nuns. Their main activity is liturgical prayer, in Latin and in Gregorian chant. They also devote themselves to lectio divina (prayerful reading of the Word of God) and to the study of doctrine, as well as to mental prayer.
The Mass celebrated each day constitutes the source and summit of their consecrated life.
Manual work is for the sisters a school of conversion of heart and contemplation. In the Abbey shop, they sell monastic products, particularly organic garden products of their own creation, as well as books.
Under the guidance of their abbess, the nuns form a family where everyone has their place. Each day, they gather for a moment of fraternal relaxation all together!
The specificities of the Solesmes Congregation
The nuns of the Solesmes Congregation lead a life entirely devoted to contemplation and divine praise (in other words, the Sisters' main mission is prayer).
The divine office (that is, the prayers that structure the day) always has the first place in the Sisters' hearts as in their schedule. They have no external apostolic activities and choose to live a strict enclosure, a symbol of their intimate union with Christ.
Saint-Michel de Kergonan Abbey is a member of the Solesmes Congregation, a vast family bringing together 31 monasteries in Europe, Africa and America, in a spirit of mutual aid. The monks of Sainte-Anne Abbey, located a few minutes' walk away, provide liturgical service for the nuns
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What to expect during your stay
Young women and girl scouts are welcome!
The nuns' small guest house can accommodate a few retreatants, with priority for young people who wish to participate in the community's liturgical life. Retreatants eat and sleep at the guest house, which has a garden and a small library. If they wish, they can personally meet a sister in the parlor.
A nun is also available to accompany in their discernment, with complete discretion, those who would like to explore their vocation to monastic life, or who simply have questions about it.
Girl scouts can camp on land adjacent to the Abbey and take advantage of the Abbey's proximity to attend certain offices, meet a nun, participate in the manual work of the community.
Making a spiritual retreat at Saint-Michel de Kergonan Abbey
The nuns organize 2 or 3 times a year VACATE DEO retreats around a particular theme. These retreats offer formation in liturgy and lectio divina and include teachings, exchanges, participation in the manual work of the community.
They are intended to make their way of life better known and are addressed to young women from 18 to 35 years old who wish to follow Christ most closely and respond to his call.
The ancients described monastic life as a vacare Deo (the same difficult-to-translate Latin word gave the French "vacances", or "vacation" in English), stopping everything else to devote oneself to God, finding in him one's rest and one's joy. An experience to be lived!
Geography and activities
Between land, sea and sky, in Brittany: Saint-Michel de Kergonan Abbey
Saint-Michel de Kergonan Abbey is located between Quiberon Bay and the Gulf of Morbihan, you are in an exceptional setting with grandiose landscapes!
With its alignments of menhirs and its countless bell towers, Brittany is a land entirely raised toward the sky. The ebbing sea and the iodized air are ideal for changing pace and appreciating the abbey's silence.
Here, the ocean recovers its symbolic force, it marvelously evokes the infinite tenderness of God, without bounds and without shores, toward which the powerful waves of Gregorian chant want to carry us.
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Practical information
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