Venière Abbey
Boyer Saône-et-Loire Founded in 1963
Notre-Dame de Venière Abbey is a Benedictine abbey established in 1963 in Boyer, near Tournus, in Saône-et-Loire, and affiliated with the French province of the Subiaco-Monte Cassino congregation. Twenty-eight sisters live there under the Rule of Saint Benedict, dividing their days between work and prayer. For fifty years, the community has specialized in creating, for each first name, a hand-painted representation of the patron saint on wood. The sisters also include Benedictine oblates.
The guest house is open to all. A welcoming place for parish group gatherings, the abbey receives those who wish to make a spiritual stop and experience a time of fraternal renewal. The atmosphere of the guest house is warm and family-like in its simplicity: guests are invited to join the sisters in prayer and, if they wish, to lend a hand with small tasks. The community also welcomes people in difficult situations, often without a home, in a space specially dedicated to them.
What awaits you
Practical information
Liturgical offices
The community warmly invites you to join them for the offices: Vigils (5:50 a.m.), Lauds (7:30 a.m.), Terce and Eucharist (9:30 a.m.), Sext (12:45 p.m.), None (2:45 p.m.), Vespers (5:30 p.m.), and Compline (8:15 p.m.).
Manual work
Guests are welcome, if they wish, to offer small services to the community. The guest house atmosphere is warm and family-like, in a spirit of simplicity.
Meals
Lunch is served at 1:00 p.m. and dinner at 7:00 p.m.
Getting there
Stop at Tournus train station (71), 3-4 km away, then take a bus or taxi (to be booked the day before), but if you bring water and a backpack, you can walk to the abbey!
Hameau de Venière (commune de Boyer) between Sennecy-le-Grand and Tournus, on the D 906 (former N6)
In the footsteps of Jacques Anquetil