Abbaye Notre-Dame de Venière, Benedictine abbey in Boyer, France.
Abbaye Notre-Dame de Venière is a Benedictine monastery near Tournus in Burgundy that houses around 40 nuns. The building was constructed in 1963 on a site with roots reaching back to early medieval times.
The community was founded in 1933 at Oulchy-le-Château by the Abbey of Jouarre, at the wish of Bishop Ernest Mennechet of Soissons. Driven out in May 1940, the nuns found refuge in the Tarn, then settled in 1948 at the château de la Loyère with help from La Pierre-qui-Vire. In 1963 the convent moved to Venière, into buildings that had served as the novitiate of the Sœurs Blanches, and was raised to an abbey in 1971.
The nuns here live according to a rhythm of prayer, work, and shared meals, guided by the Rule of Saint Benedict in their daily lives. Visitors can directly experience this lived spiritual community and participate in prayer times.
The guesthouse, renovated and enlarged in 2009 and 2010, can host about thirty people, including groups of 15 to 20, for stays of two to eight days. It welcomes retreatants and is reached from the D 906, 5 km north of Tournus. Visitors join the seven daily liturgical offices and the Eucharist, sung in Gregorian chant and French.
The community's best-known craft is the making of "saints patrons" — small figures of patron saints — a speciality it has practised for over fifty years. The pieces are sold in the abbey shop, which also carries other monastic handicrafts. The shop sign reads "MAGASIN" above its doorway.
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