Abbaye Notre-Dame de Bon Secours de Blauvac, Cistercian abbey in Blauvac, France.
Abbaye Notre-Dame de Bon Secours de Blauvac is a Trappistine monastery whose long two-storey building has a pale ochre facade, a low-pitched roof of terracotta barrel tiles and a ground-floor gallery on square stone pillars. A tall light-grey stone tower with a cross stands at its right end, and a wooden signpost in front points to the reception.
The community traces back to 1790, when Augustin de Lestrange founded a women's monastery at Sembrancher after the French Revolution banned religious vows. The nuns settled at Vaise, Lyon, in 1817, moved to Maubec near Montélimar in 1834, and relocated to Blauvac in 1991. The first church here was rebuilt and consecrated on 23 September 2006.
The abbey's name changed from Notre-Dame de la Consolation to Notre-Dame de Bon Secours when the nuns moved to Maubec in 1834. Visitors can see an exhibition room with historic host-making equipment and photographs of the nuns' daily work, and buy religious literature and products from other monasteries in the small shop.
Guests can stay in the hospitality buildings L'Oasis or La Rencontre which house groups of up to twenty people. It is best to visit in early morning or afternoon hours when the community is more available for interaction.
In 2021, with five employees, the sisters made 20% of the communion hosts sold in France. The public exhibition room shows historic host-making equipment and photographs of their working day; the production rooms and the enclosure stay closed to visitors.
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