France
In spring 2008, Ruthie visited several sites in France known for their sacred music.
The Abbey of St. Peter at Solesmes
The former abbot of this abbey, Dom Guéranger, arranged in the early 19th century for the Solesmes monks to collect and preserve what remained in oral or written form of the original Gregorian chants. When I discovered on their website that these Benedictine monks still sing these Gregorian chants several times each day I decided to visit!
To locate Solesmes on a map start with Paris, go southwest to Le Mans, then west to Sablé sur Sarthe. Solesmes is slightly east of Sablé sur Sarthe. If you are traveling by train, Sable sur Sarthe is the closest stop to Solesmes. It is a two mile taxi ride to the abbey.
S
olesmes is a small, quiet, charming town on the banks of the Sarthe River. As far as I could tell, the abbey is the focal point of the town. I had expected the abbey to be overrun with tourists, but on the June day we visited we didn’t see a single tour bus or any apparent tourists. We attended two services; at one there were only about eight people in the congregation; at the other there were close to twenty. Despite their many excellent CDs of Gregorian chants, including one made in 1976 that received a Grammy Award nomination, the monks are very clear that their chanting is worship — not a concert or a performance. The public is welcome to attend their services, which include Gregorian chanting, at 10 am (Holy Mass), 1 pm, 1:50 pm, 5 pm (vespers, with different times on Thursdays), and 8:30 pm Compline. If you love Gregorian chants I can think of no better place to hear them.
History
This abbey opened in 1010. It was pillaged twice and nearly destroyed by fire during the Hundred Years War. The community managed to rebuild itself after the Hundred Years War, but in 1790, in the wake of the French Revolution, religious vows were outlawed. The monks of Solesmes were forced to disperse. In 1792 villagers saved the monastery’s most prized relic, a thorn from what is believed to be the Crown of Thorns retrieved from the Holy Land. This relic was returned to the monastery in 1850.
In 1833 Dom Prosper Guéranger instituted a Benedictine monastic life on the site of the old priory at Solesmes, after forty years of abandonment due to the French Revolution. He seized upon the restoration of Gregorian chant with enthusiasm and placed the task of restoring the authentic melodies into the hands of his monks.
Saint Hilaire-Saint Jean Damascène Orthodox Center in Uchon
This tiny jewel of a monastic center, administered by the Diocese of France of the Serbian Orthodox Church, was not listed in my guidebook. We stumbled upon it in a local tourism guide booklet we picked up in Burgundy. Although the booklet said the chapel, refectory and workshops were open for visits, they neglected to say they are only open on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. From July 15 to September 15 they are also open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 pm to 6 pm. Further, they request you write ahead for permission to visit the chapel.
An English-speaking nun kindly let us enter the
chapel, but by far the best view of the fresco iconography is in the refectory anyway.
There is no way you can visit the Orthodox Center by train. It is on a tiny twisty road tucked into the rolling hills of the Morvan Regional Park. The sign in front of the building is small. Although we were not blessed to hear any live singing while we were there, the gift shop sells an abundance of excellent CDs of Orthodox liturgical singing.
Father Luke Devoisin-Lagarde, founder of the center, painted these icons of saints and Bible stories.
Taize Community
The Taizé website contains a lot of information about this ecumenical community in both English and French. I was interested in visiting because I have been singing along with CDs made by the Taizé community for ten years. Although singing didn’t happen as often as I would have hoped (it was pretty much confined to the worship services three times daily and an optional singing practice for one hour each afternoon) thousands of people find great renewal and comfort in attending the Bible study and worship services there. In July and August they average 3,000 -4,000 visitors per week. Taizé is not, strictly speaking, a “monastery”; as its Brothers are both Catholic and Protestant. You will sometimes hear it called a monastery to differentiate it from the tiny Burgundy village where it resides.
Temple of a Thousand Buddhas in La Boulaye
The colorful splendor of this temple is dazzling. The Kagyu-Ling Buddhist Center is purportedly the first and largest Buddhist temple in all of Europe. There are 11 lamas at the centre, plus 30 lay residents. Ten men and five women are on retreat for the traditional three years, three months and three days following a rigorous and structured rhythm of life. Courses and seminars are given at the centre on yoga, relaxation, meditation and massage. Kagyu Ling, La Boulaye, is open to visitors every afternoon from 2:30 to 5:00. July and August also from 10.00 to 12.00. Unlike the other sites on our pilgrimage there was an admission charge to enter the temple (5 Euros if I remember correctly).
From the town of Toulon-sur-Arroux on the map, take D994 north to the hamlet of La Boulaye and then follow the signs for the Buddhist Temple. From Autun, take D994 south.
The Basilica of Saint Mary Magdalene in Vezelay
The Vézelay Basilica of Saint Mary Magdalene has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site since 1979. In my guidebook there was no mention of the daily singing. It was so exquisitely beautiful I wanted to lie down on the floor and soak myself in the architecture and sound. This is a holy place that had a powerful effect on me, despite the bus loads of school children whose fidgeting and shuffling was an aural distraction. The Brothers and Sisters of Jerusalem sang non-stop for about twenty minutes followed by scripture reading and then more glorious polyphonic singing. Halfway through the service, two birds began flying high above the heads of the choir, but within the domed ceiling. Their swooping and chasing added grace notes to the glorious music.
This basilica lacks the stained glass windows we have come to expect and yet I am struck by how ‘light’ it feels, even with its rock walls. When I read the guidebook I am surprised to find the church was deliberately planned so that worshippers would feel they were passing from darkness into light as they went from the narthex to the nave. Even the carvings on the pillars and columns were positioned so that the Old Testament characters would more often be in the shadow than those from the New Testament. The carving of Saint Eustace’s conversion shows him passing from the darker side of the capital to the lighter side. They have services at Vézelay Tues – Friday at 7am, 12:30 and 6pm. On Saturday at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. and on Sunday at 8 a.m., 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. They offer some workshops here during the summer on topics such as Lectio Divino, but I don’t think they offer any in English.
History
The basilica was founded in the ninth century. Pilgrimages to the basilica to venerate the relics of St. Mary Magdalene begin in the early 11th century and soon it became a starting place for pilgrimages as well. St. Bernard preached the Second Crusade there in 1146. Richard the Lionhearted went there before the Third Crusade to Jerusalem. The Basilica was damaged by the Huguenots in 1569 and subsequently lay in ruin for three centuries. It was rebuilt between 1840 and 1861.
