Bellefontaine
Location
Official Name Abbaye N.-D. de Bellefontaine
N° 06
Country France
City Bégrolles en Mauges
Postcode F-49122
Contact Information
Telephone [33] (2) 41 75 60 40
Community Email [email protected]
Website www.bellefontaine-abbaye.com
Superior Dom Samuel Gonçalves, Commissaire monastique 2025
Other Information
Juridical Status Abbey
Diocese Dioecesis Andegavensis (Angers)
OCSO Region RéCiF
Founded/Restored 1816
Origins
Established as a abbey around 1120; dispersion of the community in 1790; purchase of the monastery by Dom Urbain Guillet in 1816.
History
It is known that a Benedictine priory existed at Bellefontaine in the 11thcentury. Its origin and date of foundation are unknown.
Ca. 1120: establishment as a Benedictine abbey.
1642: 7 December: the commendatory abbot, Dom Michel Sublet, introduces the Feuillant reform, which lasts until the Revolution.
1790: dispersal of the four religious, of whom 1 was a lay-brother.
1791, 27 May: sale of the monastery as property of the state.
1793: the last commendatory abbot of Bellefontaine, Pierre-Leonard de Laage, dies in exile as a confessor of the faith.
1816, 4 May: on his return from [North] America, Dom Urbain Guillet purchases the first buildings of Bellefontaine and installs the Trappists.
1817, 2 April: death of Dom Urbain Guillet. Dom de Lestrange appoints Dom Michel Le Fort, monk of La Trappe but resident of Bellefontaine for several years, superior of Bellefontaine. The community of La Trappe had sought refuge at Bellefontaine because of certain difficulties encountered in the diocese of Seez.
1827, 13 August: election of Dom Michel le Port as abbot of Bellefontaine. Mgr. Montault, bishop of Angers, requests the Holy See to raise Bellefontaine to the rank of abbey with Dom Michel le Fort as abbot.
1828, 26 September: confirmation by the Holy See of the election of Dom Michel le Fort as abbot of Bellefontaine. This confirmation is, in fact, the Charter of the erection of the monastery as an abbey: the Act is registered by the Ordinary on 5 November, 1828.
1830: death of Dom Michel le Port, 27 February.
1845: Six monks are sent for the foundation of Staoueli in Algeria.
1849, 11 Oct.: Resignation of Dom Augustin de la Forest-Divonne, who withdraws to Fontgombaud, founded under his abbacy the same year.
1879, 21 September: consecration of the abbey church by Mgr. Freppel.
1880, 6 November: expulsion for 5 weeks (decrees of 29 March 1880).
1929: death of Dom Jean-Marie Chouteau on 28 Dec.
1957, 7 November: election of Dom Gabriel as abbot general.
1966: Inauguration of “Les editions de Bellefontaine”.
Foundations
Oka (1881); Prairies (1892-2020); Kokoubou (1972)
Father Immediate
La Trappe
Daughter Houses
Val Notre-Dame (formerly Oka); ; Kokoubou; Les Gardes; L’Étoile Notre-Dame.
Prairies (1892 – 1936); Spencer (since 1952-2020); Cabanoule (until 1970), Mvanda (1990 – 2010).
Past Superiors
Urbain GUILLET — Supérieur de la fondation — 04/05/1816 – 02/04/1817
Michel LE FORT — Supérieur — 02/04/1817 – 13/08/1827
Michel LE FORT — Supérieur titulair — 13/08/1827 – 26/09/1828
Michel LE FORT — Abbé — 26/09/1828 – 27/02/1830
Fulgence GUILLAUME — Abbé — 07/07/1830 – 19/03/1845
Augustin de la FOREST-DIVONNE — Abbé — 17/07/1845 – 11/10/1849
Fulgence GUILLAUME — Abbé — 22/11/1850 – 29/11/1866
Jean Marie CHOUTEAU — Abbé — 05/12/1866 – 28/12/1929
Jean-Baptiste AUGER — Abbé — 10/02/1930 – 01/04/1936
Gabriel SORTAIS — Abbé — 06/05/1936 – 07/11/1951
Emmanuel COUTANT — Abbé — 26/01/1952 – 15/08/1987
Etienne BAUDRY — Abbé — 08/09/1987 – 17/04/2004
Jean-Marc CHÉNÉ — Abbé — 03/05/2004 – 09/12/2024
Work and Sources of Income
Farming, fruit trees, manufacture of fruit gums, store (religious books and food products), guesthouse.
Guest Facilities
42 rooms
Transportation
Gare SNCF, voyageurs: Cholet, 14 km.
