Some moving videos from the Fathers of the Monastery of Chevetogne in Beligium.
Come and let us Bless the Noble Joseph, Vespers for Great and Holy Friday
The polyeleos or “great mercy.”
The Ecumenical vocation of the Holy Monastery:
The community of Chevetogne was founded in 1925 by a pioneer of ecumenism in the Roman Catholic Church, Dom Lambert Beauduin. Ever since its foundation the Abbey strives to be a center of prayer, of meeting and theological study.
The monks are liturgically organized in two groups, one celebrating according to the Western tradition, the other according to the Eastern Byzantine tradition. This has been the fundamental option from the very beginning, the two rites having been adopted for ecumenical reasons, in view of the reconciliation between the christian East and West. In this way the community wishes to embody the primacy of prayer. It is prayer that unites every person, through a laborous path of conversion, as it prepares our communities and Churches to receive fully the gift of unity.Truly if it is necessary to know one another before there can be mutual appreciation, the first step to reconciliation is to learn from the other who he is. From the very beginning the community of Chevetogne has been committed to learning from the Christian East, particularly from the Russian Orthodox Church. The Liturgy is celebrated mainly in Slavonic, and sometimes in Greek.
Close relations with the Oriental Orthodox Churches, with the Anglican Communion and the Protestant Churches allow the monks in their daily prayer to be with all the disciples of Christ in the common supplication for the communion between the Churches.
The Monastic vocation of the Holy Monastery:
The community of Chevetogne is embedded in the Benedictin spiritual tradition, and strives to emphasise the major charismata common to the Christian East and West. S. Benedict (Umbria, c. 480 – c. 547) provided a model of Christian life for men and women of his time. He taught of truth and wisdom of the heart and so he developed a life style which can be explained in a few principles: to seek God, and to honor all men. Many Christians have found an answer to their aspirations in this ideal. In Benedict’s Rule spiritual needs and human values come harmoniously together.
