Through My Lens: Fountains Abbey Cellarium
For the Third Sunday of Lent, I’m posting a photo of the cellarium at Fountains Abbey. Cellarium is a fancy monasterial word for “storeroom,” and this one was located beneath the dormitory where the lay brothers slept. It was used mainly to store food.
Fountains Abbey had two orders of monks: choir brothers and lay brothers. The choir brothers did all the praying and singing, while the lay brothers did all the manual labour required to run the abbey, including stonework and metalwork, tanning hides and making shoes, brewing and baking, and herding sheep.
Through My Lens: Fountains Abbey Great East Window
Fountains Abbey was founded by 13 rebel Benedictine monks from St. Mary’s Abbey in York. They were sent packing because they wanted to live by a stricter rule than the Rule of St. Benedict that the monks in York followed.
The rebel monks were given 70 acres of land in a valley near Ripon in North Yorkshire. They decided to establish a Cistercian order, which is a French monastic order. Cistercian monks supported themselves by farming. The land near Ripon had everything the rebel monks needed: a valley setting to shelter them from the North Yorkshire weather, stone and timber for building, and plenty of water. The name of the abbey, St. Mary of Fountains, is thought to have originated from some nearby springs.
Not long after founding their abbey, the monks built a church out of stone. The Great East Window above the Chapel of Nine Altars behind the High Altar is featured in this photo, which I am posting for the Second Sunday of Lent.
Through My Lens: Fountains Abbey and the River Skell
For this year’s Lenten series, I’m going to follow up on last year’s series of photos of Mission Abbey with photos of another abbey. This time, though, we are once again back on the other side of the pond.
This year’s abbey is Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1132 and operated as a religious house until 1539 when it was surrendered to the Crown during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII.
For the First Sunday of Lent, here is the view of Fountains Abbey when walking towards it from the west. All that is visible of the abbey is the church tower, which is reflected in the River Skell.
Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque
It’s the last day of the most miserable month of the year! When I woke up this morning to yet another torrent of rain, all I could think was, “It’s the last day of November. Tomorrow, I will feel so much better.”
And so, to celebrate, here is one last photo from Provence. This is the Abbaye Notre-Dame de Sénanque. It’s a Cistercian abbey not far from Gordes and was founded in the twelfth century.
It’s quite possible you’ve seen a photo or two of this abbey before as it’s one of those scenes of Provence that is on all the postcards, except that the photos in the postcards are all taken when the lavender is in full bloom. (That’s what those long rows of plants are in front of the abbey.) The monks sell that lavender and raise honey bees to support themselves.
We didn’t get to see the inside of this abbey or its cloisters (and you all know how much I love cloisters) because it’s a working abbey. Admittance is only with a tour and we showed up at the wrong time. No matter, as I always like to leave something to do for a return visit. And so, this abbey will be top of my list on my return visit to Provence.
Which will be when the lavender is in full bloom.
Happy Easter!
Mission Abbey Church, Mission, British Columbia, April 2012
Through My Lens: Mission Abbey Church Interior
It’s Palm Sunday again. To celebrate the day, I’m posting a photo of the interior of Mission Abbey Church.
The architectural structure of the church is based on the Greek cross: there are four arms of equal length. At the end of each arm are windows that correspond by their colour (blue, red, brown, and grey) with the four elements I mentioned the other week: water, fire, earth, and air.
Through My Lens: Mission Abbey Bas Relief
It’s the Fifth Sunday of Lent and today’s photo is of one of the bas reliefs that adorn the interior of the church of Mission Abbey. These bas reliefs were created by resident monk and artist Father Dunstan Massey.
Father Massey began his art studies at age 15 under Jack Shadbolt at the Vancouver School of Art. At 18, he began his journey towards the priesthood by entering the monastery at Mission Abbey. Although he was willing to give up his art to devote his life to God, the Abbot had other ideas and made him the Abbey’s resident artist.
In addition to these bas reliefs in the church, Father Massey’s sculptures, paintings, and frescoes are displayed throughout the Abbey’s buildings.
Through My Lens: Mission Abbey Window
For the Fourth Sunday of Lent, I’m posting a photo of some of the stained glass windows of Mission Abbey. They were designed by Lutz Haufschild, a German-born and trained Canadian glass artist.
There are 64 windows in all, with each group of eight representing one of the four elements: the blue windows are water, red is fire, brown is earth, and grey is air.
Through My Lens: Mission Abbey Door
For the Third Sunday of Lent, here’s a photo of the door to the Mission Abbey church. The abbey grounds are open to the public during daylight hours, and the church as well, when not in use by the monks.
Through My Lens: Mission Abbey Bell Tower
Mission Abbey is located on a 200-acre site overlooking the Fraser River. Benedictine monks have lived, farmed, and prayed here since 1954.
The abbey church, tower, and seminary were designed by a Norwegian architect named Asbjørn Gåthe and were built over a period of 25 years, culminating with the church, which was dedicated in 1982.
For the Second Sunday of Lent, here is a photo of Mission Abbey’s bell tower. It was dedicated in 1958.
There and Back Again 