The nuns of Campénéac: professionals of the snack industry!
We have here a real family history between abbeys, a family tree! Indeed, La Joie Notre-Dame de Campénéac Abbey is the fruit of several abbeys, which founded and even built it on their own. Let's take a closer look...
A community that radiates from the Mayenne... to Madagascar!
The Abbey of Joie Notre-Dame draws its origins from the Abbey of La Coudre, located in Mayenne! Very influential at the time, Abbaye de la Coudre sent a group of sisters to found the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Bonne Garde in Brittany in 1920. The community was so successful that the sisters soon found themselves cramped in their monastery. A bad for a good in the end, because the premises were ill-adapted to monastic life... Their move was inevitable, but as far as the destination was concerned, nothing was less safe!
Fortunately, their choice was quickly found, thanks to Trappist solidarity! In 1947, the brothers of Timadeuc Abbey bought the Château de la Ville Aubert in Campénéac. But the castle was not brand new, and the brothers worked hard to embellish it and install the sisters there. Isn't it beautiful? So it was finally in 1953 that the nuns moved into the Abbey of Joy Notre-Dame. And very quickly, they were not idle, and they quickly devoted themselves to monastic craftsmanship!
And like its elder sisters, the Abbey of Campénéac quickly spread its influence, so much so that two sisters left to establish female Cistercian life in... Madagascar in 1993! The small community was thus established in Ampibanjinana in 1996 with a few young Malagasy sisters.
The biscuit factory is run smoothly... and the "croque-thés" (tea-cakes)!
Today, the 28 sisters of the abbey of Campénéac follow the rule of Saint Benedict "prayer and work". Between their seven services each day, the sisters work with their hands to make good cakes and to maintain their herd of cows. But beware, this is serious business, the sisters have had their own biscuit factory since 1980, which even had to be expanded afterwards because of their success!
At the heart of this biscuit factory, five sisters work two days a week to make delicious little biscuits, but also gingerbread, chocolates, Breton cakes, buckwheat pancakes etc... it's all work! But the speciality of the nuns of Campénéac remains the "croque-thés", small soft or crunchy biscuits (depending on the recipe) with orange, raspberries, almonds etc...
The organisation at the biscuit factory is meticulous and each sister has her role to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Two sisters sort out the biscuits to remove those that are not suitable, one bakes the plates in the oven, the "old" ones put in bags etc... It is a real community work! The biscuit factory enables the abbey to meet its needs and to carry out its projects. For example, the guest house was renovated in 2013 so that the sisters could welcome their guests in better conditions. Isn't that nice?
The 3 small infos in addition
The sisters enjoy making chocolate because they see it as a way to fight food waste. Indeed, if the moulding is unsuccessful, the sisters can always melt it and start again. But also, if there is a surplus of production, you can be sure that there will always be someone to finish it... yum!
Precisely, thanks to all the know-how acquired over the years, the sisters have become experts in the production of this chocolate, so much so that today, the quality of their chocolate is recognised by the Confederation of Chocolatiers and Confectioners of France. Incredible isn't it?
Not only can you buy the sisters' products in the abbey shop, but not only that! Indeed, the abbey has its own audio-visual room where you can see short reports on its history and its biscuit factory. Quite a nice place to visit!
Abbey La joie Notre-Dame de Campénéac
The town Aubert
56800 Campénéac
https://divinebox.fr/
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