Unusual activity at Bricquebec Abbey, with "Father Marc's pig".
Abbeys that produce good things to eat or drink are generally known for their jams, cakes and galettes, in short, for their sweets... Bricquebec Abbey is known for a more unusual production: its charcuterie, whose workshop is still managed by Father Marc, a monk of the community over 85 years old, who runs it with an iron hand (in a velvet glove!). Let's discover this Norman Trappist abbey!
Birth of the abbey in the 19th century
At the beginning of the 19th century, Father Augustin Onfroy, a former Trappist monk then parish priest in Normandy, wanted to return to monastic life and found a community. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy! Finally, a local inhabitant offers him a piece of land with three mills. 1, 2, 3 mills and off you go! So in 1824, the adventure began, and twelve postulants took the habit quite quickly.
Where were they? In Bricquebec. Why this name? It is in fact of Scandinavian origin: "brekka" (hill) and "bekkr" (brook), meaning "the brook at the foot of the hill", hence the presence of marshes, which explains the rest of the story .
Indeed, at the beginning the monks have little money and are faced with many swamps, rocks and stumps, which do not make it easy for them to lay the foundations. Slowly but surely, the work is going ahead anyway, and the efforts are paying off. In 1834, the church of the abbey Notre-Dame de Grâce de Bricquebec was dedicated. Here we are!
Despite a fire in 1839, the community developed well in the 19th century:
- in 1860: more than 80 monks on the spot
- during the wars of the 1870s: the brothers took in many wounded and treated them
- At the end of the 19th century, the abbey supported more than 200 families in the surrounding area thanks to its agricultural activities: cheese, cow and pig farming, etc...
However, the rest is not very glorious, because as soon as war was declared in 1914, agricultural activity was put aside to be closer to the wounded soldiers... And during the Second World War, the abbey was occupied by 300 German soldiers! The finances were therefore at their lowest ebb, which is partly why, at the end of the war, the monks were forced to close the cheese factory...
A good monastic delicatessen !
Over the years, after the closure of the cheese dairy, the activity which took over at Bricquebec Abbey was that of pig farming. The famous Father Marc relaunched the agricultural activity of the community, although he knew nothing about it... but the mayonnaise took over! The herd of 10 sows grows to 50 then to 200, then finally to 2500 pigs!
In a rather anecdotal way, after many eulogistic comments about the quality of his meat, Father Marc decided to launch a workshop under the brand name "Les Charcuteries de la Trappe"! Who would have thought that a pig farm would give an abbey its renown?! But the growth was so great that in 1997, the monks preferred to stop this activity to refocus on the essential: prayer?
The current situation
Today, Bricquebec Abbey has twelve Trappist monks who still follow the rule of Saint Benedict, Ora and Labora, prayer and work (with seven services a day, the first being at 4.15 a.m. to get the day off to a good start!).
You can click here to buy the pâtés and terrines of Bricquebec Abbey online!
Notre-Dame de Grâce Abbey of Bricquebec
50260 Bricquebec-en-Cotentin
Tél. : 02 33 87 56 10
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