Abbey Product or Monastic Product?
Rest assured, as you might imagine, it is the same thing. The habitat of a Catholic religious community can be called an abbey or a monastery. The superior of the sisters is also called Mother Abbess and the nuns are nuns. Here, at the Saint-Vincent de Chantelle Abbey (or Saint-Vincent monastery) in the heart of the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region, we believe that as many people as possible should be able to discover the products made by the abbeys and monasteries. Mainly French, because if we offered monastic products from all over the world, the abbey would not be enough to store them and send them to you, know that there are several thousand abbeys and monasteries and that many religious communities who make up a living from their work and their monastic productions - carried out in the monastery. Certain achievements gave their letters of nobility to monastic products and made it possible to make them known to the general public. We also think of elixirs from the Grande Chartreuse, various beers from abbeys or even certain cheeses (NB: chaussée aux m… has nothing to do with the monks). The products of our abbeys are now renowned for their quality of manufacture (for some they have existed for centuries), their respect for nature and traditions. We can also add that by buying a monastic product we are doing a good deed, by allowing a religious community to live its Faith through its work.
Do you have to be religious and Catholic to use, drink or eat these products?
Obviously the answer is NO. As you have understood, the primary purpose of products made by monks and nuns is not to highlight any confusion between religion and manufacture, but simply to find the financial means to live out their FAITH in complete independence. For Benedictines and Benedictines, work, in addition to having an important spiritual dimension, is an integral part of the Rule enacted by Saint-Benedict who asks his disciples to alternate daily between the two pillars of prayer and work. . If by chance this were to push some people to question the foundations of their being, the meaning to be given to their life or any other question to which it is not always easy to find an answer, then we would be very happy to '' have been able to help, even to exchange in order to lead, to build a reflection together. A good ear ...
Why a MONASTIC label?
As the African proverb says: “Alone we go faster, together we go further. "
Based on this observation, the monasteries of France wished to come together in the creation of a quality label allowing, through specifications, to highlight the intrinsic qualities of their achievements. An Association was then created with the aim of creating a list, as exhaustive as possible, of the procedures to be observed in order to obtain this inter-monastic quality label. To date, to be labeled, an abbey product must meet the following specifications:
- Original and exclusive design
- Responsible purchasing with close links with suppliers
- Integration of quality requirements into the processes
- Mastery of marketing and distribution
- Balanced partnership with the laity
- Commitment to sustainable development and integral ecology
Once you meet all of these criteria, a committee meets to grant you (or not) the precious label and authorization to apply the association's logo to products. This collegial branding process renewed every three years.
Cakes, chocolates, syrups, jams, wines, monks' beer, spirits from the Grande Chartreuse (green or yellow), bookstore, jewelry store ... we invite you to find in our shop a selection of typical products of monastic craftsmanship. Quality products, made by the monasteries or those close to our beautiful Saint-Vincent de Chantelle abbey, French know-how in all that is most beautiful and tasty. Religious objects, selected by the Community, natural products, respectful, made with passion, cultivated in a reasoned way, even in permaculture like the plants used in the food supplements Maylis, the Monastery of Solan, the Alexion of Aiguebelle ... We cannot present the products of all the abbeys, but find here the best of the monasteries of:
- Aiguebelle (Alexion, syrups, pollen, balm ...)
- Solan (wine, salt, vinegars ... =
- Trappe de Briquebec (the famous pâtés)
- Notre Dame de Oelenberg (Alsatian noodles)
- Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux (Cakes, olive oils ...)
- Sainte-Marie du Désert (Honey, sweets, etc.)
- The guard's trap (jams, jellies ...)
- Sept-Fons (Germalyne, muesli ...)
- Maylis (lepidium, waxes ...)
And many others - La transfiguration, Landevenec, Timadeux, Soligny, La Joie Notre-Dame, Cabanoule, Bouzy-la-Forêt ...
