You are standing before the Saint-Benoît-du-Lac Abbey, backpack on, ready to undertake a long journey through 7 westside municipalities of the Memphremagog MRC… You are eager to go… But first, feel the pulse of the place; it will inspire you and give you strength!
The history of the emblematic abbey of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, from which the Circuit de l’Abbaye takes its name, begins in 1912, when Dom Paul Vannier lands in Canada in search of a new home and safe haven for the exiled monks of Saint-Wandrille Abbey.
The monks of Saint-Benoît-du-Lac Abbey were entirely self-sufficient for quite a long time. Imagine a closed, tight-knit community of monks labouring most of the day in the orchards and cheese dairy, in silence, except during mass when their Gregorian chants fill the chapels… Today, some thirty monks reside there, and the community is known internationally for the excellence of its choir and the quality of its cheeses. Make a stop in the chapel to hear them sing, or at the shop to make provisions when you return!
Make good use of the path you are about to undertake by savouring these moments of silence and internalisation, much in the manner of the Saint-Benoît monks…and throughout the magnificent scenery you are about to encounter. Enjoy the journey!