About the Abbey of Saint Peter and Paul (Abbatiale Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul) in Solignac, France:
The abbey of Solignac was founded by Saint Éloi , future bishop of Noyon, who asked King Dagobert I for the village of Solemniacum (the land of Solignac) to found a monastery there. According to tradition, Saint Eloi climbed a rock on the “heights” of Solignac (this rock is also called the Saint Eloi rock). From this rock, he threw a hammer. At the place where the hammer fell, he founded the abbey.
“My king and master, may your goodness grant me so that I may build a ladder for you and for me, by which we will both deserve to ascend into the heavenly kingdom.”
The Abbey was founded on November 22, 638, the tenth year of the reign of King Dagobert. The act of foundation was made “in honor of the saints Peter and Paul Apostles, Pancratius and Dionysius Martyrs and their companions, of the saints Martin, Medard, Remi and Germain Confessors.”
This abbey was subject to the King, not the jurisdiction of the local bishop. This gave the monks perpetual ownership of the abbey so long as they they followed the rules of Saint Benedict and Saint Columban.
The abbey quickly had one hundred and fifty monks . Saint Ouen, a friend of Saint Éloi, in the account of his Life that he composed, describes a place that is “fertile and pleasant”, “copious and well-watered orchards”, “the proximity of a beautiful river”. He declares for the monastery: “I saw there such a beautiful observance of the holy Rule that the life of its monks is almost unique in its kind when compared to that of the other monasteries of Gaul”. The abbey of Solignac was then a large goldsmith’s workshop.
Over the course of the 8th century, the Abbey was under attack: the Saracens invaded around 732-735 as well as an incursion in 793 of unspecified origin causing extensive damage.
In 817, it was Louis the Pious granted privileges to rebuild the abbey.
The first half of the 13th century marked an insurrection of the inhabitants because the merchant bourgeoisie no longer wanted to be accountable to the abbot. The porch tower was seized by the inhabitants of the village during the troubles of 1240-1246.
Ruined by the Wars of Religion and peasant revolts, the abbey recovered during the Catholic Counter-Reformation, when on June 26, 1619, the commendatory abbot Jean Jaubert de Barrault, bishop of Bazas, called upon six monks from the Congregation of Saint-Maur who restored the Benedictine rule .
Traveling to the Priory of St. Joseph of Solignac:
Address: 87110 Solignac, France
Tel: (+33)
Email: contact@benedictins-solignac.com
Click here for the official website of the Priory of Saint Joseph in Solignac, France