PRIEURÉ SAINTE-BATHILDE

At the origin of the Congregation of Benedictine Women: the spiritual search of a Protestant woman at the beginning of the twentieth century, Marguerite Waddington-Delmas. A pioneer in the establishment of an open and strong feminine monastic life, she will see many of her works confirmed in their broad outlines by the Second Vatican Council. In her spiritual search that led her to the Catholic Church, Maguerite gradually joined the Benedictine family through secular oblature, that is, by promising to follow the rule of St. Benedict in her private life without joining a convent. On July 11, 1918, she joined the order on a regular basis at the abbey of Ligugé. She took the name of Sister Benedict. That same year, at the Abbey of Sainte-Croix in Poitiers, participating for the first time in all the hours of the Office, she discovered the liturgical prayer that would become the heart of her life. It was then that her desire to give herself entirely to God was awakened. Dom Besse, another central figure in the creation of the order, and to whom she confided, immediately thought of a regular oblature. He dreamed of seeing the creation of houses where women would have led the Benedictine life in an open setting. Through various trials and tribulations, a trial took shape in 1919 with a group of a few oblates who settled in Paris in a small private mansion on the Avenue de Ségur. But it was not until 1926 that this new congregation, founded under the name of Oblate Missionaries of Saint Benedict, was accepted by the Church. The beginning of the history of the Vanves community corresponds to the birth of the Congregation until 1934 when the foundation of Ambositra in Madagascar gave Vanves the face of a community in communion with another.

At Sainte-Bathilde Priory, the whole community welcomed guests, although some sisters were in charge of the guest house. The sister in charge of the porter's office and the sisters in charge of the hotel are available and assure the work of maintenance, presence, teaching, and accompaniment. The community receives individuals or groups who are looking for a place of spiritual renewal and silence. They invite them to the community's prayer and these people can meet with a sister if they wish. The community of Benedictine nuns also offers retreats and various sessions that they organize: biblical, prayer, singing or zither... They also run the religious bookstore in Vanves which is adjacent to the monastery.