Monastery of The Visitation at La Roche sur Yon

Posted in Diocese of Luçon, Ecclesiastical province of Rennes, Visitation

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The History of our monastery

Our community was funded in Dreux (Eure-et-Loir) in 1860 by the monastery of the Visitation of Avignon. In a little over 150 years of existence, however, we have resided at four different locations.
Indeed, on June 9, 1940, the aerial bombing of Dreux caused such damage to the monastery that the sisters fled the following day, and found refuge in Niort (Deux-Sèvres). In July 1941, they arrived at Vouvant, a small village in South Vendée. In January 1945, Bishop Cazaux, then bishop of Luçon, accepted that the community stayed in his diocese, especially as religious vocations were still quite numerous.
In 1996, another milestone: in la Roche-sur-Yon, the Clarisses, who had become too elderly and too few in number, decided to leave their monastery to join another community of Clarisses in Nérac (Lot-et-Garonne). Bishop François Garnier, the bishop of Luçon, offered us to leave Vouvant and settle in la Roche-sur-Yon, which is the main city of the diocese. After months of reflexion, we decided in favour of the relocation, and completed the move in November 1997.

The monastery today

Our community has 16 sisters, one of whom resides in the infirmary of our Thonon-les-Bains monastery. We make a living from both our work and the sisters’ pensions. Our main source of income is the making of arts and crafts, which is sold in the “Artisanat monastique” shops in Paris, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse and Rennes. We also have a little shop at the entrance of the monastery.

Just like every other Visitation monastery, we welcome women and young girls who wish to spend a few days in silence and prayer. Outside of the cloister, 6 rooms are available, as well as a 4 bedroom house with a garden, where one can be independent and prepare their own meals. We also welcome small groups for the day.

Special features of our monastery

The refurbishment of the liturgical space, which was carried out between 2000 and 2009. The most noteworthy are: in “l’espace de gloire” (the portion of the wall overlooking the altar), the resurrection of Christ, a bronze sculpture from Madeline Diener, as well as a mural painting by Monique Mansois, both of which can be seen on this website, on the Visitation home page.