Lérins, Abbey of

▪ monastery, France

       Cistercian monastery, originally founded about 410 by St. Honoratus of Arles on a Mediterranean island opposite Cannes (now in France). It flourished in the 5th century, when it was a centre of intellectual activity. Many highly educated monks, trained elsewhere, were attracted by its spiritual discipline and became residents. Vincent of Lérins was its chief theologian, and St. Hilary and St. Caesarius of Arles were also from Lérins.

      The abbey adopted the Benedictine Rule about 660. Monastic life ended for a time after the monks were massacred (c. 732) when Saracens occupied the island. Restored and reformed by Cluny in the late 10th century, the monastery prospered materially and spiritually during the next centuries. In the 15th century a decline began. The monastery was suppressed in 1786, and in 1791 its buildings were sold.

      In 1871 a Cistercian congregation established a community on the island and rebuilt the monastery. Some of the earlier buildings remain, including some ancient chapels and a tower.

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