Saint Gervais

I have been in Paris for the last few days, at our community of Saint Joseph's, avenue Hoche, where I previously spent seven happy years. I came here for a meeting on Passionist Spirituality and Charism, which concluded today. This evening, I took advantage of my visit to go to Vespers and Mass at the Church of Saint Gervais, behind the Hotel de Ville. Saint Gervais is the home of the Monastic Fraternity of Jerusalem, founded here in the 1970s by Father Pierre-Marie Delfieux. His inspiration in founding the community was to bring the monastic life of the desert into the new desert which is the modern city. In the Rule of Life he wrote for the community, he says: In the desert of the urban world your monastery should be an oasis of peace, prayer and joy. It is still amazing to see a large number of people coming here each evening, after their day's work, to spend between one and two hours praying with the community before returning home.

Vespers began at 6.00, after a half hour of silent meditation before the altar. As usual the liturgy was sung beautifully in French, with much of the music being by Andre Gouzes o.p. The pause at the end of each psalm verse was an invitation to prayer and to an awareness of the One in whose presence the prayer was being offered. The Mass, which followed the Office immediately, was celebrated with dignity and simplicity. Times for reflection during the Liturgy of the Word, a thoughtful homily, moments of silence around communion time, and the possibility of remaining on for a period of thanksgiving after the Mass made this a way of celebrating Mass which seemed naturally to favour contemplation.

This community of monks and nuns has grown significantly over the last thirty or so years. Like most of the new religious orders, they provide ways for people who are not called to professed life but who feel drawn to the community to belong in a meaningful way. One way of doing this is through the Gospel Fraternities of Jerusalem which allow laypeople the chance to be formed in the spirituality of the community. The Monastic Fraternity of Jerusalem now has eleven houses, including a new foundation in Montreal.

For more background information on the community in English, see this article from Zenit's archive (scroll down to the section on the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem).