Thursday, May 3rd was an epic day off. Hava Flave invited me to her school for lunch where we dined on Belgium's Panera Bread cousin and she gave me a quick tour of Louvain-la-Neuve. After a quick coffee and tea, she headed to class and I headed back from whence I came - the train station - to continue my adventurous day off. Off to the delights of Villers-la-Ville.
Ready for a day of adventure
I took the train to Ottignies, got off and boarded another train to Villers-la-Ville. Once there I roamed around attempting to find signs telling me where to go. Ha! What good are signs that don't exist when you can wander around and see the lovely village and try to find someone who speaks English who can give you directions???
The train stop without a station...
At the intersection next to the tracks I chose to go right
And learned fairly quickly that I should've gone left.
I found someone who spoke English (ya gotta look for the youngsters) and was able to get directions from her and was on my way to the abbey.
*****
In case you're wondering:
Abbaye de Villers is the ancient ruins of a Cistercian Abbey founded in 1146 A.D. For a time-line of the history of Abbaye de Villers click on this link. Or click this link for more information. Even Wikipedia provides an further info that is interesting. So far these web-sites provide the extent of my knowledge of the place. There have been a few books written about Villers-la-Ville...but they're in French.
*****
I've always been insanely curious about all things that are very old. I love the personal aspect about history. I think most people's view of history is that it's dull and boring, but the fact that actual souls lived out these lives in often different manners than we live today is fascinating to me. I love to imagine and picture what lives were like, and yes, I suppose I romanticize their lives to a certain degree.
As a child growing up, when driving from one side of Oklahoma to the other, or when going on long family road trips, I always wanted to stop in the ghost towns that were just off the nicely paved roads that we traveled. I don't think I ever voiced these desires, but when sitting in the back or middle red upholstered seats of our black Suburban, I looked off in wonder at those dilapidated buildings as they flew beyond my vision, our Suburban carrying on to our intended destination. You can imagine then, since I was never able to physically be among those enticing ruins, what it might be like for me to have stood among the ruins in Villers-la-Ville.
It was truly awe inspiring. Breath taking, even.
Above is the abbot's palace.
Traditionally Cistercian architecture used only stone,
but in the 1440's Abbaye de Villers started using brick.
There were several areas closed off by gates, deemed too dangerous to explore...
which of course makes them all the more enticing to me. Ugh.
I love that in the picture above you can see what is left of what covered the brick and stone
as well as some beautiful scroll work on top of the plaster.
Looooove this!
I believe this might be the square where the monks walked and prayed daily...not sure though.
And this is inside the sanctuary where the choir loft used to be.
I almost broke out in song,
singing "Alas and did my Savior bleed and did my Sovereign die?",
when someone else walked in and I kept my tune to myself.
"The sacred vessels, vestments and books for worship were kept here,
along with the relics held by the monastery (which were not on display).
The storage niches can still be seen."
Storage niches.
There was actually much more of the abbey to be seen, but I spent so much time just being there and soaking it all in that I didn't even realize that the property was much more extensive than what I was seeing. I was there for an hour and a half, but could have easily and contentedly spent two more.
The atmosphere was incredibly peaceful. Before I left the house, Rebecca and Annie had said you can feel the prayers of the men on the grounds. I found that to be true. It does have a "sacred ground" feeling. I found myself thinking about that feeling on my walk back to the train. I didn't want to leave that peace. I wanted to feed on it and bask in it, however the Holy Spirit brought to mind that wherever He is, there is peace. I praise Him that the Lamb of God has made way for me to be in His temple always and forever. Man no longer needs a physical building to 'find' God. That peace doesn't have to only be found on the grounds of an old, forsaken abbey. That peace is found in Christ and through Him resides in me!
