Fruits of Grace
The Ecumenical Experience of the Community of Grandchamp
by Minke de Vries, translated by Nancy S. Gower
A reflection on the origins and development of one of the key women’s monastic communities in modern Europe, written by a former prioress.
Before Taize, there was Grandchamp. The lesser-known Protestant women’s community,initiated in 1936, grew out of generations of women’s groups in French-speaking Switzerland. It was heavily influenced by Wilfred Monod, the Student Christian Movement, Swiss Reformed efforts at liturgical renewal, and Bonhoeffer’s Life Together. It was so deeply affected by the angst generated by World War II and the search by European Christians for new ways to be Christian. The Fruits of Grace, authored by the third prioress of the Community of Grandchamp in Switzerland, reflects on the origins of the community, the sources and development of its spirituality, and on its ministries. Foci include the involvement of the community in the ecumenical movement and in mission around the world. There is also important new information about its interaction with Taize, Roman Catholic religious communities, and the women themselves, as individuals and as a community. Sister Minke de Vries provides an intimate view into the inner workings of a women’s community and the structures of the spiritual practices of the Community of Grandchamp. It is a powerful analysis of a European Protestant women’s monastic community.
- By (author) Minke de Vries
- Edited by Nancy Gower
"Sister Minke's book, the fruit of her long years at Grandchamp, is a moving testimony to the wonderful spirit of forgiveness, reconciliation, and striving for unity that animates this wonderful community of Protestant monastic women. It touched me deeply."THOMAS P. RAUSCH, SJ, Loyola Marymount University"The communities of Taize and Grandchamp have much in common. Born from the same milieu, their leaders drew upon one another as they formed and matured as thoroughly ecumenical communities. This translation of Sr. Minke's account of the growth and development of Grandchamp, offered here by Dr. Nancy Gower, an expert on the formation and growth of Taize, brings new insight into their relationship"CECIL M. ROBECK, JR., Fuller Theological Seminary"The account of Sister Minke de Vries provides an important insight into the recovery of monasticism within the churches of the Reformation. Her personal perspective as the third prioress of the Community of Grandchamp gives us an insight into the evolution of the community during a period of intensive renewal and ecumenical encounter. Nancy Gower's well-documented introduction provides a window into the origins of the community in the confluence of movements that also gave rise to the communities of Taize and Pomeyrol. This work is a welcome contribution to the history of monasticism and of ecumenical spirituality."CATHERINE E. CLIFFORD, Saint Paul University, Ottawa
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