Benedictine Abbeys Pilgrimage: Vézelay to Cîteaux, 7 Days

Length: Seven days
Walking: Gentle
Season: April to October
Status: First departures in 2027

The grace we ask on this way

To listen, the first word of the Rule, and to find peace in a life of prayer and work.

Fontgombault
Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire
Vézelay
Fontenay
Cîteaux

For nearly fifteen centuries, the Rule of Saint Benedict has ordered the life of monks around prayer and work, and asked them to welcome every guest as Christ himself. Each day the group prays the Office with the monks, from Lauds to Compline.

The pilgrimage begins at Fontgombault, on the Creuse, where the Benedictines of the Solesmes Congregation sing the Hours in Gregorian chant and the Mass in its traditional Latin form. On the Loire, the abbey of Fleury, at Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, keeps, according to its tradition, the relics of Saint Benedict brought from Monte Cassino. You will pray the Office with the monks in the Romanesque basilica, entered through its porch tower with carved capitals.

In Burgundy, you will climb the hill of Vézelay to hear Vespers in the basilica of the Madeleine.

The week ends with the Cistercians, who reformed the Benedictine life. At Fontenay, founded by Saint Bernard, the church has no ornament, and at Cîteaux, mother house of the order since 1098, a monk will speak with you about the life of his community.

Daily prayer

The Rule of Saint Benedict opens with the word “Listen.” For a week you keep the monks’ hours, with silence for prayer between the Offices.

This landSaint Benedict died at Monte Cassino, yet his relics have been venerated on the Loire since the seventh century, and from Cluny and Cîteaux, both in Burgundy, his sons reformed the monastic life of the whole West.

Each day

The day follows the bells: Lauds before breakfast, Mass with the community wherever it can receive us, Vespers in the late afternoon, and after Compline the great silence, kept until morning.

The rites of this way

Each pilgrim receives the Rule of Saint Benedict
The great silence, kept from Compline to Lauds
A conversation with a monk of Cîteaux about the life of his community
A short rule of life for home, written on the last day with the priest

Before you leave

Read the Prologue of the Rule of Saint Benedict, with chapter 4, on the tools of good works, and chapter 53, on the welcome of guests.

The fruit of the way

A few fixed times of prayer in your own day, and the habit of keeping silence.

Who it is forThose who need rest and prayer, Benedictine oblates, those discerning a vocation and lovers of chant.

Day by day

Seven days from Berry and the Loire to Burgundy, by the hours of the Office. The monks’ timetable comes first.

Day I
AuscultaListen
Paris to Fontgombault
The train to Châteauroux, about two hours, then the valley of the Creuse and the abbey of Fontgombault
Vespers sung in Gregorian chant with the monks of Fontgombault
Night near Fontgombault
Day II
CantusThe song of the Church
Fontgombault
A day by the bells of the abbey, from Lauds to Compline, and its Romanesque church on the Creuse
The conventual Mass and the Hours, sung in Gregorian chant at Fontgombault
Night near Fontgombault
Day III
Opus DeiNothing preferred to the work of God
Fontgombault to Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire
North to the Loire, about two and a half hours; the porch tower and its capitals, and the crypt where the relics of Saint Benedict rest
Vespers with the monks of Fleury, then prayer in the crypt before the relics of Saint Benedict
Night on the Loire
Day IV
ViaThe pilgrims’ road
Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire to Vézelay
The road to Burgundy, about two hours, then the climb to Vézelay on foot, as pilgrims to Compostela did
Lauds at Fleury, the rosary on the road, then Vespers in the basilica of Vézelay
Night in Vézelay
Day V
SilentiumSilence
Vézelay
The tympanum of the narthex, where Christ sends out his apostles, and the crypt of the Madeleine
An afternoon of silence on the hill, then Compline in the Madeleine
Night in Vézelay
Day VI
SimplicitasSimplicity
Fontenay and Cîteaux
The abbey of Fontenay, then Cîteaux, where a monk speaks with the group
Vespers with the Cistercians of Cîteaux
Night in Beaune
Day VII
StabilitasStability
Beaune to Paris
The high-speed train from Dijon to Paris
The farewell Mass, and a rule of life for home
Last day

Masses, private openings and some visits are requested for each group and remain subject to the consent of rectors, curators and communities.

First departures in 2027. Tell us the season you prefer, and we will propose departure dates once reservations open.

The holy places of this way: Fontgombault, Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, Vézelay, Fontenay, Cîteaux.

Further reading: Vézelay: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Basilica of Mary Magdalene; Gregorian Chant in France: Monasteries Open to Pilgrims; Romanesque France: Cluny and the Churches of the Pilgrim Roads.

The saints of this way: Saint Benedict, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.

This way can also be made at a gentle pace, with two or three days in Paris before or after.

Register your interest Practical matters