Someone asked me the other day about the main picture of my blog. I took that picture in April 2006 at Mont Saint Michele, a beautiful and ancient shrine to Saint Michael the Archangel off the northern coast of France.
The monastery is built on a very small island and over the centuries a small village has emerged along the road to the entrance to the monastery.
Believed to have been the dwelling place of pagan druids, Christian hermits replaced then with the arrival of Christianity in the sixth century. The monastery proper began in the 700s after Saint Michael himself appeared to Saint Aubert in 708 ordering him to build a church on the island. Over the centuries it became a strategic military stronghold and the monastery continued to grow as a spiritual powerhouse in the region. It stands today as a deeply spiritual place as well as a historical and architectural gem.
It is best known for its cloister which seems to float high above the world with the clouds. I took the blog’s main picture from the cloister, catching the shadow the monastery cast on the sandy ocean floor while the tide was low. The picture captures an aspect of the mystery and transcendence of God shinning through creation.
I first visited Mont Saint Michele in the summer of 2000 and something truly struck me. Watching the tide come in at night was spectacular.
In April of 2006 I returned but this time to stay a while. I contacted the monastic community that lives there and stayed with them for three days. After walking several miles from the train station to the island (the buses only ran twice per day), I arrived at the monastery. The community is called the Fraternite Monastique de Jerusalem (Monastic Fraternity of Jerusalem) and their liturgies were phenomenal. I was even more excited to find out that later that same year they would open a community in Rome, which they did, at the Church of Trinita dei Monti.
I was given a key to come and go as I pleased and had access to the museum area of the monastery before and after closing hours. The Monastery is now owned by the French government.
The island was connected to the mainland by a causeway in the 1800s but recently a pedestrian bridge is replacing the causeway to restore the natural state of the coastline and island. Cars will park on the mainland and visitors will walk to the island.
This is one of the most amazing places I have ever visited, and I recommend it to any curious traveler or seeking pilgrim.
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