Eagle’s Nest of Faith
Mount Canigou has had a religious significance for the Catalans since time immemorial, but it was not until 1005 that the Benedictine Order decided to found an abbey there. The first church was consecrated in 1009, then rebuilt and re-consecrated in 1026.
This was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1482, and was but slowly repaired. However the abbey declined as a result of the Commende, and was closed in 1785. Its state declined over the subsequent century. In 1902, the bishop of Elne and Perpignan, proud of his Catalan patrimony, began, out of his own resources, the rebuilding of the monastery.
Not for ever in green pastures
do we ask our way to be;
but the steep and rugged pathway
may we tread rejoicingly.
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