The Carmelite foundation of Notre-Dame de Lumières, located on the Île de Nantes, has replaced its church organ through the generosity of several partners, including the Fondation des Monastères.
For nearly 30 years the faithful in Nantes have come together with the Carmelites for liturgy. “In this life punctuated by apostolates and times of prayer, liturgy plays an important role. Even if we want [the liturgy] to be sober, we still want it to be beautiful and prayerful, to help us to rise up to God. That's why, many years ago, the community acquired a second-hand organ. For almost fifteen years, it accompanied all our liturgies. However, its sound began to show its limitations ...”
The idea of restoring the second-hand instrument was discussed. But the cost was beyond the Carmelites’ means. Yet well-done liturgy at the first Carmelite foundation in France since the French Revolution is foundational. In a location that perfectly embodies the concept of religious life, both in the midst of the people (the Île de Nantes where Lumières is located is in the city) and yet in a space conducive to silence and meditation.
When the idea of restoring the organ was allowed to die because of the cost, the proposal was made to build a new organ. The project was put on hold as well for lack of funds and a lack of people with the skills necessary to build a pipe organ. However, during a meeting in 2021, the Carmelites and Philippe Humeau, a member of the Association Orgue en Pays de la Loire, the organ builder Denis Londe, a tuner and conservatory teacher Michel Bourcier, agreed to begin building a new musical instrument for the church.
“It was this meeting," says Brother Martin Gilloux, the prior of Notre Dame de Lumières and general delegate of the Order in France, "that the specifics of the organ were agreed to.” The group settled on a German Baroque organ, whose sound is appropriate for liturgy as well as the church’s sober aesthetic. In fact, one condition section of the agreement is that organ students from the conservatory will come and train with the Carmelites—something the general delegation has been attempting to have happen for a long time.
In fact, the new musical instrument means a new artistic program at the Carmelite foundation. It is an opportunity for the church to have more people experience its life. There will be exchanges with the musical world of Nantes with such opportunities as hosting concerts.
The new organ will be inaugurated on April 14, 2024, at a thanksgiving mass for the 30th anniversary of the foundation.
The Carmelite foundation in Nantes was built between 1992 and 1994 when the Carmelite Order decided to return to France officially for the first time since the French Revolution. The very strong Carmelite presence throughout France was decimated during the revolution. In the early 1990s, the Carmelites, at the invitation of the then bishop of Nantes, Bishop Émile Marcus, to establish a prayer center in the new Île Beaulieu district. The architect Bertrand Lemaire was engaged to design a conventual church, a monastery with a cloister and a library. The conventual church is in the shape of a pentagon around the altar, evoking a great tent, gathering the Christian people around their Lord. The complex is dedicated to Notre-Dame de Lumières, as a reminder of an earlier Carmelite church in Provence.
Today, in addition to conferences and publications, the Carmelites participate in the life of the diocese through a chaplaincy for students and chaplaincies in retirement homes. There is also on-going theological training with courses at the Université Catholique de l'Ouest (Rezé branch).
