Monday, June 01, 2009

New DVD from the Benedictine Monastery of Le Barroux [UPDATED]

It was with great pleasure that I received a review copy of the new DVD from the Monastery of Le Barroux in France -- a Benedictine monastery that uses the liturgical books of the usus antiquior and which is tied to the justly reknowned Dom Gerard Calvet.

The DVD is titled Veilleurs dans la Nuit: Une Journee Monastique a l'Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux (Watchers in the Night: A Monastic Day at the Abbey of Sainte-Madeleine of Barroux).

Not since Into Great Silence, the DVD which shows the life of La Grande Chartreuse of the Carthusians, have I seen such an excellent DVD on the monastic life, complete with beautiful cinematography.

The DVD itself includes a number of views of the various liturgical offices of the monastery, the day to day labora which is such a fundamental aspect of the Rule of St. Benedict, and Pontifical Mass of the Abbot of Le Barroux, Dom Louis-Marie.

The native language of the DVD is French, though there are subtitles available in English, German, Spanish and Italian. Of course, the images which the DVD brings to you are more than worthwhile on their own -- not to mention the Latin chants and liturgies shown therein.

The film runs 52 minutes in length, and the DVD is in PAL format -- but this will play on many DVD players today, and most certainly DVD drives in computers.

To order, please see this form for directions.

I leave you with a number of images from this splendid DVD.




(Ora)






(The tonsure)


(Labora)






(Pontifical Mass with the Abbot)






(The pontifical vestment sets at Le Barroux have always struck me as an example of some of the better modern vestment work that came out of the Liturgical Movement, employing rich and textured embroideries, combined with noble materials)






(The cloister)


UPDATE



By the way, if you want to read more about this, and see some more screen captures, do browse on over to WDTPRS where Fr. Zuhlsdorf provided a comprehensive review of this title back on May 9th.

Between the two reviews, I think you can agree, it's an excellent product and worth investing in. Do yourself a favour and purchase a copy.

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