Source with pictures: Annecy : la ferme du monastère de la Visitation renaît ! | RCF Haute-Savoie
“Before the monastery, there was already a farm! And until 1995, the community operated it. These facilities are our heritage” analyzes Sister Marie-Adrienne, Visitandine nun.
A legacy that had been abandoned, the community aging. But the recent arrival of younger nuns from all over the world has changed the situation. “In Colombia, where I come from, we cultivated a garden. I have seen the spiritual benefits of it”, underlines the current mother superior, Sister Maria-Silvia. The project is unique and resembles the community When the community was planning to reinvest in its farm, Annecy families came to offer them help.
Families who linked the nuns with Alice Ract-Madoux. The entrepreneur has just created Labora, a structure whose aim is to support religious communities in agro-ecological initiatives. “I discovered their charism, their founder, their aspirations. They showed me around their 7-hectare park, the different workshops that are found behind each door of the monastery. The project is unique and resembles the community and to the potential of the place” says the agronomist.
A way to give back to the community what it gives us The reborn farm includes a chicken coop, market gardening, an orchard, a workshop for the manufacture of phytotherapy products… For the investment and work phase, the nuns have recourse to donations and voluntary investment from families. “It’s a great way to give back to the community everything it gives us, by praying and hosting retreats” emphasize Mélanie, Gabrielle and Etienne, all three participants in the workcamps. “It’s great to work in nature!” note Aurélien and Prisca, who accompany their parents. Seeing families believe in our vocation does us good! “The link is what I like about this project,” confides Mélissandre Gabet, a collaborating agronomist at Labora. “The farm creates a link between the community, lay people, professionals. And then, as was the case in history, the monasteries once again become places of experimentation, from which agricultural innovations can emerge. All this respecting nature”. The hens gave their first eggs. Parsley has already joined religious books and candles on the shelves of the Visitandines store. And the nuns already find a dynamism there: “Seeing the families believe in our vocation, it does us good. And between us, participating in this work creates even more fraternity, joy” conclude the nuns.