The Abbey of the Norbertines of Averbode

The monastery of the Norbertines of Averbode has very early roots in France and was established not much later in Averbode itself.
Foundation (Order & Abbey)

They settled the Order of the Premonstratensians/Norbertines (O. Praem.) in Averbode around 1134, founded in 1120 by Norbert of Xanten at Prémontré (France). They are canons regular who follow the Rule of St. Augustine, combining a life of prayer with pastoral ministry.

Averbode: The Abbey of Averbode was founded at the initiative of Arnold II, Count of Loon. From Averbode, the first priests were sent out to many parishes in the County of Loon, since many parishes at that time had no resident clergy and little knowledge of Latin. The abbey was suppressed in the 18th century, but refounded in 1834. Today it remains one of the major Norbertine abbeys in Belgium.

Averbode’s own missions (late 19th – 20th century):
In 1896, at the request of Pope Leo XIII, the first missionaries departed from Averbode for Brazil. In Pirapora, Brazil, they founded a parish and pilgrimage site in 1897, together with an apostolic school, which between 1905 and 1949 served as a minor seminary for several dioceses. In Jaguarão, they opened a school in 1901, later transferred to Jaú in 1915. In 1909, the Norbertines of Averbode took over a school in Petrópolis.
As their numbers grew, many priests and lay brothers joined these Brazilian missions, and in 1908 the first Brazilian candidates entered the abbey of Averbode.
In 1903, the abbey also sent two confrères to Denmark, where they founded a parish and school in Vejle, on the east coast of central Jutland, followed by a hospital in 1913. Ludolf Brems later became Apostolic Vicar of Denmark and Titular Bishop of Roskilde (1922).
Besides Vejle, the abbey accepted responsibility for several other parishes in Denmark.

The abbey’s own history links these missions to the 19th-century Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and to the flourishing of its publishing and printing apostolate (magazines, youth ministry).

The Norbertine missionary work centres around parish ministry, education, catechismus, and social service, all lived out from the community’s liturgical and communal life. The Norbertines were also active in Congo, though that work was historically connected mainly with other Belgian abbeys, notably Tongerlo Abbey in the Uélé region from the late 19th century onward.