A New Monastic Home in Peru
Our brethren in Peru have now moved to their new home, the monastery at Lurin, south of Lima, which was formerly home to a community of Cistercian nuns, a foundation of the famous Abbey of Las Huelgas in Burgos, Spain.
The community here at Belmont and in Peru had been looking at ways of coping with a growing community and accommodating the many guests wanting to visit on retreat. At Pachacamac monks and guests had to find some way of sharing a its small number of rooms and stretched facilities. We were giving thought to further building work, but this would be very expensive.
It seemed like a real gift from God, the unexpected offer that came from the Abbess and Community of the Cistercian Abbey of Las Huelgas in Spain for our monks to take over their former foundation at Lurin, just 10 miles from our own Monastery of the Incarnation at Pachacamac. The Cistercian house was founded in 1992, but had to be suppressed in 2016 for lack of vocations. Our brethren in Peru were absolutely delighted at the offer. Another religious community will take over, for the time being, the monastery at Pachacamac.
Lurin has the advantage of having a complete set of monastic buildings, including church, guesthouse and workshops. It also has a 10-acre orchard, which provides a good part of the income. The monastery is much nearer the centre of things, being just a 10 minute walk from the cathedral, local seminary, market, bus stops and so on. The Community will, among other things, return to working with the poor, which was an important aspect of our life in Tambogrande and San Lorenzo. This move has the wholehearted support of the local bishop, who hopes the Community will build on the fine work done at Pachacamac by becoming an important spiritual centre for Lima and Peru
The community have now moved into the monastery. The address is: Monjes Benedictinos de la Encarnación, Monasterio Santa María de la Santísima Trinidad, Lurín, Lima 16. The telephone number is +51 1 4301057. Email addresses remain the same as does the P.O.Box (Apartado 16-061, Lurín, Lima 16, Perú).
