page_title: Bernardine Cistercians of Esquermes
section_title: The First Hundred Years
hierarchical_section_title: Bernardine Cistercians of Esquermes / History / The First Hundred Years
caption_attribution_description: English: Esquermes in the 19th CenturyFrançais&#160;: Pensionnat des dames bernardines d'Esquermes à Lille.
context_page_description: The Bernardine Cistercians of Esquermes are a small branch of the Cistercian Order. They follow the Rule of St Benedict, and co-operate with the apostolic mission of the Church through educational activities and hospitality. There are eight monasteries of nuns in six countries, united by a central Government.
context_section_description: The sisters were joined by many young women who shared in their ideals and the ‘new’ monastery grew. A young chaplain who exercised disproportionate power in the life of the community imposed his own rule of life on the community, preventing them from following some of their Cistercian usages but the sisters clung to their customs and lived their Cistercian Rule in secret.
  In 1846, at the invitation of the Archbishop of Cambrai, they established a monastery and school in that town. 
  During this time, the schools and monasteries at Esquermes and Cambrai prospered, and had a considerable influence in the area. However anticlericalism persisted in France, and the sisters foresaw the possibility of further difficulties with the authorities. This led them to found ‘refuge’ communities, first in Belgium (Ollignies, 1883), and then in Slough in England (1897), Bonsecours in France (1904).
  The original intention at Esquermes had never been to establish a congregation, but the founding of new monasteries required new structures and new Constitutions, which were approved by Rome in 1909.
  In 1904, following anticlerical laws, the sisters were expelled from Esquermes and took refuge in the other houses of the Order. Ollignies in Belgium became the Mother House.
caption: Esquermes in the 19th Century
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