The Carthusians
The Carthusian Order is one of the very old monastic orders of Christendom. It is Bruno, born in Cologne around 1030, who was at its origin.
Bruno decided to follow what he considered his true vocation: to leave the world and the honors in order to live for God alone and "to embrace the monastic life." In June 1084, the Bishop of Grenoble found him a deserted place corresponding to his quest for solitude.
Wooden cells were quickly built, with a gallery connecting them to a chapel and a few buildings intended for community life, because, Bruno thought, it is necessary to associate the rigor of a solitary life with an important element of fraternal life, and therefore community.
It is this association which became the origin of the Carthusian Order, born in this way.
The Carthusians are an order of contemplatives who dedicate their entire existence to God alone. Their vocation develops in two forms:
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The fathers are priests, that is to say they have received the priesthood. They live most of the time in the silence of their small house called "cell."
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The brothers, in addition to their contemplative life, carry out the work necessary for the life of the monastery.
These are the two very complementary ways of life of the Carthusian monastery, under the sign of the common search for God, in a very solitary environment.