The couvent de Malet

The Community

About 10 religious sisters from the congregation of the Roman Union Ursulines, inspired by Ste Angele Merici live in Malet. In different manners they contribute to the welcoming of the guests. They are always happy to talk, to share and to tell what their life is like, and are always at the disposal persons wishing to have a chat with them.

Usual church service times

The community invites you to share the prayers if you wish :

18h Mass on Wednesdays and on other days depending on the availability of the priest, or vespers at 18:30 any other days
20h15 Complies

Prier à Malet V1.pdf

La Communauté Malet, lieu de vie de Religieuses de la Congrégation des Ursulines de l’Union Romaine

The story

The history of the Couvent de Malet Reception is closely linked to the evolution of the Congregation of Ursuline Sisters.

A boarding school (1870 – 1965)

The history of the couvent de Malet is intimately linked to the evolution of the ursulines sisters congregation. A boarding school, founded in 1806 by the Ursuline sisters congregation of Malet, is first dedicated to educate young girls.

That’s why the sisters began to build a boarding school, achieved in 1870. More than being a simple comprehensive or grammar school , the boarding school ensures that the young girls are able to rule a home and become good wives. Everything was peaceful until laws about the separation of church and state are voted at the beginning of the 20th century. The laws of 1904 and 1905 dissolve the religious congregations. The ursulines sisters have to close their schools. After enduring many difficulties, the boarding school can open again in 1928 and the pupils can come back.

Finally, in 1965, the management of Catholic schooling asks the boarding school to close and to mix with a school located in espalion, a city close to St Come.

A time for questioning (1965 – 1985)

A Lay Community : le Buisson Ardent (1985 – 2000)

Meeting area Angèle Mérici (2004 - 2023)

Our project

After the arrival of the sisters of the Roman Union , during the winter of 2022/2023, we began to think about how to give a new life to the project of the meeting area Ste Angèle.

In September 2023, the place was named Accueil du Couvent de Malet and adopts a new principle : welcome, meet and share

At Accueil du Couvent de Malet you can have a peaceful stay in the spirit of fraternal share, and a qualitative welcoming. Each person is listened to and highly considered before going back on the path.

The activities in this house are seeking to follow the Laudato si dynamics developed by Pape François. It promotes true ecology, respect of the natural environment, of all the human beings, and relationships without barriers.

Malet, 9 centuries of tradition

Film directed by Daniel BORZAKIAN (October 2023)

The association

The association meeting area Angèle merici was created in 2011. It is necessary for the management of the guest house, and for financial, regulatory and administrative needs. This association is lead by an administrative council made of religious sisters and secular people.

A team of employees, seasonal employees and volunteers invest to make this place live.

The team

We are delighted to welcome you to Malet. In 1806, this place was the birthplace of an Aveyron-based congregation founded by a local woman: Jeanne Planchon. Since then, women here have dedicated their entire lives to following Christ, in the manner of Angela Merici, an Italian saint who lived in the 16th century.

They have prayed, educated, taught, and cared for those entrusted to them. Today, about ten elderly sisters live in Malet.

Through our prayer and our openness to encountering others, we participate, in our own small way, in the mission of this place.

By coming here to serve in welcoming pilgrims, you are, in a certain sense, our heirs.

So, let me, through a few key words, share a little of the treasure contained within this legacy:

Pilgrim: Angèle is a woman on the move, who allows herself to be guided by events and encounters, who goes where the mission calls her, who experiences that the path of life is traced step by step.
Insieme (together, in Italian): Angèle invites us to work together to build fraternal relationships that foster unity in diversity. Everyone is welcomed for who they are and invited to contribute to building the community.
Serviam (I will serve, in Latin): Angèle leads us to serve—to serve the life that seeks only to grow within each of us. To serve through humble daily tasks, to serve by listening attentively, to serve by offering encouragement, and to serve by joining in prayer for those who wish it.

We look forward to sharing all of this with you during your stay in Malet. We are confident that you will bring Angèle’s presence to life for all those who are welcomed here. Through the quality of your relationships and your spirit of fraternal sharing, you will enable each person to experience a peaceful respite, to be heard in their uniqueness, and to continue on their journey in peace and joy.

We thank you for your commitment and assure you of our friendship and our prayers.

Sr. Marie Pierre Chassaigne,

Community Leader.