The Treasures of an Abbey in Ruins: Orval

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The Treasures of an Abbey in Ruins: Orval

by Patrick Bernauw on 31/05/09 at 3:11 am

I visited the abbey of Orval (Belgium) together with Kathleen McGowan, who writes extensively about Countess Mathilde of Tuscany in “The Book of Love”. Mathilde founded the abbey in the 11th century, and she – as the abbey itself – are shrouded in mystery. Want to hear about the lost treasures and the prophecy of Orval? And was Nostradamus here – really?

The wedding ring of Mathilde of Tuscany accidentally had fallen into a well. She prayed to the Lord and suddenly a trout rose to the surface with the ring in its mouth. “This truly is a Valley of Gold!” Mathilde exclaimed, and so she built the abbey of the Golden Valley, the Val d’Or, Orval… out of an act of gratitude. Here is Kathleen McGowan standing by the miraculous “wishing well” of Mathilde: if you throw a coin in the water, you may make a wish… as Mathilde did.

According to Kathleen McGowan, Mathilde was a descendant of Jesus and Magdalene. As described in “The Book of Love” – that’s also the gospel written by Jesus himself – the abbey played a key-role in the hidden history of the “bloodliners”. In her novel, Kathleen follows the trail of Mathilde, who was secretly married to a pope, through Italy, France and Belgium.

In the abbey is a strange sculpture to be seen, of a Madonna with an enigmatic little smile. The infant appears to be squirming out of the girl’s hands, who has more of a nine-year-old girl then of Jesus’ Mother. Is this an elder sister attempting to hold her baby brother? More secrets revealed by Kathleen McGowan in books such as “The Expected One” or “The Book of Love” are to be found in the article “The Magdalene Line”.

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The first monks to settle in Orval arrived here in 1070. They came from the south of Italy. In the 12th century they requested an affiliation to the Order of Cîteaux, led by Bernard of Clairvaux, who wrote the rule of the Knights Templar. For five centuries, the abbey of the Cistercians of Orval was very prosperous. During the wars of the 15th and 16th centuries however, between France, Burgundy and Spain, the Luxembourg region and the abbey of Orval were not spared. On the picture above, you can see the new abbey next to the ruins of the old abbey.

In the 16th century, the great prophet Nostradamus was attracted by the famous herb garden of the abbey. He would have written here some of his quatrains and probably also the Prophecy of Orval, which came to light during the French Revolution and predicted the coming of a Great Monarch.

In some of his quatrains, it’s like Nostradamus is not predicting something, but is talking about a temple and a secret or a treasure. Several of his quatrains could be interpreted as pointing to the lost treasure of the Knights Templar… to be found in the abbey of Orval.

Look twogether

as through one eye

to what the stones

are telling you.

During the French Revolution, the abbey lived through various alerts. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were on their way to the abbey, just across the French border, to start a contra-revolution – but they were arrested in Varennes. The War Chest however, disappeared without a trace somewhere on the domain of the abbey. That was the reason why the abbey was sacked and burned by the republican troops of General Loison, on 23 June 1793.

The Fortune of the Bourbons was not found… and still is not. Some do believe that the quatrains of Nostradamus again contain the key to the mystery. The royalist troops would have used them as a code. There is much talking about a tomb… This one?

Or this one?

You still can visit the ruins of the old abbey, and enjoy the famous Trappist Beer or the Orval cheese of the new abbey, that was built in 1926.

Mysteries of the Valley of Gold: Orval
More Mysteries of Brave Little Belgium:
Ghent – A Mystery of the Mystic Lamb
The Holy Blood & The Holy Grail of Bruges-la-Morte

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Tags: abbey, Ardennes, beer, Belgium, code, Jesus, Kathleen McGowan, Knights Templar, lost treasures, Luxembourg, Madonna, mystery, nostradamus, Orval, prophecy, ruins, secret, Temple, The Book of Love, tomb, trappist, Treasure

7 Comments

Lucas Dié

May 31st, 2009

lovely

well, like the money of the templars who settled in Switzerland, the bourbon money disappeared there together with Louis XVII. – the French government recently paid the open bills of Louis to the Swiss government (18 gold old francs)

Unofre Pili

May 31st, 2009

Thanks for sharing. Great story.

Joe Dorish

May 31st, 2009

Yes, great story!

C Jordan

Jun 1st, 2009

Perhaps the beer and the cheese are the real treasure.

Ruby Hawk

Jun 1st, 2009

How exciting, the very place Nostradomas wrote his perdictions. That is wonderful

Todd Laurence

Jun 2nd, 2009

The Nostradamus Code – Explained:

In 1558., Nostradamus, writing to Henry II, mentions
the Chaldean Alphabet, (numerology).

“Such is the extent of time past, subject to correction by the most learned judgment, that the first man, Adam, came 1,242 years before Noah (not reckoning by such Gentile calculations as Varro used, but simply by the Holy Scriptures, as best my weak understanding and astronomical calculations can interpret them.) *About 1,080 years after Noah and the universal flood came Abraham, who, according to some, was a first-rate astrologer and invented the “Chaldean alphabet.” About 515 or 516 years later came Moses, and from his time to that of David about 570 years elapsed. From the time of David to that of out Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, born of the unique Virgin, 1,350 year elapsed, according to some chronographs. Some may object that this calculation cannot be true, because it differs from that of Eusebius. From the time of the human redemption to the detestable heresy of the Saracens about 621 years elapsed.

From this one can easily add up the amount of time gone by.”

His mentioning the 1080 is a symbolic gesture, because we
currently use 10 ^ 80th power to signify the total of
elemental particles in the known universe….

1080 is also mentioned by Plato, to indicate “universal
truth.”

Using the Chaldean numerology, will give you the correct
numbers for finding the ‘quatrain’ related to our times. As
he indicates, “just add up the amount of time gone by.”

Example: One = 755 Two = 467, etc…

Chaldean: http://www.crystalinks.com/numerology.html

http://www.crystalinks.com/nostradamus.html