The charming little town of Bornem (or Bornhem) is in the Flemish, northern part of Belgium, a few kilometers southwest of Antwerp.  It connects to this port city by a branch of the Schelde River.  (See a map.)  Here in the 18^th century, the English Friars Preachers had operated Holy Cross College.

    After the Dominican friars had fled from the armed revolutionary forces, the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance took possession of the property.  They enhanced the existing structures and added others suitable to their life.  Today, it is "Sint Bernardusabdij" or Saint Bernard's Abbey, but there are very few monks there now.

   At the gate leading from the driveway to the front yard, there is a small historical marker written in Flemish (Dutch) acknowledging the spread of the Order of Preachers in the United States from this place.  There is a large chapel or abbey church, but there is also a small chapel in another wing of the monastery.  The latter appears to have been the friars' chapel at the time of our founders because Saint Thomas Aquinas is carved on the front of the altar, and on the back wall, there is a painting of Saints Dominic and Catherine receiving Rosaries.

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