During the first week after Easter 2003, the founder of the IFSB and two close associates traveled to France at La Grande Chartreuse, the motherhouse of the Carthusian Order founded by Saint Bruno in 1084, to meet with the Reverend Father Prior of La Grande Chartreuse, who had invited them. The Reverend Father is also the General of the Carthusian Order.
During a week of extensive talks, the Reverend Father left us eleven guidelines to help us follow the spirit of Saint Bruno in a form adapted to lay persons living in the world, and suggested that our organization that was then known as the Carthusian Lay Contemplatives (CLC), rather be named the International Fellowship of Saint Bruno (IFSB). This is due to the fact that the Carthusian order is protective of the name Carthusian. This protection even extended to the name of the order's own lay Carthusian retreat house, originally called the Selignac lay Carthusian retreat center; the order changed it's name to the Community of Saint Bruno. The Community of Saint Bruno is located at the former Charterhouse of Selignac.
The Reverend Father pledged to assist the International Fellowship of Saint Bruno (IFSB), in the quest to share the fruits of Carthusian spirituality with those who are seeking to deepen their relationship with God.
Those who wish to learn about the Carthusian order and the spirituality of the monks and nuns during the more than 900 years of the order's existence, are invited to navigate this website for further information, and are also welcome to join the IFSB member's forum.
If you find that you feel a call to incorporate Carthusian spirituality into your plan for spiritual growth, you could eventually apply to become a member of the Saint Bruno Lay Contemplatives (SBLC). Being a Saint Bruno Lay Contemplative, entails to be a monastic without leaving our place in the world, but making our place one suitable for the habitation of the Holy Spirit, who is our guide, who is the source of our life, indeed, all life.
