On 17 April 2026, after Vigils, Brother Aymeric Archambeaud was called by the Lord to pass from this world to Him. He was 95 years and 9 months old, born in Caudéran in 1930, and professed at En Calcat in 1961. Brother Aymeric was born on July 11, a date that would later become the feast of Saint Benedict. The eldest of three children, he entered the monastery of En Calcat in 1959 after nine years of professional life in the insurance sector, during which he also practiced gliding.
In 1963, tuberculosis nearly took his life. He then spent a year recovering in a sanatorium in the Alpes-Maritimes, where he discovered the works of Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who became his spiritual guide and lasting source of inspiration. Brother Aymeric was a jovial man who enjoyed meeting others and laughed readily, especially at himself. Faithful in friendship, fraternal, sometimes stubborn, and attached to his independence and his own way of living the faith, he bore a sincere love for his brothers. Open, curious, and deeply free in spirit, he read scientific and historical works with the same interest as the adventures of Tintin, reflecting both a serious and wonder-filled view of the world.
Passionate about astronomy and cosmology, and open to a spirituality of universal scope, he sought God in the whole of creation. He served his community in many roles: farm work, bookbinding, infirmary, glazing, porter’s duties, accounting, kitchen, refectory, and many other services. A lover of music, especially fond of J.S. Bach and Gregorian chant, sensitive to the beauty of nature and color, a member of ecological and astronomical associations, and part of a musical ensemble where he played the flute, he preserved his youthful spirit and joy for life until the end. In the hope of the Resurrection, his community gives thanks for his life so generously given and entrusts him to Christ, the Alpha and the Omega of the universe.