The hermit monk who had lived 50 years in a cave in the Var is dead

Louis Chauvel, alias Frère Antoine, died this Friday at the age of 98.

This man, a Cistercian religious, lived as a hermit for fifty years in a cave in the Rock of Roquebrune-sur-Argens (Var), reports

.

After a bad fall suffered on October 15, 2017, he had to leave the place and had since been accommodated in Dieulefit (Drôme).

[DEATH] It is with sadness that we learned of the # death of Brother Antoine, the # hermit who lived in a #grotto in #RocherdeRoquebrune.

The City, through the voice of the Mayor, #JeanCayron and his municipal council, sends its most sincere # condolences to his family and friends.

pic.twitter.com/qdQRLLFgZR

- City of Roquebrune-sur-Argens (@ Roquebrune83520) October 24, 2021

"An example of love, simplicity, generosity"

During the fifty years of his hermitage, Frère Antoine had become a local legend, to the point of having had to put up a sign at the entrance of his home on which was inscribed: "The cave of Frère Antoine is not a tourist curiosity. but a place of fraternal meeting.

After that, this "voluntary buried", as

had described it

, did not hesitate to discuss philosophy and spirituality with hikers.

It was "an example of love, of simplicity, of generosity," a long-time friend of the religious stressed to our confreres.

“Brother Antoine is gone.

He wanted to leave, feeling that he had nothing more to do on Earth, ”she declared.

Society

"Deep Time": After forty days in a cave in Ariège, 15 confined volunteers find the light

Did you see ?

Coronavirus: Two young men fined for being confined in a cave, near Aix-en-Provence

• Religion

• Cave

• Toulon