Haeften, Benedict van

HAEFTEN, Benedict van. - Prior of the Benedictine monastery of Afflighem, in Belgium, b. at Utrecht in 1588, d. at Afflighem on 31 July 1648. He studied philosophy and theology at Louvain; in 1609 he entered the Benedictines of Afflighem; he made his solemn profession there in 1611 and received priestly ordination there in 1613. He became prior there in 1616 and provost in 1618, succeeding Matthias Hovius, archbishop of Malines. Under him the abbey of Afflighem attained notable temporal and spiritual prosperity. Adhering to the reform movement that had started from Lorraine, in 1628 he founded the Belgian Congregation of the Presentation of Mary, in which perpetual abstinence, rising at 2 in the morning, and intellectual and manual work were prescribed. But the new Congregation, opposed by the archbishop of Malines, came to an end in 1654.

Among H.'s various writings, special mention is due to: Den lusthof der Christelijke lecrurghe beplant (Antwerp 1622); Propugnaculum reformationis Ordinis S. Benedicti, (ibid. 1634); Benedictus illustratus sive dispositionum monasticarum libri XII, quibus s. p. Benedicti Regula et religiosorum rituum antiquitates variae dilucidantur (ibid. 1644).

Francesco Russo