Haeften, Benedikt van. — Prior of the Benedictine monastery of Afflighem in Belgium, born in Utrecht in 1588, died 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 was ordained priest in 1613. He became prior in 1616 and provost in 1618, succeeding Matthias Hovius, archbishop of Mechelen. Under his leadership, the abbey of Afflighem attained notable temporal and spiritual prosperity. In adherence to the reform movement originating in Lorraine, in 1628 he founded the Belgian Congregation of the Presentation of Mary, which prescribed perpetual abstinence, rising at 2 a.m., and both intellectual and manual labor. However, the new Congregation, opposed by the archbishop of Mechelen, came to an end in 1654.
Among the various writings of H. worthy of special mention are: Den lusthof der Christelijke lecrurige 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).