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Monasteries and convents are aging; the proportion of older people among their members is increasing significantly. Monks and nuns face a challenge: that of holding on to grow old and die within these institutions’ walls, without becoming a burden to the youngest members or discouraging those who would be attracted by this type of commitment. This involves a very delicate balancing act. Aging and dying calls for a common way of living, which, although not new, warrants the integration of current gerontological and palliative standards. Death offers an opportunity to strengthen the community ideal, but at the same time it also leads to the shrinking of these collectives. This article aims to examine old age and places of dying, drawing on an ongoing ethnographic study on the aging of contemplative communities in French-speaking Switzerland and in Bourgogne Franche-Comté, France.