Dom Placid Lawson OSB – Golden Jubilee of his Profession in monastic vows. 11th July, 2017
CAMPERDOWN
2017
VICTORIA • AUSTRALIA 1
Sr Raphael making the new ‘Light Tree’ for paddock Christmas Crib. Though not in the picture, our friend Colin Langley also helped enormously.
Always plenty to do in the garden! Can you find the monk?
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The beginning of a new year focuses the mind on that very earthly thing called ‘time’. Time can be incessant, a strict disciplinarian, and sometimes it seems to just disappear like water in an ever-flowing river. Yet time is always there and we are a part of it, it a part of us. We can spend time. We can give time. We can use time. We can waste time. We can lose time. We can pass time. Whatever we do with it, time moves on. Time on earth is past, present and to come. Yet, can we see time as the gift that it is? In the Old Testament book of Ecclesiates, (Chapter 3) we hear the preacher telling us that, To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven. (NKJV). Every undertaking on earth has its time and as such is beautiful in its season, but only in its season. When we break up the tranquil flow of the life which God has designed for us – work when we should be resting, waking when we should be sleeping, gathering when we should be giving, planting when we should be fallowing the ground – then it is that we run into trouble. Let us see time as a gift, an ever present, present. Maybe we can ponder the words of Jesuit priest and writer (died 1751), Jean Pierre de Caussade who said, ‘(Leave) the past to the infinite mercy of God, the future to His good providence and the present wholly to his love by being faithful to his grace’, and we could add, until we come to that eternity that God has placed in human hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11) where, they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:10). May 2018 be a time of grace and blessing. Sr Raphael Stone OSB Superior
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COMMUNITY CHRONICLES 2017 January 1 2017: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Having experienced a busy 2016, and just having printed the Abbey Newsletter, it was decided that a week of relaxed timetable was needed. One of the advantages of being a small community is that decisions can be made more quickly! Dom Placid and Fr Aidan have erected a metal trellis behind the laundry wall for climbing beans.
discovered’. The abbey buildings are clearly visible from Camperdown-Cobden Road! February 21 Our summer is almost over – supposedly – and what a mixture of seasons we have had over the last six months. February 22: Chair of St Peter; Feast. Today at Conventual Mass we remembered the inauguration of the new foundation of Benedictine monks of Notre-Dame Priory, near Hobart, Tasmania, (from Flavigny Abbey in France). We sent an email of welcome to this ‘great south land of the Holy Spirit’ with our prayers and best wishes. The weather is still topsy-turvey today. Whoever would have thought of snow on Mt Dandenong last week, – and at the same time devastating fires in New South Wales? Sister Raphael attended the yearly meeting of Superiors of Anglican Religious Communities followed by the Advisory Council held in Stroud N.S.W.
January 15: The first zucchinis and plums were picked. January 18 Dom Placid spent time rereading Christmas cards that are to be removed from the community room. Christmas cards are always full of joy and hope and good wishes for the new year ahead. Time also to listen to some Mozart of which one never tires; thence to peruse book reviews and attending to icon orders. Visitors from France dropped in who were used to visiting Benedictine abbeys in their home country. The farmer across the main road has been busy removing the last of the rolled bales of hay from the paddocks to storage. It has been a bountiful season after the excellent winter rains last year. We have been given two framed folio size pages from a Flemish Antiphonale of 1750 comprising the antiphons for Lauds with brief response of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the BVM and the melodies. Early windfall Bramley apples and ripe plums are being stewed and are filling containers for the deep freezers. We also picked mulberries and rhubarb, normally by this time the stalks of the latter are turning leathery, but not so this year. (Advice for future pickers: Don’t wear white!).
March 6 Guests have been numerous recently and will be for some considerable time. About twenty-six large cartons of books arrived as gift to the abbey. Some will go into our library and some for a second-hand book sale in the abbey shop. March 13 Fr Ron Browning, oblate, has given us the second in a series of conferences on the Fathers of the Church. The first conference was concerned with St Ireneaus. Today, the second conference was on the lives, thought and influence of both St Athanasius, 296-373; ‘God became man so that man may become God.’ (De Incarn. Verbi Dei); and St Antony,251-356. ‘How is it that he was heard of, though concealed and sitting in a mountain?’ ‘Antony was sorry he was not martyred; his monastic life was a form of martyrdom.’
February 3 The front gateway to the abbey property on Cobden Road will need to he replaced in the not too distant future. The white posts and railings are well past their use by date. Even the sign ‘Benedictine Abbey’ is looking tired. We need a wider entrance to allow coaches and trucks to pass through easily and thus a much wider cattle grid. Something built of stone blocks and not needing painting would appear to be the best bet.
March 21 The Passing of Our Holy Father St Benedict, Abbot. Solemnity. Today’s portion of the Martyrology, Saints Days and Other Anniversaries that we read daily, mentions the principles of the Holy Rule written by St Benedict. These became the basis of religious life for all western religious orders and congregations. The Rule of Benedict shows a way to religious perfection by the practice of self-conquest, mortification, humility, obedience, prayer, silence, retirement, and detachment from the world and its cares. St Benedict died March 21, 543 as he stood before the altar of Monte Cassino immediately after receiving Holy Communion.
February 20 A group of some fifty-three members of Camperdown Probus Club were here on a visit during the morning. It is amazing that we are often told by visitors, ‘We have driven past here on numerous occasions hoping to visit one day;’ or ‘I never knew there was a monastery up on the hill;’ or ‘ Well, this is a hidden gem waiting to be 4
replace guttering along one wing of the abbey, and also reminded us of the condition of our front gateway after the signboard was blown down.
Conventual Mass was changed from the normal time of 8.30am to that of 11.00am to allow Bishop Garry to be principle Celebrant. We sang the well-known entrance antiphon Gaudeamus in Domino in Latin, (which is a delight as the plainsong melody is beautiful), followed by the Kyrie Altissime. Bishop Garry preached a most thoughtful homily concerning pilgrimage and journey in life – life’s pilgrimage. St Benedict has some very thoughtful sentences in the Prologue to the Holy Rule, as a guide for prayerful living and pilgrimage: • to run while you have the light of life. • to do now what will profit us forever. • to progress in this way of life and in faith, running on the path of God’s commandments with our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love. • and – in Chapter 73 of the Rule: the question, ‘Are you hastening towards your heavenly home ?’ Well, are we? There is still time to come to our senses!
April 13: Holy Thursday, Choir practice. April 14: Good Friday, A larger congregation for the Liturgy at 3.00pm. April 15: Holy Saturday. The Liturgy began at 7.30pm; the altar and surrounds looked impressive and everything went like clockwork – smoothly and without fuss. Deo Gratias! April 16: Easter Sunday. Twelve of us, including guests, oblates & friends sat down to dinner after drinks in the cloister, to a meal superbly prepared by Brian. It had been decided beforehand to have the Easter Octave free with a view that we could have more time to rest. We are all extremely tired from a taxing Lent, and a moderated timetable for the week was agreed upon as sensible and necessary.
March 26 Diocesan day of Recollection at the abbey. Numbers attending these Quiet Days have been increasing slowly over the past few months.
April 17: Easter Monday. Sr Raphael gave a ‘thought for the day’ at today’s daily chapter meeting. Remarking on the gospel passage that begins with: Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell the disciples, she reminded us that the women went to the tomb, found it empty and did not see Jesus, because they believed he had risen. As they left to tell the disciples, Jesus met them. Jesus also comes to meet us; we do not have to go out to find him; he comes to us if we have hearts open to believe.
March 27 A visit from St Joseph’s parish, Warrnambool. They attended the Office of Middle Hour (formerly Sext) in the abbey church and a picnic lunch and tour of the grounds. It was good to welcome them. March 30 We said farewell to Fr Rene Knaap, local Priest in Charge of the Mission District of St Francis of Assisi, that takes in the area of Camperdown, Terang, Cobden and Timboon. We are grateful for his assistance in celebrating Conventual Mass twice a week at the abbey, thus giving Fr Aidan a break. We wish him well in the move to Melbourne.
April 21: Friday in Easter Octave. A very grey and gloomy day. However we had a beautiful canticle text from Hezekiah that we sang at Vigils Holy Saturday. The haunting responsory was; ‘O Lord, you will deliver my soul from the gates of the grave’, and part of the text was ‘From dawn till night you bring about my end.’ The text promises much hope and assurance of joy! ‘Lord, I am oppressed, be my surety! It is he who is at work. Lord, my heart will live for you, My sufferings will turn to peace.’ ‘O Lord, come to our help, and we will make our harps resound, all the days of our life.’ Our lives are full of hope and trust in the Lord.
April 7 Choir practice today to rehearse the Liturgy for Palm Sunday, especially the singing of the Passion. April 8 Sunday of Palms & Passion. A congregation at Mass slightly larger than last year; one and a half hour’s service. Fr Aidan in his homily reminded us that we would be ‘walking with Jesus’ during this entire week. Dom Placid, as Bursar, has found that his work in this area has increased considerably and that time formerly spent in the gardens and grounds has been much reduced.
April 24 Jeremy (our Alongsider) and Dom Placid were busy lifting potatoes and picking tomatoes until rain drove them indoors.
April 10: Monday in Holy Week. Fr Aidan participated in the Chrism Mass at Ballarat cathedral with Renewal of Ordination Vows. Heavy rain and gale force winds have alerted us of the need to
April 25: Solemnity of St Mark, Titular of Abbey.
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At Midnight Mass 2017
Electricians installing new LED lights 6
April 27 Sr Raphael, Fr Aidan and Jeremy attended the commissioning of Fr Matthew Crane as the new priest for Camperdown and District parish. Dom Placid could not attend due to a heavy cold.
help through the powerful prayer and intercession of Our Lady, for all Christians. May 25: The Ascension of Our Lord. Solemnity Concelebrated Mass on this joyful day, followed by a shared lunch.
April 29 Sorting through old letters and a community chronicle book of yearly events, Dom Placid came across the following points made to us after a visit from the Abbot President Dom Bruno Marin OSB in January 2009. ‚The importance of monastic life as a sign of peace, a sign of unity, a sign of the presence of God. ‚That monastic life is not about doing something, but simply being prepared to live here as brothers and sisters in communion with each other and in communion with God. ‚Our life is always the same.
May 31: Visitation of the BVM; Feast. Dom Placid in the Prayer of the Faithful asked that the prayers of Our Lady (who always seems to be on a journey somewhere or other) may be our companion, with Jesus, in our personal journeys through life. Today was the last day of autumn. Tomorrow is another day and whatever it may bring, as we journey through the winter months, we will journey in good company with Jesus and Mary. June 20: We made a few minor liturgical changes recently, such as replacing the hymn for the Office of Middle Hour on ferial days and also through Eastertide with two new hymns written by the nuns of Malling Abbey; God of Almighty Changeless Energy and Rejoice and Sing, O People of the Lord. The Angelus after Middle Hour is now sung, not recited.
May 2 The orchard is producing in abundance. May 5 Dom Placid, Fr Aidan and Jeremy were present at the induction service of Fr Rene Knaap at All Saints’ parish church, East St Kilda, Melbourne. We arrived back at the abbey at 1.00am!
June 22: Ss John Fisher & Thomas More, Martyrs. Memoria. A visit from a large group of Camperdown Senior Citizens.
May 9 Plumbers here checking out and replacing taps and guttering plus other necessary jobs. Topiary on some of our hedges was clipped; lawns mowed. Guests arrived after a rare sunny day, light fog appeared. Sister Raphael to Warrnambool to purchase new heaters for guest house bedrooms.
June 29: Ss Peter and Paul, Solemnity. The tenth anniversary of our aggregation to the SubiacoCassinese Congregation. July 11: Our Holy Father St Benedict; Founder of Western Monasticism; and Co-Patron of Europe. Solemnity. At the close of today’s celebration it was agreed that it had been one of the happiest days this year. Everything went as planned; the solemn concelebrated Mass with Bishop Garry Weatherill as Principal Celebrant, with Canon Scott Lowrey and Fr Mathew Crane assisting. A number of the diocesan clergy and other friends also joined us in the celebrations. A Spanish Intrada set the tone as the Entrance chant and then the sung Mass followed as usual. After the Eucharistic celebration we all shared a delightful buffet lunch. Thank you to our local friends who served their delicious homemade soup and looked after the other goodies! Bishop Garry spoke briefly and announced that Dom Placid was celebrating his best kept secret, namely the 50th anniversary of his monastic profession. Placid thanked one and all for their kind greetings and congratulations. He said that a surgeon some years ago remarked that he had ‘decades ahead of him!’ and amidst much laughter Placid concluded with ‘So, see you all in
May 11: Ss Odo, Mayol, Odilo, Hugh, & Bl. Peter the Venerable, Abbots of Cluny ; Memoria. Occasionally we are asked what Ordo we follow, especially when some obscure saints days are celebrated. We follow the Church’s universal calendar to which are added Solemnities, Feasts and Memorias pertaining to Benedictine abbeys. The Memoria today is described as: ‘From 910 – 1157AD, almost 250 years, the above saints governed the abbey of Cluny in France. These abbots led one of the most important monastic reforms in Christian history. Using the Rule of St Benedict, they influenced monastic houses, directly or indirectly, all over Europe. They stressed centralisation of monastic administration, independence from secular authority, and rich development of the liturgy.’ May 24: Our Lady Help of Christians; Solemnity. As Fr Aidan mentioned at the beginning of his homily at Mass, this Solemnity is about protection, care and 7
fifty year’s time!’ Suscipe me, Domine, secundum eloqium tuum et vivam; et non confundas me ab expectatione mea. (Receive me, O Lord, as you have promised and I shall live, and do not disappoint me in my hope.)
book for all monastics. The title itself explains much, and gives a clue to the meaning of Benedictine life. Holzherr’s introduction is entitled ‘The Spirituality of the Rule’, which to our mind seems a far better term than ‘Benedictine Spirituality’. The Rule’s spirituality is none other than Christian spirituality, or ‘The Putting on of Christ.’ The Rule is also a guide to Christian living. Here at Camperdown we look forward to hearing more of this book, assisting us in this day and age. July ... We welcomed a group of Cub Scouts and their leaders from the local towns for an evening visit. Sr Raphael did a superb job explaining our life and set the groups to reassemble jigsaw puzzles of the significant buildings and scenes around the abbey which she had prepared (with the help of the printery machines!). She then used these to explain something of the fundamentals of our life. We were very impressed with the behaviour and responsiveness of the Cub Scouts.
The usual cold weather held off for the day – that was most welcome. Then the day ended with a stunning sunset over lake Bullen Merri, which had Sr Raphael running for the camera. The photograph doesn’t quite catch the vibrant red-orange colours but nevertheless we hope our readers will be able to share it through this printed photo.
Fr Aidan has withdrawn from the Juniorate and been released from temporary vows. He has returned to live in Sri Lanka due to his mother’s continuing illness. We are grateful for his time with us and wish him well.
We received in the mail recently a copy of The Rule of Benedict; An Invitation to the Christian Life, by Georg Holzherr OSB, translated M. Thamert; Cist. Studies Series 256. Lit Press. This is obviously a ‘must read’
St Benedict’s Day Sunset
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August 1 The pruning of the orchard has been completed.
of the young people one wonders if they have ever seen a nun in a habit before! Some did let their curiosity get the better of them and actually came to talk!
For the first time in our history the community is without a monastic priest. Fr Matthew Crane our local parish priest is able to celebrate twice a week in the abbey church, and from time to time we have visiting clergy. We generally have a communion service from the Tabernacle twice a week or on feast days. The structure, if that be the correct description of the Communion Service, is the format set out with church authority. We add the sung Gloria and Collect, Responsorial Psalm, Alleluia before the Gospel and the Communion Antiphon. Sister Raphael gives a short homily on Sundays which is always helpful. So, in the circumstances, although this is not ideal, it is the best solution to the present situation. The Liturgy of the Hours is sung daily as normal.
August 15 Solemnity of the Assumption of the BVM This feast is also known as The Falling Asleep of the BVM; The Dormition of the BVM; and Our Lady in Harvest. August 17 A visit from The Men’s Shed of Cobden to remedy the guest’s seats in the church. For almost three decades they have squeaked and groaned with the slightest movement – making guest’s uncomfortable and being quite a distraction (and even irritation!) to all. The small, merry band of men, with their know-how and tools, fixed them all in less than an hour and half! Our most sincere thanks to the Cobden Men’s Shed. The only regret is that we didn’t have it done years ago! This same group of men have also ‘taken on’ the erection, maintenance and dismantling of the large figures in the paddock Christmas Nativity scene. Something else for which we are deeply grateful.
August 7, 8, 9 Bishop Lindsay Urwin, who has known the community since its Fitzroy days, paid a pastoral visit and we were able to begin discussions on our present situation and the core values of our Benedictine life. We go forward with much hope and trust in the Lord who accompanies us on our journey along the everlasting way.
September 1 Today we had a visit from two groups of Year 11 students from Mercy Regional College, who were studying ‘Sacred Spaces’. As Sr Raphael had very little voice due to a bad cold – she roped in oblate Fr Ron Browning who was staying in the guest house, to speak to the students. After a tour of the grounds and attending Middle Hour they departed.
We have been gifted a most beautiful icon of Our Lady of Tenderness, worked on a length of seasoned tree trunk. It is a replica of an old Byzantine icon that can be found in monasteries and museums, and created in Thessalonika Greece. We propose to have it placed on a pillar-plinth in the abbey church on the opposite side of the statue of Our Lady of Mercy, near the organ.
September 26 The bird life at the abbey has waxed and waned over the years. Black shouldered kites, flame robins and a number of different species of honey eaters are now rarely seen, but the lovely fire tail finches seem to have taken a shine to the abbey. Recently we found a bird – quite unknown to us – that had dazed itself by hitting one of the large windows at our front door. Thankfully it recovered and went on its way. With its shiny satin green back and tail, white breast with wavy brown lines in rows, it was identified as a Satin Bower bird, often found in the Otways area of Victoria.
August 8: St Mary of the Cross. Solemnity In her brief address to us at the daily Chapter Meeting, Sister Raphael reminded us that St. Mary of the Cross (McKillop) is Australia’s first saint; born in Melbourne; founder of the Sisters of St Joseph. One of the antiphons we use at Lauds is from a poem by St Gertrude; Whom I have seen, whom I have loved, in whom I have trusted, to whom I have given my love. These beautiful words sum up the truth behind a religious/monastic vocation. An individual answers that call because of the love that is behind the call. There is also love in one’s own heart from the One who is totally trustworthy and whose love is everlasting.
September 29-October 1 The Annual diocesan lay retreat lead by our Bishop Garry Weatherill in the guest house was greatly appreciated by the participants, with all commenting on the beautiful grounds and views at the abbey.
August 14 Sister Raphael attended the Ballarat Careers Expo ’17 held at Ballarat Grammar School, with Father Mathew Crane of Camperdown parish. Although monastic life is not a ‘career’, or a ‘job’, nevertheless it was worthwhile to present a presence for those who are looking towards their future lives. From the facial expressions of some
September 18 Electricians were working in the abbey church today, installing LED lights in the sanctuary area. The President’s chair and the altar now have good light for reading. As for the overall result, the bright white light 9
is stunning, highlighting the sandstone walls in the late evening and at Compline.
November 1: Solemnity of All Saints Rain, hail or shine, we welcome visitors to the abbey; some come in pairs, singly or in groups. Among the latter have been a number of Probus and other ‘Community’ groups from places all around Victoria and even further afield. It has been good to share something of our life with them and (try!) to answer their questions about the radical monastic life-style that is so unknown to many today.
October This month has seen us busy on all fronts. When is it never time to mow lawns in the spring; attack the cursed Capeweed; prune shrubs; or admire the plum and pear blossom? The daffodils this year have been outstanding. The printery has been busy for weeks. Our very rapid new printer is a delight for Sister Raphael, and promises to ease some of the load in that department. Guests, parish and other groups staying and visiting the abbey have increased. It is always a joy to welcome those who come. Brian is busy in the guest house or kitchen, and Jeremy in all areas around our grounds.
November 10: St Leo the Great: Memoria. The month progresses with many guests staying for prayer and private retreats. November 16: St Gertrude the Great Memoria. The painters began work today on the refectory. The abbey refectory is far more than a utilitarian place to eat. Next to the church, the abbey refectory is a place of communion and sharing, a place of awareness of sacrifice – the food we consume is only possible through sacrifice. It is also a place of self-discipline and of service to our brothers and sisters.
October 9-11 Peter and Sylvia Dixon – long time friends of Dom Placid from Nashdom days, flew down from UK via Sydney, with son and grandson, Robert and Arlow. A most enjoyable time was had reminiscing about old times and what happened to ‘so and so’. In the few days the family managed to see something of the local scenery and visit Port Campbell with the Twelve Apostles – or those of the twelve that are left!
November 18 Refectory painting is finished and we are very happy with the fresh and light result. We have decided to complete the job properly and have the floor sanded and polished as well. We await the tradesmen!
October 16: Our Lady of Walsingham. Patron of the Diocese. Feast. Dom Placid and Jeremy attended the ordination of Martin Nadarajan as deacon in Ballarat cathedral.
November 17 Oblates Day. Annually, our Oblates come together at the Abbey for a day, with Conventual Mass, a shared lunch in the guest house, a time with Sister Raphael and then time with a guest/keynote speaker. Our little community is so blessed to have such dedicated Oblates. This year we were treated to an interesting and informative account from our oblate Jamie Miller, who had two days earlier returned from attending the (Fourth) World Congress of Benedictine Oblates. This was held in Rome from 4th – 10th November, 2017 and included Benedictine oblates and oblate directors from all over the world. The theme of the congress was ‘A Way Forward; The Benedictine Community in Motion.’ As well as Jamie, another of our Oblates, Fr Greg Davies, also attended the congress but was still overseas on Oblates Day! There is much from this congress that will warrant ongoing consideration.
October 23-25 Visit from Dom John Herbert OSB, Abbot of New Norcia Abbey in Western Australia. He was able to note the changes we had made to the living of this life, keeping in mind our changed conditions, and confirmed that they were wise changes. New ideas were raised and discussed for our discernment and we welcomed his advice and input. We look forward to his next visit. A new garden seat donated to the abbey, designed and crafted by the Men’s Shed in Timboon, was placed in the abbey cemetery for those wishing to visit the graves of former members of the community, or just to rest a while. The seat was given in memory of Doctor Peter and Mary Fox, by their son – a member of Timboon Men’s shed. October 27 Although our weather is still unsettled, some days with rain, or cold winds, the rose season has begun. The planting of potatoes, tomato seedlings and runner beans has been completed. We continue to have Wednesday as a ‘free day’, but it is not turning out as we hoped. Life is like that.
November 21 The plaque (finally!) installed on the Abbot Michael Memorial gates. See photo elsewhere in this newsletter. December 15 Today we had the yearly carol service in the abbey church. The residents of Merindah Lodge, Sunnyside House, and the men and women from the David 10
Newman Day Centre, came with their helpers and friends. Clergy from the Uniting, Roman Catholic and Anglican churches were present as was the Uniting Church choir. It was a lovely service enjoyed by all and was followed with afternoon tea. The staff, family members and friends who accompany the ‘Seniors’ work very hard and their care and concern for their charges is touching. Sadly, this year we are not able to have the carol service in front of the Crib in the front paddock. Hopefully it will be back next year. With some new and stronger solar lights we expect the nightly illumination of the crib to be greatly enhanced. It is clearly visible by all road users on the Camperdown-Cobden Road.
At this point we should end our newsletter for 2017. It has been a year with some changes, some problems, things over which we have no control and some highpoints, (as no doubt has been the case for each of you our readers!). We have rejoiced with many friends and guests, we have mourned with others in their times of sadness, grief or other troubles, and we have tried to be faithful in bringing all before God whose love is unfathomable and never ceasing. May each of you, our readers and friends, know this love surrounding and upholding you in whatever life brings this year. We wish you all every blessing and give our grateful thanks for all the assistance received, your prayers and concern.
When dusting off the small Nativity figures for the abbey church crib scene, Dom Placid, referring to the three wise men in their splendid coats of gold, silver and purple, mused that perhaps they had made a detour on their way to Bethlehem, to visit Rome and the famous liturgical outfitters of Gammarelli!
Four cartoons of Stations of the Cross for a shared church in England by Dom Placid Lawson, circa 1973. Acrylic and collage on card. The finished Stations were painted on dishpan plaques of wood. (Now displayed outside our refectory) 11
SOME BOOKS READ IN THE REFECTORY THIS YEAR Jonathan Sacks; Schocken Books; NY;2015. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth 19912013. ; J.D. Crossan; Harper Collins, 2010. Excellent Exposition. ; Anglo-Catholic History Society; 978-0-9560565-80; 2016. (See the Book Review by Dom Placid in this newsletter). Little, Brown & Company 1999.
The 2017 Christmas Crib in front paddock.
The most recent of Dom Placid’s paintings is that entitled the local landscape. (See following page).
inspired by three main points from
Mount Leura that has a changing shape depending on which side it is viewed. It overlooks the town of Camperdown and from its top are 360° views of the Western District and plains below. The deep crater lake Bullen Merri whose shape is that of a clover leaf. It changes its colour depending on its moods; sometimes brown, sometimes green, sometimes black with white-tipped waves, and of course blue. Wattle trees round about, so prolific in this district along the many fence lines. Dom Placid remarked that by progressing slowly and revisiting the work daily it was a ‘picture in progress’. For some weeks, like many artists, he refined his work adding touches here and there. At the right moment, he could say ‘that’s enough, its completed’. I followed with a signature and white cockatoo’s. The painting attempts to engage our serious need for silence; to stand in awe and sin not, as the psalmist says; to commune with God in our hearts and be still; to behold the beauty of this place; the work of God, and to look at the landscape that immerses us with its daily changing presence, which in the end will be the only thing that remaineth. All may perish but the land abideth. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be. Our Australian experience over several generations and 229 years confirms this.
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‘Out of the Blue’ by Dom Placid Lawson 13
BOOK REVIEW 1864-1934: Aidan Harker: pp 197: published 2016: Anglo-Catholic History Society: London. ISBN 978-0-9560565-9-0 In The Jubilee Book of the Benedictines of Nashdom, published in 1965, which was a slim volume of 86 pages, the chapter entitled ‘The Passing of Abbot Denys’ states that ‘no life of this remarkable character has been written, and that it is only a very skilled professional biographer who would dare to undertake such a task.’ Fr Aidan Harker has produced after much research, a fascinating and extremely well written study of the life and achievement of Dom Denys Prideaux, founder and abbot of the Benedictine Community of Pershore and Nashdom, England, whose contribution to the revival and establishment of benedictine life in the Church of England since the dissolution of the abbeys during the reign of Henry VIII, has been immense. There had been erratic attempts in the 19th century to establish benedictine life in the Church of England, that failed in their endeavours. It is not often that one can take up a biographical study and become so engrossed in its contents as to find it difficult to set aside. It is also to be remembered that people have short memories, and it is important to be reminded of the giants in the church and the sacrifices people such as Abbot Denys made. Our grateful thanks go to Fr Aidan Harker for the achievement in writing this book. For most, if not all pioneers, life was not a barrel of fun, and Abbot Denys had to plough a lonely furrow, with much to contend with. Through his wisdom, practicality, perseverance, wide reading and learning in history and theology, he was able to convince the Church of England (or most of it at any rate) that benedictine life was able to be restored. The first matter in any process was that the life is diocesan, with the requirement of the approval of the bishop in whose diocese the monastery was to be established. This demand came out of the Council of Chalcedon in its Fourth Canon that: No monastery may be erected in any diocese without the sanction of the local bishop. Three other points presented by Abbot Denys for those doubtful of reestablishment of the life not under papal approval: (1) Benedictine life was founded in the early church before the main divisions of Christendom and therefore cannot belong to the Roman Catholic church only. (2) Papal approval is not considered, as the Pope cannot override an ecumenical council. (3) That there was no succession in Benedictinism in the English Church at the Reformation, does not prevent its being introduced into the English Church now. Monastic life can be established at any time and in any place. Abbot Denys was educated at Leipzig and Cambridge universities and then at Cuddesdon, his wide reading and massive learning in many areas of church and monastic history; the spiritual life, of ascetic and mystical theology and his knowledge of European languages, gave him an excellent background and understanding of monastic life. He was concerned not with medieval living of the life, but of that according to modern conditions and was aware of and able to grasp the need to be abreast of developments in the church and society. It is interesting – to diverge – that the Constitutions of Nashdom Abbey with regard to ‘The Objects of the Community’ speaks of it being observed ‘with due regard to Religious and to Monastic precedence generally, in conjunction with modern conditions of life.’ The Constitutions and Ordinances of the Camperdown, Victoria, Australia abbey also echoes this. ‘The community is cenobitic in the benedictine monastic tradition, where the monastics seek to bring their human and Christian vocations to fulfilment under the guidance of the Gospel, the Rule, and an abbot/abbess, and in a manner consonant with Australian culture and society; and in response to the Spirit at work in the life of all, to express Gospel values and the Rule of St Benedict in ways proper to contemporary Australia, that God may be glorified in all things.’ Nothing in life can be excluded from or divorced from the life of Christ and the Incarnation – apart from sin. Abbot Denys was firm in the necessity of taking on the ‘personality’ of Christ. He was the only person that one 14
can recall, who has referred to St Benedict as the ‘Patron Saint of Personality’. St Benedict’s Rule laid stress on Christ Divine and Human – in the written word of the Bible – as these build up the complete man in Christ. Fr Aidan Harker’s book covers the life of Abbot Denys from birth to death. It is a pity that no index was included, and there are a number of spelling and printing errors. Fr Aidan deserves our congratulations for this timely biography. Read the book for yourself, and you will not be disappointed. Dom Placid Lawson O.S.B. Camperdown 25 Apri1, 2017
Abbot Denys on pilgrimage at Glastonbury, 1933
Nashdom Abbey – built 1908 (Photographed 2008 – John Salmon, Church Photographer.)
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SERMON: FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION
Fr Rene Knapp
You would know so much of our culture now is geared towards instant self-gratification. Ours is a culture which has lost patience and demands the instant fulfilment of almost every wish. And so, the value of a spirituality of waiting – of patience – can hardly be over-stressed. Social media, the internet, the ever-present availability of consumer goods keeps people constantly distracted. It only serves to lessen the gap between desire and fulfilment. Apparently, the average time we spend on a single page when browsing the internet is seven seconds. A culture with an attention span of seven seconds is one that is going to find a spirituality of waiting at best unusual if not completely alien. It is perhaps one of the reasons why the monastic vocation appears so strange to modern man. The commitment to place, the repetition in daily life, the fidelity to tradition and to those with whom you share this life, patient trust in the slow work of God will not find a huge audience amongst those who jump so readily from one thing to another and in a culture obsessed with fad and fashion. But it does of course make the monastic vocation even more valuable and even more necessary. As our culture collapses around us, it may well be that the light and witness of monastic life will once more (as it did a millennia ago) possess the seeds of a new awakening. At the heart of the Jewish hope of the coming of a promised messiah was a spirituality of holy waiting. Saint Paul tells the Galatians, But in the fullness of time, God sent his son, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law.’ In the fullness of time... It is obvious – but perhaps needs restating – that God’s plan is not realized in response to human agendas or clever contrivances; not by doing deals or bargaining with God (though plenty of people attempt that); not by impatient fist-waving at heaven: God, get your act together. No. Christ, light of the nations, comes in the fullness of time. God works God’s plan for us, in the fullness of time. It is trust – a deep, profound, life-forming trust – that God would remain true to God’s promises, that God’s word would indeed be fulfilled in the fullness of time, that sees those two mysterious characters – Anna and Simeon – step into the pages of the gospel. The drama that unfolds around the Holy Family would suggest simply continuity, fidelity to the law and, in a way, business as usual. But both Anna and Simeon perceive the new thing present in the Christ Child. It is a deep truth (and you would know it yourselves) that those who step back, those who view the world from the perspective of eternity, those who wait on God, see the world differently, will pick on things that are missed by everyone else. It is of course the prophetic ministry, the ministry of looking and truly seeing; of speaking what no one else can say. And surely a ministry in which Anna and Simeon both share. Simeon sees in the child the promised salvation, a light to the nations, and the glory of Israel. Anna through her life of prayer and fasting likewise perceives the fulfilled hope of deliverance. We must be mindful, however, that even though all hope and longing is indeed fulfilled in Christ, he is also the sign of contradiction, the one who is to be rejected. And so, while at once we look to his light and glory, we also look to the cross, the sword that will pierce Mary’s own soul. The fulfilling of God’s plan, that for which we hope and wait and long for, does not always unfold as we expect. Saying yes to God, trusting God, hoping in his promises is no guarantee of an easy ride. As our will comes to align with God’s will difficult sacrifices will need to be made. The temptation, then, is to be only half-hearted in our trust. We may wait on God, but keep one eye fixed on other options; we might hope his plan for us may be fulfilled, but in some measure steer things to our own preferences. Remember this: Uphold me, O Lord, according to your promise and I shall live. And let me not be disappointed in my hope. The devout devotion to duty of Simeon, the long, empty years of Anna were not disappointed. To trust God and the fulfilling of his plan is to trust him completely. To be a person of faith is to accept the fulfilling of that plan on God’s terms, not ours. But the great assurance of faith, the marvellous witness of the scriptures and truth revealed in Jesus Christ, is that God always, always, remains true to his promise. Amen.
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SERMON: ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEDICATION OF ST MARK’S ABBEY CHURCH Fr Rene Knapp 23rd February 2017 Around the year 1420 an anonymous somebody — perhaps a monk or wandering minstrel or pious noble-woman – set pen to paper and wrote the little Christmas carol, There is no rose of such virtue: There is no rose of such virtue, As is the rose that bare Jesu; For in this rose containèd was, Heaven and earth in little space . . . It goes on for some verses more. While Christmas is now long behind us and we now turn our hearts and minds to Lent and Easter, the profound theological insights captured by the 15th century writer are worth pondering. Heaven and earth in little space... The rose of such virtue is of course the Blessed Virgin Mary. And her womb, the little space in which the fullness of Christ’s humanity and the fullness of his divinity — mysteriously and miraculously — join heaven and earth. Heaven and earth in little space. For those of us captured by the catholic spiritual imagination, it is not just the Blessed Mother who houses heaven and earth. For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, life offers innumerable opportunities to experience the meeting between heaven and earth. None less so than in consecrated churches – even a ‘little space’: scared spaces, set aside and dedicated to the praise and worship of almighty God; to communicate to us eternal truths and point us toward out ultimate homeland. Yet even while our churches – and this church in particular, point us to heaven, and the noblest and highest of human endeavour – it remains ever and always firmly anchored in earth. The truth of the Incarnation says to us that God takes the things of earth to reveal God’s very self. While we strain for perfection in the spiritual life, we are reminded that we are not created as pure spirits (as are the angels) but as en-fleshed creatures. And as en-fleshed creatures the things of God are not merely apprehended in mind and heart but through our very bodies. The Iconoclast and the Puritan (and they keep on asserting themselves throughout history....) deny the full implications of the Incarnation: that in God choosing a body for himself in Jesus Christ, he has redeemed the entirety of the creation. We cannot despise matter because God has taken matter to show himself to us. So, in the catholic imagination wood, stone, bronze and iron, water, wine and oil, fire and water can speak to us of eternal truths. The things of earth point us to the things of the heaven. The ordinary, the elemental can be fashioned and ordered and set aside to lead us to the divine! Such is the grace of God. The temporal leads us to the eternal! Perhaps this is felt and experienced more naturally in the monastic church where the church is the centre – the very beating heart – of the life here. It makes this place a homely place, not just a meeting place or one building amongst so many others. And lest those who allow their home here to become too cosy, too comfortable, the Benedictine motto (I’m sure you know well!!), ora et labora: the life of prayer held alongside the life of work; the life of heaven anchored by the life of earth. What care and thoughtful planning was undertaken by Abbott Michael (and others, of course) to construct a church which so powerfully and simply speaks the faith. That can only happen from a place of confidence and trust that God can truly take the ordinary to lead us to the holy; confidence and trust that this place might help lead us to the homeland of heaven. Of this church, we pray God, that faithful Christians may continue to say this rose containèd was, Heaven and earth in little space.
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HOMILY AT OBLATION: 11TH MARCH, 2017 (Saturday in 1st Week of Lent) Sr Raphael. (Readings at the Eucharist were: Deuteronomy 26:16-19, Matthew 5:43-48) You could be forgiven for thinking that today’s readings were deliberately chosen for this happy occasion of the oblation of Father Ron and Alison. They are in fact the set readings for today and obviously very appropriate. For the last year Alison and Father Ron have been oblate novices and in a few minutes they will make their oblate promise, or offering, to God. Oblates shape their lives to that of Christ by way of the wisdom of St Benedict. Their promise binds them to God and to this community in a special way. It is a solemn undertaking and one that I know neither of them take lightly. The word oblation means, ‘to offer’. — Mind you, if you look in the dictionary the definition of oblate is: ‘Something round that has been flattened on the top and bottom’! I’ll leave you to decide on the relevance of that definition! — Alison & Fr Ron, you have already made many offerings in your Christian life, this new offering is a declaration that you continue to truly seek God and wish to give him all that you are at this moment. Your oblation is not about keeping a whole lot of rules and regulations, forcing yourself to do particular things, or somehow making yourself superior to other Christians. Rather your oblation is a free offering of yourself to take God at his word with the help of St Benedict. Today’s readings are about promises; not so much ours to God but God’s promises to us. In the first reading we hear Moses saying to the people, ‘You have today made this declaration about the Lord: that he will be your God but only if you follow his ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and listen to his voice.’ – Ah, listening to God’s voice, – so important to St Benedict! Yes, God does expect certain behaviours but he also knows we will fail, and yet he will still be our God. Your obligations as Oblates are not meant to be onerous, or confining, nothing harsh or burdensome as it says in the Prologue, rather, using the wisdom of the Rule of St. Benedict as a scaffold to support and guide your Christian path, you will seek the way to run with freedom of heart and joy, to cherish nothing more than Christ. Going back to our first reading, the people are told, ‘you are declaring God will be your God,’ – but it gets better than that! Deuteronomy continues, in part,: ‘The has today made this declaration about : that you will be his very own people as he has promised you.’ God desires to have us as his children! for his praise, renown, and honour. We need to hold onto God, and even more, we need to know that God is holding onto us – and he will never fail. God’s promises are not like ours, – ‘not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses’ we read in 1 Kings (8:56). God expects us to take him at his word. This is what we express in the Suscipe which you will be saying together immediately after your promise. The Suscipe is verse 116, from Psalm 119 and sung by every Benedictine monk & nun at profession, it is also shared as prayer by our oblates. The words are: Uphold me, O Lord, according to your promise that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope. This is yet another gift our Holy Father Benedict gives us, found in chapter 58 of the Rule. I hope you will use it each and every day and that it will be both a reminder and a strength to you on your oblate journey. The Deuteronomy reading concludes with yet another promise: ‘You will be a people consecrated to the Lord.’ Today’s gospel reading tells us how we can make this a reality. Christ calls us to ‘Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ Our consecration can lead us to perfection. By the conversion of our lives and conformity to the example of our Heavenly Father, we can learn to love. I believe when we learn to love we can be perfect. Not perfect in the legal sense of keeping all the rules, not ever missing a prayer Office or Lectio time, but in the full meaning of the word ‘perfect’ as found in the Oxford dictionary: ‘having all the required elements, qualities and characteristics. Complete, absolute.’ These elements, qualities and characteristics of Christ are what we strive for as followers of St Benedict. Benedict teaches us how, in Christ, we can become whole, complete people, perfect people, known and loved by God and who we can then love in return. God’s promises are sure. In Him we can place all our hope and trust. May we all, the sons and daughters of St Benedict, prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may He lead us all together to life everlasting. Amen. 18
CALL OF ABRAHAM AND TRANSFIGURATION. LENT 2 2017 Fr Ron Browning Gen 12:1-4; Matt 17:1-9 Setting out on a journey. It was no small thing for Abraham. As the Scriptures reflect on this beginning point of God’s saving action in history, we are told quite simply and directly that Abraham obeyed. It’s as though all that really matters at each point along the way through the history of God’s saving acts among the people is the he/she/they obeyed. Obedience is not primarily moral. Obedience is the hearing of the Voice of God inwardly given, and this is what we are all involved in. To be uprooted in what was at stake in Abraham’s response to God’s call was a messy business – sheep, goats, wives, relatives, straggling children, all on their way with the 75 year father figure... God’s promise is given to him readily along with the command to go and leave your country: I will bless you and (even) I will curse those whom you curse. So Abraham is given authority from God for his journey, a God to whom at this stage he doesn’t yet know. Our knowledge of God is likewise unfolding. It does so as we journey in life and faith – experiences both hard and joyful tell us more each time about the God who is with us. Yesterday two of us became oblates. The dedication in its simple form held a rich and surprising blessing from God for us, having been accepted by the community here; it was about taking a small, yet very significant step forward .... to leave the country of the past behind and travel forward not clearly knowing where we are going. So, Abraham sets out in obedience – with blessing from God. Obedience with blessing sounds strange to most modern ears. Obedience is seen negatively and as not connected to blessing. To use the word itself is counter-cultural since it has practically disappeared from current use. But to the Christian ear it is precious. Indeed, listening to God means actually to embark on the journey into the Vision of God, an eternal intimacy with God. Somehow Abraham was already entering that Vision. We will come to the Mountain of Transfiguration to see and hear the Lord intimately, not coming to the historical happening as witnessed by the three apostles, but at last to be in God, to be divinised, en-God-ed, and no less. St Peter’s letters claim two things in relation to this point: ‘we are those who saw him ourselves on the holy mountain’, and, ‘we are partakers of the divine nature.’
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HOMILY 5TH SUNDAY IN EASTER 14 MAY 2017 Father Aidan Melder It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of home. Once a prison inspector said if you were to give the prisoners a choice between going home and staying in a luxury suite complete with coloured TV, a sauna, a cocktail cabinet, and so on, there is not a single prisoner who wouldn’t choose to go home. When things fail, when we feel tired and bored, mostly when we feel lonely, there is always home to go to. ‘Let’s go home; I want to go home.’ How many times and in how many different circumstances have we heard people say those words? Home is the place where anybody feels safe. Home is the place of communion. If we know that we are going home, the trip is never too long or too difficult. We must go out into the world, to know how lovely our home is, but imagine, if we had no home to go to. People like Nelson Mandela, described his own experience as a nightmare, with regarding home. He wrote in his book Long Walk to Freedom in 1994, that he dreamed many times about going home and how people would welcome him; but when he went to his house all was opened, nobody was there, nobody was there to welcome him. A boy who lost both his parents during the time of war, when the time came for him to go home to the rehabilitation centre or boy’s home, where does he go ? A person who never saw his birth parents, how does he describe his home ? There are a number of situations that cannot be recognised as peaceful situations in our homes. There is a vast difference between a home and a house. A house is a place that gives us shade and security, but home is the place where we receive love, nourishment, acceptance and we feel belonging. But for Christians in spite of all our efforts to build homes that belong to us, here on earth, there is no lasting home in reality. All we have, as St Paul said, is a kind of tent. At death the tent is folded up. Hence it is not only on earth that we need a home, we also need a home to go to. Without that kind of place and hope, our life would be a journey to nowhere. During the Last Supper, Our Lord Jesus spoke to his disciples about the fact that he was leaving them. On hearing this, the disciples were plunged into sorrow, but Jesus consoled his brothers by encouraging them about a home and place that Jesus and all those who follow him would go to. He was saying there are many rooms in my father’s house. I am going to prepare a place for you. I shall return to take you with me, so that where I am you may be too. This means that we have an eternal home to go to, namely the father’s house For a child that is not so much a place, as a relationship of love and trust. A child can move around a lot and not feel homeless, as long as the parents are there. It is the same for those who have a close relationship with God. As Benedictines, we spend our lives searching for God, and groping our way towards him. We search, struggle, until our last breath, by living honestly and tirelessly, by following the Holy Rule faithfully. Unfortunately we never find a home here on earth until we die. For us to die, is to find God, to meet God, and see God. In another way, to die is to go to God, and to go to God is to go home. Amen.
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VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 31ST MAY, 2017 Father Mathew Crane A few days ago, Pope Francis wrote on his Twitter account: ‘The motherly presence of Mary reminds us that God never tires of lowering himself in mercy over humanity.’ Today as we remember the visitation of Our Lady to her cousin Elizabeth, we recall just how God’s ultimate lowering of himself, in the incarnation of Jesus Christ his son, would show, and continues to show, the mercy of God over all humanity. In the beautiful song of Mary we read today, we hear of Mary’s own response to God’s call on her life. She gives us a glimpse of how the motherhood of God might look in a broken and divided world: And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’ Mary rejoices that God has chosen her to be the bearer of Jesus, the son of God. This is a canticle of Mary’s personal experience of God’s mercy and love, and the way that that same mercy and love will have a huge impact on the world, an impact Mary could not have possibly imagined at the time. Mary’s lowliness consists in being simply a young girl from a remote Galilean village. God’s choice of her to be the mother of the Messiah begins a pattern of divine action that will recur throughout the Gospel. God will bypass those at the centre of power in favour of the marginalised and the lowly. The lowly yet blessed Mary becomes an emblem of the saving work of God, beginning in the person of Jesus Christ. Mary’s motherhood, then, reminds us that God never tires of lowering himself in mercy, and justice, and kindness...with a particular concern for those on the fringes of our world. In Mary, and in her delight in God expressed in the Magnificat, we see something of the way that God transforms the lowly, ordinariness of our lives into the best it can be. This does not mean that the journey of life will always be smooth sailing – can you begin to imagine Mary’s grief as she stood at the foot of the cross with John, having just witnessed her first-born son being crucified? We are encouraged to seek God in all things and to reflect on how God is calling us to transform our baptismal promises into action. We are reminded that God comes to us in the ordinary gifts of water, of wine, of bread, and in the yet more preciousness of our daily lives; that God comes to us in the people we meet, and in those around us. We are reminded, through the example of Mary, to give honour and praise to God in all things, so that, as St Benedict says, In all things God may be glorified.
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Packing Mass Reading parcels. New printer in foreground.
JUNE 18, 2017, 11TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME.
Sister Raphael Stone O.S.B.
Reflections on today’s three Readings. — The Harvest is Rich. Sometimes we feel harassed and helpless like sheep being constantly driven. — The work is plentiful – the harvest, it seems is not coming. — But, what is our work ? Our work is to be monastics – people wholly consecrated to God – people who like Moses in the first reading, heard God’s call and went up the mountain to be with him, to hear God’s message for the nation. Having heard, Moses was then to make that message known to the people. — And what was that message ? It was not about ‘work’ – or what the Israelites were to do – but rather about what they were to be. (All three readings of today reveal this); See: In Exodus, a priestly kingdom and a holy nation, In Romans – we are to be people reconciled to God – because God has reconciled us through his son; then in Matthew – we are ‘called’ people – called into God’s kingdom. So, we need to consider ways we can enter more deeply into who and what we are, rather than what we do. What we do must not distract us from what we are, but rather deepen the longing for God in our hearts. There is much to do, but the labourers are few. — What do we need to change to be more what we are ? — How do we challenge the church and God’s children to truly come before God and listen to his voice ? — In what ways is our monastic life to evolve so that those called can hear and live as true sons and daughters of God ? — Hard questions; but let us take heart. Christ knows our situation – we feel harassed and helpless, yet He is present. He has, and will bear us, on eagles wings – and as in Isaiah – they will not grow weary, but most of all, let us take heart from the words in Exodus – You shall be my treasured possession.
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St Mark’s Abbey Camperdown Incense made by the monks and nuns of St Mark’s Anglican Benedictine Abbey, Camperdown, Victoria.
450 gm Incense: $45.00. 40 gm Sachets: $8.00 ea Quick lighting charcoal: $26.50 per box (10 rolls of 10 pieces) Packing & Postage extra.
Phone: . . . . .03 5593 2348 Email: . . . . .
[email protected] Mail:. . . . . . P.O. Box 111, Camperdown Victoria, 3260
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St. Mark’s Abbey is an Anglican community of monks and nuns living a monastic life guided by the Rule of Saint Benedict.
Is God calling you to embrace Benedictine life at Camperdown, – in this great ‘South Land of the Holy Spirit?’ How will you answer God’s call? As we all know there is a paucity of response to vocations in the Australian church. Please join us in praying for men and women to respond. Does your parish display brochures about Monastic/Religious life? Please ask if you need some!
For more information about Benedictine life at St Mark’s Abbey, as a Monk or Nun, Alongsider, Oblate, Volunteer or Guest, please see our website: www.anglicanbenedictine.org.au Email:
[email protected]. or write to us: P.O. Box 111, Camperdown, Victoria, Australia. 3260.
FORM OF BEQUEST I hereby bequeath to the Benedictine Abbey (Camperdown, Victoria) Inc. Regn. No. A0001714H, the sum of . . . free of all duties, to be used for its general purposes in such manner as its Committee from time to time sees fit. The receipt of the abbot or other proper officer shall be sufficient discharge for this legacy.
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