A Monastery
in the Benedictine
Tradition
Dedicated to Our Lady of Cana
ABOUT
Notre Dame
Priory
Notre Dame Priory is a a Public Association of the Faithful in Colebrook, Tasmania, Australia under the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hobart. Founded as a Benedictine monastic community on 22 February 2017, it is gradually working towards becoming an autonomous monastery. Dedicated to God by means of the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, stability, and conversion of life, monks spend their time in prayer and labour (ora et labora).
Ora
THE MONKS' LIFE OF PRAYER
The life of a Benedictine monk is one of noble service of the Divine Majesty in the monastery. From early morning to evening, the monk is called to serve God. There is no aspect of his life that is not included in the service of God, for in the monastery everything is sacred. There are however privileged moments in which the monk finds himself more explicitly involved in God’s Work, namely when he is at prayer.
The monks’ prayer is first and foremost the solemn celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Divine Office, in accordance with the ancient tradition of the Church, in Latin with Gregorian Chant. They also spend a considerable amount of time each day in personal mental prayer with the Lord, reading with love and devotion the Sacred Scriptures, ever seeking the Face of God who alone can fill the heart and give eternal salvation.
Labora
THE MONKS' LIFE OF WORK
Work, both intellectual and manual, is also an essential feature of a Benedictine community. Our first and most important work is to hold silent and guided retreats for clergy and faithful alike. Following in the footsteps of a very rich tradition, our community seeks to unite the solemn worship of the Trinity with fervent zeal for the salvation of souls.
According to the particular talents of each monk, hours each day are dedicated to the study of the sacred sciences or other disciplines that are needed for the promotion of an authentic Christian and human culture and/or to the diverse forms of manual labour required for the upkeep of a community and the proper physical and psychological balance of its members.
