Tarrawarra Abbey | Community
Tarrawarra Abbey
Phone: +61 3 9730 1306
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25.01.2022 Br Peter, Br Jason and Br Moses have received the habit of our Order at Tarrawarra in recent months.
22.01.2022 Besides eucharistic breads, we are now selling baptismal stoles and sacramental certificates. For more information, please visit: www.eucharisticbreads.com.au
15.01.2022 Booking for the Sunday Mass on 29 November 2020 is now closed. The next booking will be opened next Monday morning.
11.01.2022 We are pleased to welcome visitors to our Sunday Mass once again. Please visit our website for more information: www.cistercian.org.au However, the church is still closed at other times.
10.01.2022 On this Father's Day, let us pray for all fathers: "God our loving Father, we ask that you bless all fathers in this world who have accepted the responsibilities of being a parent. Guide them to be outstanding role models to their children. Let them look to your example and to parent with patience, love, kindness and understanding. Amen." Happy Father's Day!
08.01.2022 After a few days of rain, we now have "lake" Tarrawarra!
07.01.2022 Homily for All Saints 2020 by Dom Steele Hartmann ocso Today we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. These are those who took seriously what Jesus taught. Today’s Gospel begins Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It opens: ‘This is what he taught them: Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven, and so on. (Matthew 5:2-3) These Beatitudes are not moral injunctions: Do this, and you will be blessed. Nor are they commands; they contain no ‘should,’ or ‘ought,’...Continue reading
06.01.2022 Love of Reading by Fr Michael Casey ocso The celebrated Benedictine medievalist, Jean Leclercq, when he sought a phrase that might evoke the essential spirit of the Benedictine charism, decided on The Love of Learning and the Desire for God. Desire for God is, of course, common to all who undertake the spiritual pursuit. What makes followers of Saint Benedict distinctive is their love of learning or perhaps translating l’amour des lettres differently, their love of readin...Continue reading
06.01.2022 As a community we have been acutely aware of the suffering and loss so many of our brothers and sisters have experienced in this year of COVID-19. The Mass in a Time of Pandemic, and its sensitively inclusive opening prayer (below), have been a regular feature of our liturgy over the months: Almighty and eternal God, our refuge in every danger, to whom we turn in our distress; in faith we pray, look with compassion on the afflicted,... grant eternal rest to the dead, comfort to mourners, healing to the sick, peace to the dying, strength to healthcare workers, wisdom to our leaders and the courage to reach out to all in love, so that together we may give glory to your holy name. A writer responded in experiential terms to the headline We are all monks now!, I get the main point: Monks have something to teach us about flourishing in solitude. But living quarantined with kids feels like anything but ‘monastic’. Yes, we are all in this together! However, the challenges have been unequal. We monks are definitely privileged. We have been able to maintain the rhythm of the monastic day. The company of brethren has not been lacking. We have a very big backyard in which to stretch our legs and enjoy nature. The birds and birdsong are plentiful and a constant delight. The numbers swelled with an influx of waterfowl during the flooding of the river-flats. Two kangaroos, plus a joey in the pouch, have availed themselves of the quieter conditions, to be trustingly alert but not alarmed, even making occasional forays among the monastic buildings. A soggy blue tongue lizard was washed out of its hibernation briefly. The floods forced wombats to seek higher ground, one even considering entering the cloister, but discerned as unsuitable because of its excavation obsession. Our felt loss has been the absence of guests, and our regulars at Sunday Mass and other liturgies. We hope to welcome you again in the near future. Meanwhile, take care and stay safe.
04.01.2022 Dom Kevin O’Farrell (1919-2006) was a Cistercian monk of lowly background, who became a leader of remarkable foresight. Having lived as an ordinary monk for twenty years, he was elected the first abbot of Tarrawarra and faced the turbulent times of change following Vatican II. Born in Ireland on St Patrick’s Day, he entered Mount St Joseph Abbey Roscrea in 1937. After ordination, he taught at the monastery’s secondary college for ten years. Then in 1955, he was appointed novi...ce master for the Abbey. In 1958, Fr Kevin was elected Abbot by the newly founded Tarrawarra community in Australia, where he remained in office for thirty years. In the Goodness of God: A Memoir, is Dom Kevin’s honest and reflective recounting in faith, of his own story, as well as that of the people he encountered and the monastic communities he served. The cost of the book is $30 excluding postage. To purchase the book, please email Br Luke: [email protected]
