Living by the Rule: Benedictine Spirituality and Australia

This subject is offered in conjunction with the Benedictine Community of New Norcia, Western Australia. It is introduces the Rule of St Benedict through a 7 day live-in experience of life in the monastery guest-house, and examines the post-contact history of New Norcia, Australia’s only monastic town, founded by Spanish monks as a mission to the Aboriginal people of Victoria Plains in 1846. It locates Benedictinism within the wider history of Christian monasticism, and in Australian history. It covers monastic prayer with particular attention to the psalms, lectio divina, and liturgical life, the place of manual work, and understandings of hospitality. We examine the history of the town paying attention to the foundation narratives and key personalities, the role of women, the interaction with Indigenous Australians, and the patterns of contact with the wider Australian and international community. There is the opportunity to work with archival material relating to the monastery, farm, schools, library, and mission activities.