On Saturday 10 January, Cardinal Mykola Bychok CSsR, Ukrainian Catholic Eparch of Melbourne, and Bishop of Wilcannia-Forbes Columba Macbeth-Green OSPPE, will break ground for a new monastery for the Discalced Carmelite nuns based in Mathoura, a small town in the Riverina, about 10 minutes from the Murray River.
Colleen Jreissati, the wife of Elias Jreissati AM, the principal patron of the new monastery, will also preside at the ceremony to mark the beginning of construction of the first stage.
A crowd of 500 is expected, including locals and supporters from all over Australia. On Sunday Bishop Macbeth-Green will celebrate a Pontifical Mass in a paddock on the site of the future chapel.
Currently, the 12 nuns in the community are living on their eight-hectare site in an old farmhouse.
Back in 2019 four of them arrived in Mathoura from a monastery in the US diocese of Pittsburgh. Last year the monastery became autonomous and is now called the Carmel of Elijah.
The sisters follow a strict rule of life. According to the ancient practice of monastic enclosure, they are physically separated from the public by fences and grilles.
They live a life of prayer and poverty and depend entirely on donations. Their primary mission is to pray for the church and the world.
With the permission of Bishop Macbeth-Green, the Carmel of Elijah uses the extraordinary form of the Mass and Divine Office.
Mathoura is the latest chapter in a tradition stretching back to through the United States and Mexico to Spain and Mount Carmel itself in the Holy Land.
Bishop Macbeth-Green told The Catholic Weekly in 2019 that he had been keen for a long time to get a contemplative order into the diocese, so long as it could be self-funding.
“The main reason we want them is that contemplative religious are the powerhouse of any diocese, in their prayer and their witness. They are the heart of the church. Because ours is a rural and remote diocese, the nuns will be a great source of consolation for clergy and our people.”
This is the second time Carmelite nuns have come to Wilcannia-Forbes diocese. In 1949, a monastery was established in Parkes.
But in 1987 it merged with the Carmelites in Dulwich Hill and moved to Varroville, southwest of Sydney.
An auxiliary bishop of American city of Pittsburgh, William J. Waltersheid, recently gave the Mathoura nuns a retreat. He was impressed by their dedication.
“Their chapel and chapter room (where they gather to pray the Divine Office) are under a large tent,” he wrote in his diocesan newsletter.
“They taught me by their living arrangements that in the prologue to St John’s Gospel when we come to the words ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’ (John 1:14) the Greek word for ‘dwelt’ is ‘to pitch a tent’.
“Certainly, Our Lord pitched a tent in Mathoura and His brides are dwelling in His Eucharistic Presence there. We talk about Laudato Si’ and respect for God’s creation. They are living it.”
To attend the Groundbreaking ceremony, please follow the Trybooking link where you can register and find more information about the event.
