Dear Friends,

Greetings of peace from Southern Cross Abbey.

If you live in the Southern hemisphere, or if you are vacationing in some place like Hawaii, you can see a small but beautiful constellation with the shape of a cross. Its name is the Southern Cross. Explorers of the southern hemisphere used the Southern Cross to guide them when sailing. By looking at this constellation, they could figure out in which direction to sail without getting lost.  This is the inspiration for the name of our Abbey.  We are a community of members from the traditional southern states of the US.  May our Southern Cross Abbey be a guiding light to us all as we sail on in our journey toward union with Christ. 

Living a life in the spirit of St. Benedict is not easy. It is perhaps, easier to do in community, where one is sheltered in the shade of the cloister. But, to live the Benedictine Way out in the world, with it’s many distractions, cares, and temptations, presents a whole new range of considerations. These considerations are not what Benedict wrote about in his Rule. And yet, this is a new age, and these are different times than when our patron saint established his first monastery, drawing a group of dedicated monks together to seek God in a life primarily based upon two things – ora et labora. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, it is time that men and women from all circles of life brought about their own new monasticism…a monasticism that lives out the Sermon on the Mountain and revolutionizes the concept of church.

Our Abbey without walls is very much based upon a missional theology. We are missional because we are sent by the Holy Spirit to bring Christ’s care to a needy world. You will find our members in nursing homes, in local church ministries teaching, in hospice, preaching to the prisoners, nursing the sick, bringing sacred music to the faithful, guiding and mentoring future lay and ordained ministers, providing social services, feeding the hungry, helping house the homeless, and doing all the things for which our Lord will call us into account when we stand before Him one day.

Some of our members are temporarily alone in their ministries because they are separated from their Benedictine brothers and sisters by many miles. Still, we are gathered together in our spirits and in our hearts. Our goal is to establish a small community in each area where our members reside. A community can be as small as two or three people, for whenever two or three are gathered together in Christ’s name, there He is in their midst. And, if any of us falters, it is good to have a brother or sister to help bare us up. That is what Benedictine community is all about. It is about supporting, caring, loving, and learning from one another.

May God bless you as a member of our community. If you are a prospective member, or one in discernment, please know that you will be in our prayers. May God bless all visitors to this site and fill you with peace.

Love and peace in Christ and Benedict,

Mthr. Abbess Mary Magdalene (Senia) Fix, OSB