What We Do

Each monastic community has a life and character of its own.  We are blessed with many gifts from our members and blend our diverse Christian talents to articulate a unique response to the call of monastic spirituality.  However, our goal is the same as prescribed by St. Benedict: to seek God. 

Membership options:

Professed Monastic

Oblate 

Friend of Community   

Monastics

Our monastics consecrate their lives to Christ while living at home and the world, married or single, working or retired.

Members choose their individual vocation of personal charity, such as:

·        Feeding the hungry;

·        Giving drink to the thirsty;

·        Clothing the naked;

·        Sheltering the homeless;

·        Visiting the sick;

·        Visiting those in prison;

·        Burying the dead;

·        Comforting the sorrowful;

·        Praying for all in need.

We take vows of stability in the order, obedience, and humility (personal conversion).  Our lives are guided by a contemporary application of the Rule of Benedict, modified to our state of being in the world rather than cloistered.  We live a life of charity and love for God and others, following Benedict’s exhortation to prayer and work…ora et labora.

Oblates

Our oblates do not take vows but make a yearly agreement to attend our meetings and to support the community via prayer, work, and other resources as they can.  Some also strive to live by the Benedictine Rule.

Friends of the Community

A friend of the community is a person who regularly attends our liturgies, prayer groups and programs and shares a special relationship with the monks and oblates.  We have many such people involved with Southern Cross Abbey.  This affords them a good opportunity to learn about our community and explore the possibility of becoming an oblate or monastic.