Community
31 October, 2025
Milestone for Abbey
RESIDENTS are being invited to a special Eucharist service to mark 50 years of the Benedictine community which established Camperdown’s Benedictine Abbey.
The service will mark the 50th anniversary of the first men being clothed as novices at the St Mark’s Church in Fitzroy, Melbourne in 1975.
Sister Superior Raphael Stone of Camperdown’s Benedictine Abbey said those first members formed Camperdown’s Benedictine community.
“I think it was around 1980 when the community started looking for a place where they could live more of a Benedictine contemplative life of prayer – away from the hustle and bustle of the city,” she said.
“They were invited by the then-Bishop of Ballarat – Bishop John Hazelwood – and Camperdown parish, to use the vacant rectory building.
“This offer was gladly accepted by the community and so began a long association between the parish, town and monastery.
“The community lived in the rectory for about 18 months before the property where the Benedictine Abbey is now situated (280 Camperdown-Cobden Road) came on the market.
“With a lot of help, the monks were able to purchase the property and a life of prayer, hospitality and work was established, continually evolving and changing over the years.”
As part of celebrations, a special Eucharist will be held next Saturday (November 8) from 11.30am.
Sr Stone said the anniversary service was an opportunity to honour the work and faith of the community’s first monks, and the dedication of the monks and nuns who followed in their footsteps.
“This anniversary is a time to look back with thanksgiving to God for gifts of faith, fortitude, perseverance and love, to acknowledge the great blessings of the present that are new every day and to look with hope to the new things God has in store,” she said.
“There will be many friends, – some who have known the community from the very beginning, others who have known the community for decades, and yet others who have connected in more recent times.
“Everyone is welcome to come to give thanks and join the celebration of blessings as we reflect on where the community has come from, where it is now and what new ways are in store in the future.
“With faith we rejoice as we look back and look forward.
“I would like to say thank you to the many friends, helpers, businesses and people of the town community who have given – and continue to give – such generous help and support to the Abbey over the last 50 years.”
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