English Benedictine Congregation

Our Belonging to the English Benedictine Congregation

Our community, the Abbey of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, has a long and cherished connection with the Benedictine tradition in England.

We were founded in 1849 by two nuns, Dame Magdalen le Clerc and Sr Scholastica Gregory. Dame Magdalen came to Australia from Stanbrook Abbey, a Benedictine community of nuns in England. Through her, a connection was established between our young community and the Benedictine tradition from which we had sprung.

In 2016, Pope Francis issued the Apostolic Constitution Vultum Dei Quaerere on Women’s Contemplative Life. This was followed in 2018 by Cor Orans, which provided instructions for the implementation of Vultum Dei Quaerere.

In response to these developments, and following the guidance of the Holy See, we became members of the English Benedictine Congregation in 2022. For us, this was a return to our roots and a renewal of the connection with Stanbrook Abbey that has been part of our story from the beginning.

The English Benedictine Congregation

The English Benedictine Congregation brings together Benedictine monastic communities of women and men across the world, including in the United Kingdom and Ireland, North and South America, Africa, Australia and Sweden.

Today, the Congregation comprises 17 communities. Being part of this wider Benedictine family gives us the joy of sharing in a living tradition of prayer, community and the search for God, while remaining rooted in our own particular history and place here at Jamberoo.

Our membership connects us not only with our Benedictine heritage, but also with sisters and brothers in monastic communities around the world. It is a reminder that, while each community has its own story, we share a common Benedictine heritage and a desire to live the Gospel through prayer, work and community.