News from the Priory

At the beginning of August, in his capacity as the Vocations Director for southern Africa, Br Luc travelled to KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape, to make home visits with three men who had enquired about possibly joining our monastic community and whom he has been accompanying in initial discernment. These visits helped clarify that one man does not seem to have a vocation to our way of life, one is not yet ready to take the next steps, and one will continue in the discernment process, perhaps making a visit here to spend some with us relatively soon.

Br Daniel also travelled during the month, in his case to visit with an elderly nun in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape, with whom he has had a close friendship developed over many years. It seems she does not have much longer before she departs for her heavenly homeland, and so it was good for them to have some time together again. She is the last remaining member of her Order – the Society of the Precious Blood – in South Africa, an Order that faithfully held this country in prayer through the end of apartheid, which added a special poignancy.

August 2024 NewsRead More »

After the excitement and activity of our Order’s annual Chapter gathering here at Volmoed in the first half of June, our monastic community’s annual 8-day winter retreat in the second half of July was a much-appreciated time of quiet reflection. During the retreat, we follow a reduced schedule of chapel prayer, and apart from the mid-day meal in common we spend much of the time in solitary silence, allowing for longer periods of prayer and study and attentiveness.

July 2024 NewsRead More »

November saw two distinct improvements in the transport infrastructure affecting movement to and from Volmoed. First, a bridge over the nearby national road was repaired, allowing traffic to move along that road again, thus reducing traffic volumes that had made travel along the lengthy unpaved detour road not only unpleasant but dangerous. Second, movement along the main road through the bottom of the valley became possible again, once the single-lane bypass around the damage resulting from the storm of late September was completed.

The immediate benefit of these improvements, apart from ease of access to areas beyond the valley from Volmoed, was that people from those areas could once again come to Volmoed relatively easily. There has been a noticeable increase in attendance of the Thursday and Sunday morning church services since, with those who had found themselves unable to come to Volmoed after the storm expressing their delight at being here again.

November 2023 NewsRead More »

Gradual recovery from the devastating storms of late September continues, within the Western Cape generally as well more locally within the Hermanus area and specifically in the Hemel-and-Aarde Valley including here at Volmoed, where efforts are underway to clean up the riverbanks (which has also provided material for neighbours to use in repairing roads on their properties) though the main access road onto the Volmoed property remains impassable. The lengthy detour along a dusty unpaved road with increased traffic volumes is still necessary for travel into Hermanus, though work on opening the main road through the bottom of the valley has begun. The electricity supply remains somewhat unstable, and there are water restrictions for townspeople as the water supply is still constrained.

Br Roger travelled to Mariannhill Monastery Retreat House in Pinetown KZN to attend the annual meeting of the Council for the Religious Life, together with representatives from most of the other religious communities in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, as well as the Liaison Bishop who facilitates the interaction between the Council and the institutional Church. The meeting took place over two days in early October, and included reports from each community about its life and work, as well as discussion of challenges that exist within communities and between communities and the church. We also prayed and ate together and had times of fellowship, all of which strengthened the supportive relationships among communities.

October 2023 NewsRead More »