November 2025 News – Establishing St Benedict’s Monastery in Harkerville

To say that the month of November was eventful for the monastic community would be something of an understatement.

The application to register the transfer of the Harkerville property was lodged at the Cape Town deeds office at the beginning of the month. It was rejected a week later due to a technicality, which was corrected and the application was re-submitted the next day. This meant that the registration would probably not be effected before the date we had agreed with the removal company. Re-scheduling our relocation would have complicated matters in various ways best avoided; the then-current owners of the property graciously allowed us to move onto the property before registration if need be, and generously waived their right to occupational rental.

So, preparations to relocate began in earnest, including finalizing what to take and where to put it. We entered an extended period of separation from people and places we had been regularly interacting with while resident at Volmoed. On 10 November, the Monday of our final full week at Volmoed, Brs Aelred and Mpumelelo hiked up to the Cross on the ridge overlooking the Volmoed property and waited there for the early morning mist to clear so they could admire the spectacular views. Br Aelred attended his final Monday art class with Alyson Guy. Br Josias visited the Ithemba special needs centre for the last time on the following day.

John de Gruchy preached and Br Daniel celebrated at our final Volmoed Thursday Eucharistic service on 13 November, which we were invited to lead and at which we were presented with an array of thoughtful and meaningful gifts. Br Roger preached at our well-attended Sunday morning farewell Eucharist on 16 November. Coffee or tea afterwards was accompanied by a table full of a variety of eats provided by many of the faithful who had regularly attended on Sunday mornings during our time at Volmoed. The final Vespers was prayed by the monastic community of St Benedict’s Priory at Volmoed that evening.

The crew from the removal company arrived the next day to pack us up and load our possessions for transport, a process that required two and a half days, as it included chapel fixtures and a substantial library. We were grateful for the assistance of several of the Volmoed staff and the use of the Volmoed tractor for shuttling larger consignments around the property to the truck. Molly Wood and her assistant Blessing provided us with a welcome respite in the form of lunch on the Tuesday.

In the end, on the Wednesday, just in time for the Volmoed staff to go off on their yearend outing, everything was loaded and the Brothers said final farewells and drove off ahead of the truck to spend their first night as residents on the Harkerville property. The truck arrived the next day, and energetic unloading ensued, with items being distributed to several buildings around the property under the direction of various monks. The truck was empty by the end of the day.

The process of settling in included setting up the chapel spaces (which involved putting back together the square altar that we had brought with us from our first South African monastery, in Grahamstown – this required sourcing screws for the altar that had been carefully packaged but then were somehow mislaid during the move) and also the kitchen and dining room, as well as learning where various shops etc are located, whether in Plettenberg Bay or Knysna, on either side of Harkerville. The first weekend included a visit to the Saturday Morning Market, just up the road.

More significantly, the first chapel prayer prayed by the monastic community at St Benedict’s Monastery in Harkerville was the First Vespers of the Feast the Christ the King, in the evening of Saturday 22 November. The first community Eucharist at the new monastery took place the next day, on the Feast Day itself.

A monastic community does not just pray together, it also eats together, amongst other communal activities. During preparations for our first home-cooked meal in the new monastery, we discovered that the regulator for the gas supply to the stove had been stolen some time after the previous tenants left the property, so a new regulator and refilled gas bottle had to be sourced in short order. Bruce, who has managed the property in preparation for the change in ownership, was very helpful in this regard, as also when replacement parts had to be sourced for our washing machine that was damaged during the move.

Part of the celebration of our Order’s Founder’s Day on 25 November took the form of a festive meal at a neighbouring vineyard. Signs of blessing of the new founding included abundant rain over a recent weekend, in a part of the country that has been in deficit in this regard. We were also delighted to be visited by Rev Melany, the local Anglican parish rector, on moving day, and by Theresa, Volmoed’s managing trustee, more recently, on her way to East London. Theresa was able to be with us as we entered a new church year on the first Sunday of Advent, staying overnight in relatively primitive guesthouse conditions. Br Roger very much enjoyed the brief visit of a special friend, who happened to be driving past on the previous Sunday morning.

Within 10 days of our arrival on the Harkerville property, we received the happy news from the conveyancer that the transfer had been successfully registered in the Cape Town deeds office.