Southern Star Abbey: Difference between revisions

The Southern Star Abbey is a Cistercian abbey located in a remote, rural area of the North Island, New Zealand. The monastery supports itself by operating a dairy farm. It is located at Kopua near Takapau between Dannevirke and Waipukurau, Central Hawke's Bay.

Prescott land

In 1948 a farming couple at Kopua, Thomas and Rosalie Prescott, decided to cede their farm of 360 hectares to the Catholic Church with the long-term idea of an agricultural college being established on it. Their only condition was thet in some way a life-interest be reserved for Rosalie, and a home provided for their adopted intellectually handicapped son. It was a fine , productive property, ready made for monks who lived off land they cultivated, while they centered their contemplative lives on the full observance of the seven periods of formal liturgical prayer that punctuated each day.

Finding monks

Archbishop McKeefry of Wellington (Kopua was within the boundaries (as they were at that time) of the Wellington Archdiocese) wxplored the possibility of establishing a Cistercian monastery on the property. He approached Gethsemene Abbey, Kentucky (thinking that they might be interested because Thomas Merton, a monk of that abbey, was the son of a New Zealander, Owen Merton). He also approached Tilburg Abbey in Holland. Neither abbey expressed interest. But eventually Mount Melleray Abbey in County Waterford in Ireland agreed to the foundation.

Foundation

On 9 June 1954 six monks from Mt Mallery arrived in Kopua. They lived with the Prescott family while they built their first dwelling and began working part of the farm. In 1955 eight more monks arrived and the temporary monastery began to take shape. Wooden buildings were transferred from the former Pahiatua Polish camp to provide kitchen, dining room and library. A Wellington lawyer, Thaddeus McCarthy, began drafting the complicated contract providing for the gradual transfer of the Prescott farm to the Cistercian ownership.

Threatened withdrawal

Even though he had approved of this arrangement while on a preliminary visit, back in Ireland the Mt Mallery abbot was having second thoughts and threatened to withdraw his men. He had come to think the initial transfer of land was inadequate; at least 120 hectares were necessary to sustain a self-sufficient community of 20 or more monks. "The ownership of a sufficient amount of land is the foundation rock of a Cistercian foundation. Take away our land and we cease to exist as Cistercians". Worried lest he lose the Cistercians as he had lost the Carmelites (who he had tried to establish in his archdiocese before), McKeefry consulted the Sydney Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Romolo Carboni, who intervened to smooth over the misunderstanding. It had been due to differing appreciations of land titles and NZ tax laws on gifts; the deed of transfer was more than adequate security.

Life of the community

From its inception the monastery attracted a great deal of Catholic interest and some vocations. By 15 September 1959 it was considered sufficiently stable for the umbilical cord with Mt Mallery to be cut, and it was constituted as the Abbey of Our Lady of the Southern Star and in August 1960 McKeefry inducted the Right Rev. Joachim Murphy OSCO to that office. During the late 1960s and into the 1970s Murphy and his team of priests quietly helped Bishop Owen Snedden (then McKeefry's assistant) with the painstaking work of criticising and commenting on draft English translations of various liturgical books as the church changed gear from the universal use of Latin. The Abbey became a retreat centre for many people. One notable regular visitor was James K Baxter, a leadfing New Zealand poet. A few years after the death of Thomas Prescott, in 1972 a farm cadet scheme began with the homestead available for up to six young menwho would receive basic farm training from the monks before going on to an agricultural college.In 1979 a community of 30 celebrated its silver jubilee with the temporary buildings becoming permanent.

The Abbey today

In 2011 the Monastery has a community of 10-12 monks. As part of a $3.5 million dollar project, it has recently built a new architecturally-designed guest house which is a considerable departure from the simple buildings which have served the community since its inception. This building is the first stage of a possible rebuilding of the entire monastery. The three-stage project will take 50 years to complete. Private donations are supporting the development financially. With the guest house completed, work is projected to begin on a family centre, accommodation for co-workers and long-staying guests and a hermitage for solitary retreat. The Monastery has a lay community for persons able to commit for a time to lead a community life that overlaps with the monastery. The members of the lay community are called "Companions of the Abbey". They are Christians, married or single, who reside at the Abbey and live the Cistercian life as fully as possible whilst remaining members of the laity. This vocation is normally temporary with a minimum period of three months.

Abbots

• Fr Joachim Murphy OSCO (Abbot 1960 - ???)
• ???
• Fr Brian Keogh (Abbot 1998 - present)

External Links

Southern Star Abbey Homepage

References

• O'Meeghan S.M., Michael (2003). Steadfast in hope: The Story of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington 1850-2000. Wellington: Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)