Cistercian Property Association
Religious Organisations in Yarra Ranges

The monks dedicate themselves to the worship of God. With some financial aid from the archdiocese in the form of an interest free loan and with donations from benefactors, the property was purchased. It comprised of four hundred hectares, on conventional land of the Wurundjeri people. In 1958, Tarrawarra was raised to abbey status and Com Kevin O'Farrell was elected as the beginning abbot, a position he held for thirty years until his resignation in 1988. Tarrawarra was founded in a time of great financial austerity, and for many years, the community labored below the burden of debt. Thanks to a bequest from the Sutton family in South Australia, the monks were able to clear the accumulated interest and to begin reducing the debt. Over the years, the church, refectory, living quarters, workshops, library, etc were built. Tarrawarra had the ecstasy of adopting Kurisumala Ashram in India as a daughter house in 1998 and helping it through the various stages to be incorporated into the Cistercian Order.

The monks dedicate themselves to the worship of God. Within a brief period, monasteries following this renewal were found from Ireland to Hungary, and from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, some being home to hundreds of monks, many attracted by the influence of St Bernard of Clairvaux and other spiritual giants of his generation. Below the leadership of Armand de Rand and others, they sought a greater fidelity to the Rule with its emphasis on prayer, community life, work, and separation from the world. We remember those who have gone prior us. Our plain lifestyle gives priority to liturgical and personal prayer as healthy as sacred reading, balanced by community living, work, and study. It is a disciplined and ordered life in which we seek God through the conventional monastic means. Each monastery of the Order supports itself by working. The first hours of the day is a privileged period for prolonged personal prayer and sacred reading. After Mass there is an interval of an hour during which the monks again have the opportunity to immerse themselves in sacred reading. After this the monks labor for about three hours: some on the beef farm, some in the Eucharistic Breads department, some in house cleaning and maintenance. Others are at work in the guest house or in the bursar’s office this is also the time for classes and study for those in formation. Behind this the monks have their main meal of the day which is taken in silence during which a apropos book is read. Behind the meal there is opportunity for further reading. Currently, there is accommodation for six guests in our guesthouse. Guests are welcomed to stay in the guesthouse for a uppermost of one week per year. When prolonged prayer and reflection precede to a continuation of the process, a time of more intense experimentation is arranged. The postulancy is a period of six to twelve months during which the candidate adjusts psychologically to a fresh way of life, getting used to the different dynamics of living in community and to the special rhythms of the monastic day with its large amounts of time for liturgy and private prayer, reading and work. During this time the fresh member of the community wears a Frey hooded smock it is not yet a monastic habit, but it indicates that he is more than a guest. Reception into the novitiate and being clothed in the novice's white habit is a jovial occasion for the man himself and for the community. It is the formal first of his Cistercian life and the start of two years of intense personal formation and instruction. It is during this time that the young monk begins to express his monastic vocation in a more personal way, taking more responsibility for the life of the community, allowing his gifts to flower and finding in the monastic way of life a pathway to personal freedom and fulfillment. Behind Serious Profession, some monks are ordained to minister to the sacramental needs of the community, but this is, as it were, a second vocation. We are a group of people who have been attracted to the Cistercian spirituality as lived by the monks at Tarrawarra Abbey. We recognize the need to face regularly with others who have such a similar desire.