Lifting Up Benefactors in the Quiet Work of Prayer

In the rhythm of monastic life at the monastery's online home, every day begins and ends with the Divine Office. The monks gather in their choir stalls several times throughout the day, raising their voices in the psalms that have echoed through Benedictine halls for more than fifteen centuries. Among the intentions carried in those sacred songs are the people who make the community's life possible — the benefactors whose generosity sustains the daily round of prayer, work, and study. To pray for benefactors is not an afterthought in the monastic vocation; it is woven into the very fabric of the day.

Half a world away, in the parishes and homes of Australia, many Catholics feel a quiet longing for the contemplative tradition that flourishes in places like Plaisance, Louisiana. The fifteen-hour time difference between Sydney and the Gulf Coast means that when an Australian family sits down for dinner in the arvo, the monks have already begun their evening vigil. Yet prayer crosses time zones without effort, and the bonds formed in intercession are not weakened by distance. Australian Catholics who support the monastery often speak of feeling held in prayer across the hemisphere, a kind of spiritual solidarity that the modern world rarely offers.

Intercessory prayer is the act of bringing the needs of others before God. In the Christian tradition, it ranges from the spontaneous "Lord, be with my sick neighbour" to the formal prayers of the liturgy itself. Monastic intercession has a particular character: it is steady, communal, rooted in Scripture, and offered in union with the Church's official prayer. The monks do not pray for benefactors as a favour; they pray for them as a duty of their vocation, recognising that the gifts they receive create a spiritual reciprocity.

What follows is an exploration of how this practice takes shape behind the cloister walls, why it matters for those who give, and how Australian Catholics can take their place within this ancient rhythm. The article also offers practical guidance for visiting the monastery or learning more about the ways in which material and spiritual support are joined together in the Benedictine tradition.

The Daily Round of Intercession in the Monastery

The monks of Mother of the Redeemer Monastery follow the Rule of St Benedict, which sets aside several hours each day for the prayerful recitation of the psalms. Within this round of prayer, the community holds in mind those who have asked for remembrance, including the benefactors whose gifts sustain their livelihood. The Divine Office is not a private devotion but a public work — what the Rule calls the Opus Dei, the work of God. When the monks chant the psalms, they do so on behalf of the whole Church, and the benefactors are part of that wider whole.

Specific names are added to the monastery's prayer list, which is read aloud during the daily conventual Mass and at the office of Lauds. A gift given one month may continue to be remembered for years, depending on the type of offering. The monks understand that a benefactor's needs are not only material — health, family, spiritual struggles, the lonely hours of the night — and these intentions are carried forward with the same care as the prayers offered for the success of the monastery's chapel expansion.

This regularity offers something that personal prayer, however heartfelt, cannot always provide. It means that benefactors are prayed for not only in moments of crisis but in the ordinary rhythms of grace. A farmer in the wheat belt of Western Australia, a teacher in a Brisbane Catholic primary school, a retired nurse in Adelaide — each can know that on a given morning, as the Louisiana dawn breaks, the psalmody of the community is rising on their behalf.

Practice	Where it Happens	Frequency	Who Takes Part
Liturgy of the Hours	Monastic choir	Several times daily	The monastic community
Conventual Mass	Monastery chapel	Daily	Monks, visiting laity
Personal Intercession	Private cell or chapel	Variable	Each monk individually
Benefactors' Masses	As scheduled	Monthly or on feast days	Community intention
Oblate Prayer Bonds	Wherever oblates live	Daily	Lay oblates worldwide

From the Choir Stalls to the Ends of the Earth

The communion of saints is not a metaphor for the monks; it is a daily experience. When an Australian family sends a donation to support the monastery, the monks do not simply file the cheque and move on. The gift enters into a relationship, and relationship, in the Benedictine tradition, requires prayer. Each benefactor becomes a presence in the monks' consciousness — a name, a need, a face perhaps glimpsed in a photograph, a story shared through correspondence.

Australian Catholics have a particular heritage of supporting contemplative communities. The Benedictine abbey at New Norcia in Western Australia, the sisters of Jamberoo in New South Wales, and various Carmelite and Cistercian houses across the country have long depended on the generosity of lay supporters. The same spirit that has sustained these local foundations now reaches across the Pacific to Louisiana, where the Olivetan community continues a tradition that began in Italy centuries ago.

For Australian benefactors who have never set foot in Louisiana, the link is real and felt. Some mention a sense of peace when they receive the monastery's quarterly newsletter, knowing that their name has been mentioned in the prayers of the community. Others speak of being drawn closer to the Church's universal prayer through this small, faithful contact with a specific house of monks. As one Melbourne parishioner put it during a recent appeal, "It's fair dinkum — they're praying for us, and we can feel it."

How Material Support Becomes Spiritual Solidarity

There is a tendency in modern culture to separate the spiritual from the practical. The monastery resists this division. When someone gives a financial gift to support the monks, they are not buying a service; they are participating in a shared vocation. The monks pray; the benefactors provide the means by which the monks can pray without distraction. The two halves of the relationship meet in the sanctuary.

Australian donors are accustomed to giving through direct debit or through established Deductible Gift Recipient channels, and the monastery accommodates these methods. Yet beyond the mechanics of giving, there is the question of motive. The monks do not inquire into the hearts of their benefactors, but the tradition teaches that the purest form of giving is that which seeks nothing in return — except, perhaps, the prayer that flows back toward the giver as a kind of spiritual return. In this exchange, both parties grow.

The practice is rooted in the Bible itself. St Paul repeatedly asks the early communities to pray for him, and he assures them that he carries them in his heart. The Letter to the Philippians, written from prison, contains one of the clearest expressions of this exchange: Paul thanks the Philippians for their financial support and prays that their love may increase still more. The monastery simply continues this ancient rhythm — money given, prayer returned, both offered to God.

Joining the Choir from Far Away

For those who wish to participate more directly, the monastery welcomes visitors to its public liturgical celebrations. Vespers, the evening prayer, is one of the most accessible points of entry. The community gathers at the close of the day, the light fading over the Louisiana landscape, and the psalms rise in the quiet of the chapel. Visitors often find, even without sharing the language of Latin or the music of Gregorian chant, that they have joined something larger than themselves.

Australians planning a visit can find practical information through the monastery's vespers visit guide. The guide explains dress, timing, the shape of the service, and the quiet reverence that characterises monastic liturgy. For those who cannot travel to Louisiana, the same prayer rises daily, and a moment of joining from a kitchen in Perth or a study in Hobart is welcomed and remembered.

Another way to enter into the rhythm is through the oblate programme. Oblates are lay men and women who, while living in the world, formally associate themselves with a Benedictine or Olivetan community. They follow a rule of life adapted to their circumstances and participate in the prayer of the monastery in a special bond. Many Australians have found in this vocation a way to give shape to their spiritual longing, particularly in the busyness of contemporary life where silence is rare.

A Living Tradition of Reciprocal Care

The relationship between a monastery and its benefactors is rarely spoken of in parishes or preached from Australian pulpits, yet it remains one of the most beautiful patterns of Christian life. The monks pray; the faithful give; the cycle continues across centuries and hemispheres. In an age that often feels anonymous and transactional, the monastery offers a counter-witness: every gift is received, every name is remembered, every prayer is offered.

Australian Catholics who feel drawn to this way of life can begin simply. A first step is to learn more about the community through its sustaining our monastic life guide, which describes the practical realities of monastic support without sentimentality. From there, contact can be made, a name added to the prayer list, and a place taken within the communion that spans the distance between a Gulf Coast chapel and the wide brown land.

The monastery's doors are open, its prayers are constant, and its gratitude is genuine. Whether one gives a one-off donation, becomes a regular supporter, considers the oblate path, or simply visits for an evening of vespers, the bond formed is real and lasting. To take part in this reciprocal care is to step into a current that has been flowing since the desert fathers and mothers first began to pray for those who sustained them — and it remains, even now, a source of unexpected grace. Reach out today, share in the prayer, and discover the peace that comes from being held in the steady intercession of a community whose only work is to seek God's face.