Dear Friends of Jamberoo Abbey,

In this beautiful Christmas season, I write to you with a heart filled with gratitude.

Some months ago, I wrote a public letter making known our need for help at this time. Our Abbey home is 40 years old and now faces major structural issues and is in need of significant repairs. We asked for help in funding those repairs.

We began our appeal a mere six months ago and are delighted to let you know that, while not out of the woods at all, the level of donations, offers of help and support has been remarkable; your generosity has touched us deeply. Work is well underway on the most urgent of the repairs needed, including repair and restoration of the leaking roof.

Our community of Sisters is so grateful to all who have helped us.

You may be aware that as I approach my 75th birthday, I will be stepping aside as Abbess from December 31, 2024, recognising that the time has come to hand the reins on to others. Many capable hands are at the ready to see this through and continue the legacy passed down to us.

As we make this transition over coming months, the loving support we have received this year from our friends and the wider community inspires us to look to the future with hope.

The dream that brought us to Jamberoo in the first place remains alive and well. We came with the hope that our Benedictine home would always be a place of refuge for those seeking God, looking for healing, a loving heart to hear their journey, a place of restoration for those seeking to mend their lives and a place of continual nourishment where it is most needed. We hoped that there would always be a place for them to join us. We heard a call and a need for our home of continual prayer to be the roof over the hearts of Australia. It has never been needed more than now, in these times.

In truth therefore your gift is going far beyond the livelihood of the Benedictine nuns, it is in fact shoring up hope for Australia and this hurting world.

We are deeply thankful for the warm and generous support we have received. It will always carry the grateful prayer of the Benedictine nuns of Jamberoo.

There is, of course, still much work to be done, and information on how to donate is available on the Donations page of our website https://www.jamberooabbey.org.au/about/make-a-donation/

As we prepare our hearts for the coming of Emmanuel – God with us – we give thanks for you, and we pray that the peace and joy of the Christ-child will be with you and your family this Christmas.

 

Mother Hilda Scott OSB.

December 2024