Powerhouse of prayer will move to quieter pastures
A call to quieter pastures has led the Tyburn Nuns from Sydney’s growing metropolis to a new home in a rural paradise.
Prioress Mother Marie Pierre said the community’s move from their Riverstone monastery to a 33-acre property in Kurmond will be worlds away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney’s fast-growing northwest.
Nestled in the Hawkesbury region with Blue Mountain views, the “beautiful and very peaceful” property has three dams and overlooks a much larger one nearby. At around 70km from Sydney it’s still within striking distance of the city for retreatants, and will be the perfect place for the nuns’ life of Eucharistic adoration, prayer and work.
Their current Riverstone location used to be a semi-rural retreat but the area is now home to growth suburbs Box Hill and Gables.
“At the moment our guests can’t sleep at night because of trucks coming up and down our road,” Mother Marie Pierre explained. “A monastery needs to be somewhere where people can get away and rest and pray without too much interference. But at the same time we wanted to remain close to Sydney because we pray specially for the church here.”
In an answer to the nun’s prayers for the perfect buyer, Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta purchased the Riverstone monastery on June 17 last year, which also happens to be the anniversary of the death of the order’s foundress.
Director Mark Rix said that the property’s location in one of the fastest-growing areas of Sydney is ideal for serving the long-term needs of school-aged children and their families in the Parramatta diocese.
In another work of Providence, the nuns’ good friend Barry Lumby, a real estate agent, who helped them to find their Richmond home 34 years ago also found their new one. It only awaits development approval for renovations for an existing four bedroom house and shed to accommodate the nine nuns and all of their needs.
Longer term, the community will build a chapel and monastery. Donations can be made by bank transfer or by sending a cheque made payable to ‘Tyburn Priory’, 325 Garfield Road East, Riverstone NSW 2765.
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