In 1954 four Benedictine Sisters of St. Alban from Germany, Diessen am Ammersee, were called to be Missionaries in South Africa in the Diocese of Eshowe in Kwa-Zulu-Natal. Until 2013, the main ministry in Eshowe was the care for and education of children at Little Flower Primary School, a school and boarding for Coloured Children during Apartheid (in South African terms children of mixed race).

In 1984, the Diocese of Witbank was looking for Sisters who could run their newly build Old Age Home for poor people in Elukwatini, a rural part of Mpumalanga Province. Three Sisters (two professional nurses and a retired teacher) followed this request and started Gugulethu St. Benedict’s Home for the Aged. A Benedictine Convent was built next to the old age home in 1994 and more Sisters joined the community.

In 2025, seven Sisters are praying and working at St. Benedict’s Convent (five from South Africa and two from Germany).

As Benedictine Sisters, we start our day at 6 A.M. with the Office of Reading and Morning Prayer, followed by a time for reflection. At 7 A.M. we celebrate Holy Mass, whenever our Parish Priest can join us or when we have the privilege to welcome visiting priests. If no priest can celebrate with us, we conduct a priest-less service with Holy Communion.

After breakfast, every Sister contributes to the work of the community based on her strengths: serving guests, cooking, gardening, laundry, cleaning, shopping, administration, pastoral work, and crafts work (knitting, making rosaries, beads-word, decorating candles, etc.).

At 11.45 A.M. the community meets for midday prayer followed by lunch and time to rest, after which work continues. At 5 P.M., we gather in our Chapel for half an hour of adoration followed by evening prayer and a time for spiritual reading. Our library is well equipped thanks to the books from AIM USA.

After supper, there is time for recreation before ending our day with night prayer.

The responsibility for the 79 residents in our Old Age Home (which is a nonprofit organisation) has been handed over to lay-management. One Sister is still a member of the Board of management, and another ministers to the residents with catechesis and prayer.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, one Sister is leading an online prayer-group called “Women of Faith.” This group occasionally meets in person, especially during Advent and Lent.

She also started to work part-time as a coordinator of the Catholic Mental Health Ministry in the parishes of our deanery.

Recently the number of people who want to spend a quiet time at our convent has grown. They join us in praying with the community, having a retreat and supporting our mission.

As our convent is situated in a deep rural area with a high rate of unemployment, we are committed to assist the poor by welcoming them and listening to them, as well as providing them with meals, school uniforms, stationary, computer courses, short-term trainings, and transport help. South Africa is the country with the highest inequality between rich and poor, a high rate of crime, and severe problems with substance abuse. It is still the country with the highest rate of HIV/AIDS.

Mass stipends mainly from Germany and from AIM-USA, help us to assist our priests as our Diocese and especially our Parish struggles financially. The Catholic Church in South Africa is small in numbers (approximately 3 million Catholics in a Population of 63 million). 

We are a small Benedictine Community with most Sisters above 70 years of age. As Sister Theresa would say, “not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”

The worldwide Benedictine Family and especially BECOSA (Association of Benedictine Communities of Southern Africa), where we are connected with the Benedictine Sisters and Monks in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and now also Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, assisted by AIM, gives us not only a sense of belonging but also great support and inspiration.  

As pilgrims of hope, we strive to continue our ministry of prayer and presents, hospitality and sharing so that in all things God may be glorified.

Our community was founded in 1954 by four young monks from the Abbaye de la Pierre-qui-Vire (France), whose Prior was only 32 years old. The invitation came from the bishops of Madagascar, then a French colony. They settled in the mountains, on vast plots of land at an altitude of 1,500 m, a 45-minute walk from the first village.

The monastery remained very poor from the outset, in line with the founder of the Pierre-qui-Vire, Father Jean-Baptiste Muard. Recruitment was slow at first, as Catholics were unfamiliar with monastic life. Only the Benedictine sisters of Ambositra (Vanves Congregation) had been present since 1934, but they were 300 km from our monastery.

We became an independent monastery (sui juris) in 1993, joining the Province of Africa and Madagascar of our Benedictine Congregation of Subiaco-Mont-Cassin. There is no other male Benedictine monastery on the island.

Very quickly, the Prior forged links with the local population and launched an agricultural cooperative, specializing in the rearing of laying hens, which the monastery became the model for. Today, the entire Mahitsy region is known for its chicken coops, which supply the population of Tananarive. This is still our main source of income, along with the exploitation of our large forest and a small, well-frequented religious bookshop.

The people of the nearby villages have generously built their own churches, and the district became a parish last year, with 4 diocesan priests taking turns to serve these places of worship.

Our community numbers 25 brothers, a dozen of whom are in formation. For the past thirty years, we have maintained a theology studium on site, taught by the monks themselves, each according to his or her specialty. Studies last 5 years following temporary profession. The most gifted are sent to the Institut Catholique de Tananarive or to France to complete their studies. Our Malagasy monasteries (three Benedictine, one Cistercian and one Cistercian) have also set up a theology studium, which has around thirty students, all monks or nuns, and operates on a sessional basis in the island's monasteries. It is partly financed by AIM International, to whom we would like to express our thanks once again.

Two French brothers are still with us. The eldest is 93 but still very active. The second has been translating for AIM USA for twenty years. The Malagasy brothers have held all the important positions in the monastery for some twenty years.

Since the 70s, we have been emphasizing inculturation. The country's Episcopate asked us to create the first breviary in Malagasy. The repertoire (Ankalazao ny Tompo) is now widely used throughout the island. The entire service is sung in the local language.

Our community has always been concerned with helping the surrounding population. Either by supporting projects (livestock breeding, small businesses), or by helping families or young people directly, in particular to pay school fees or provide temporary work.

We also host a large number of retreats and recollections led by the brothers in a guesthouse that can accommodate around 30 people. Every day, we try to give glory to God and bear witness to Christ's love for everyone in one of the world's poorest countries.

St. Justina’s Monastery was founded 1st May 1982. While studying in Ireland Rev. Sr. Justina Anigbo, a Holy Rosary sister from Eke town in Udi Local Government Area in Enugu state came in contact with the monks of Mt. Mellary Abbey, a Cistercian Monastery in Cappoquin. She learned that there was a female branch of the Cistercian life. Sister Justina contacted the sisters at Glencairn, later joined them, and made her simple profession with them on 26th of April 1973.

After her profession a number of Nigerian bishops, including Archbishop Arinze of Onitsha, visited Glencairn and expressed a desire to take Cistercian Life to Nigeria. In November 1975, Sr. Justina visited home and found some girls who were interested in monastic life. She took the girls to Our Lady of Grandselve, Obout in Cameroon for their formation. The foundation was approved by the General Chapter of 1981. Sr. Justina became sick and on the 3rd of October 1981, she died in a hospital in London.

After her death, Mother Margaret Hanron was appointed by the Community of Glencairn to bring the group back to Nigeria. Mother Margaret visited Nigeria and the sisters at Cameroon toward the end of January 1982. The 7 Nigerian sisters returned to Nigeria on 1st May 1982 with Mother Margaret and two other Irish sisters – Srs. Anthony and Malachy. Sr. Justina had asked two monks to come and be chaplains. They were Fr. Andrew from Melifont Abbey, Ireland who was already in the Bishop’s house and supervising the work on the building, and Fr. Anthony Delisi a monk from the monastery of the Holy Spirit, Conyers, U.S.A. The group arrived at Abakaliki on the 1st of May 1982. There were no basic necessities. The sisters slept on the floor. They attended Mass in the would-be refectory. After Mass, they ate breakfast standing, because there were no seats.

After the first night, they stayed at the Bishop’s House. They went to the monastery each day for 3 weeks before being able to stay permanently at the site. Five sisters shared a room.

Sr. Justina had wanted the monastery to be called “Loreto Abbey” but after her death, Bishop McGettrick suggested it be called St. Justina’s Cistercian Monastery. The monastery was officially opened on the 6th of April 1983. That year the sisters started farming and managing a poultry farm . . . living by the labor of their hands.

Many young girls started coming to join. On the 12th of May 1987 Sr. Juliana, a postulant, died after a brief illness. On the 17th of May 1987, Mother Chinwe Otito Kelechukwu made her final profession and that same year the church was dedicated on the 15th of August. The sisters continued to live out their Cistercian charism.

In 2003, the community had the joy of celebrating Mother Margaret’s 75th birthday and of electing Mother Chinwe as first Nigerian Prioress. We thank God for such gifts.

In 2007, the community celebrated the Silver Jubilee of its foundation. In October 2008, Sr. Coronata died. She was Novice Mistress for years. Also in 2008, Mother Regina was elected as a second African member of the Abbot General’s Council at our Generalate in Rome. She was re-elected after 3 years for another 6 years. In 2009 the present superior, Mother Maureen Ndubuisi was elected the prioress of the community and she was re-elected in 2012 when we became a Major priory. Mother Margaret Hanron (Ezinne) in 2013 celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of her monastic profession. Presently, the community numbers 43 sisters.

Through the help of AIM, 2 sisters are now studying at CIWA. Through the help of the Commission of Aid, the monastic property was also walled.

As contemplatives, the sisters give themselves faithfully to liturgy, prayers, vigils, sacred readings, fasting, solitude, and silence according to the Rule of St. Benedict and the Constitutions of the Order. There is a good and vibrant spirit in the community.

The community lives by the labor of its hands. The main source of income is the making of Altar Bread. This is supplemented by a large yam and rice farm and garden, palm and fruit tree plantations and some candle making. The sisters generously share with the poor of the area and pilgrims who are never lacking. The community also maintains a spirit of generosity, care of the sick and hospitality.