Daily work in the monastery

Manual work has always been an essential part of monastic life. It helps create a balance and serves to earn a living. Where possible, we work alone, but if several Sisters are needed for a particular work, we try to maintain a prayerful silence.

The Bread of Life:

We support ourselves mainly by altarbread making, supplying many parishes in Dublin and throughout Ireland, even a few in Africa. Most of the Sisters in the community are involved in this work - from making up the initial batter of flour and water to baking the sheets of breads, damping and cutting out the hosts, weighing and packing up the finished breads for collection or postage. You can view a short film of our altar- bread making process on YouTube. Click Here.

Serving the needs of the community:

Outdoor duties:

We try to supply our kitchen with some fresh fruit and vegetables and we also like to keep some colourful flowers in bloom throughout the year! In the garden, we are filled with reverence and wonder at the mystery of growth and the changing of the seasons. Whether it is weeding, pruning, planting, fruit-picking or sweeping up leaves, our outdoor duties put us in closer contact with our Creator.

Caring for the sick and elderly:

We cherish our elderly and sick sisters and support them in their frailty. They inspire us with their peace and serenity.

Office work:

Of course, every household has bills to pay, maintenance to be carried out, service contracts to meet, and as a charitable organisation, we also have legislation to comply with. Office work can be a hidden and unrecognised duty, but those involved know there is a lot of computer work and paperwork to be done each day. Our Altarbread department creates its own accounting work also. The Prioress has the responsibility of responding to the many letters we receive, and maintaining this website also creates some office-based work!! < BACK NEXT >