Brother Bede’s ‘supernatural calling’ to become Tasmania’s first Benedictine monk

In a move unfathomable to many young men, in a few weeks Brother Bede will commit his life to God — becoming the first at his rural Tasmanian monastery to become a fully fledged monk.

Twenty-eight-year-old Brother Bede was one of the first to join the Notre Dame Priory when the Benedictine monastic community was established on an old farming property at Colebrook, 53 kilometres north of Hobart, almost four years ago.

He has now completed what would be akin to an apprenticeship and next year will make his solemn profession — vowing to spend the rest of his life as a monk in the service of God.

“I’ve always felt a call to some sort of life consecrated to God and I’ve always understood part of that means not having a family so that…