Learn about or Benedictine Order and Community

6 March 2020

Learn about our Benedictine Order and Community

St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth is the home of a community of Benedictine monks belonging to the Order of Saint Benedict (Subiaco Cassinese Congregation).

The Congregation is made up of seven provinces : Italy, Flanders, Great Britain and USA, France, Spain, Africa and Madagascar, Vietnam and of two Pro-Provinces : Germany and the Philippines and one monastery under the responsibility of the Abbot President : New Norcia (Australia).

In 2020, the total number of the monks is 1,250 in 64 monasteries, which are either Abbeys or Priories.

They are found in the following 24 countries : Italy, Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Ivory Coast, Togo, Burkina Faso, Congo, Benin, Ghana, South Africa, Madagascar, Vietnam, Philippines, Australia, USA, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, and Bangladesh.

In 2020, the nuns or Benedictine Sisters number 975 in 45 female monasteries aggregated to the Congregation. They are located in France, Flanders, the Netherlands, Italy, England, Israel, Africa, Madagascar, Vietnam, Australia and North and Central America.

Some of our houses take part in the development programme of the local Catholic church as in schools in the Philippines and Puerto Rico. Some others, a minority, are in charge of a parish close to the monastery.
A Novice’s Love of Creation: an unusual request from the Monastery Garden
31 May 2026
Can you donate a plant for the monastery garden? Thank you.
Discover the meaning of the Roman Catholic Mass - public talk series
30 May 2026
Monthly Saturdays 10.30am-12.20pm from 27 June to 19 December 2026 inclusive. £12 per person: advance booking essential.
Join us in prayer
29 May 2026
Saturday 18 July 2026, 10.30am-4.10pm at St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth
Public talk: THE LAUREL AND THE LANTERN - A Reflective Journey Through Britain’s Poets Laureate
28 May 2026
Friday 18 September 2026, 7.30pm-9pm, Assisi Room, St Augustine’s Abbey, Chilworth. Advance booking essential
Organ music during June 2026 at Holy Mass.
23 May 2026
Roman Catholic Holy Mass: Sunday Mass is 10am, daily Mass is at 9am.
Roman Catholic Mass very near Guildford: St Augustine’s Abbey, Chilworth
9 May 2026
Join Chilworth's Roman Catholic Benedictine monks at daily 9am Holy Mass (10am Sundays) and daily Divine Office.
Watch again: BBC TV documentary 'Heaven Made' 2022
9 May 2026
A unique television documentary looking into Benedictine monastic life at St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth, Quarr Abbey and Kylemore Abbey.
St Benedict's wisdom for common human problems
7 May 2026
These nuggets of wisdom from St Benedict are well worth a read......
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