Quite Setting at Mulgoa

Shepherd’s Hut Mulgoa

Pat Lynch Enters Retreat

A Sacred Space

Shepherd's Hut Kitchen

Inside the Shepherd's Hut Bed

Icons-Shepherd's Hut

I was fortunate to have the opportunity of staying at the Shepherd's Hut at Mulgoa during the month of March. I had been there two or three times before for a week each time, but that was before Stanis had lived there and graced the place by his presence, converting it into a hermitage. The roses and fruit trees he planted and the icons he hung on the walls are still there to bless the place, and the library he so lovingly assembled remains to provide many hours of spiritual reading. They transform the cottage to a sacred space.

George Cox, when he had the vinedresser's cottage built in the 1830's, didn't dream of the spiritual treasure it would one day become for the Oceania Province. The brothers at Mulgoa helped Sid Bagley restore it during the 1980's, but it was not until Stanis McGuire was going to move in and live there that the stone floor was dug out and replaced by a wooden floor to stem the rising damp. The roof was replaced and mounted with solar panels to provide electricity for the cottage and gas cylinders were added to power a small stove, heaters for winter and a cool box for milk, butter, vegetables and meat. The Eisenhuth family had been brought out from Europe in 1854 to provide a vinedresser for George Cox's vineyard. Their descendents, now electricians, still live in the Mulgoa area. A sign commemorating this family was placed on the front door of the cottage. A toilet and shower with solar heating on the roof was built outside, the house was furnished, simply but adequately, and was at last ready for its hermit. Stanis spent several happy, peaceful years there before he had to move to move to Charingfield to be adequately cared for.

The Shepherd's Hut, as we now call it, is about twenty minutes pleasant walk from the brothers' house (or five minutes drive in the ute) around the paddocks on the western side of the brothers' property, nestling into the countryside at the edge of the treeline in the foothills of the Blue Mountains. The lights of Wallacia can be seen through the trees in the near south at night and the brothers' house is clearly visible on the other side of the small valley that nestles the Swan Dam. It's close enough to be accessible to the cottage if necessary and yet far enough away to leave it private and to provide the perfect environment for peace and reflection.

I found my time there to be quite restful and prayerful. On Sunday mornings I would walk up to the brothers' house to go with Peter Coe to Mass at the Holy Family Church at Luddenham and after Mass call at the Luddenham supermarket to buy whatever food was needed for the following week. After breakfast I'd go back to the Shepherd's hut until the following Sunday. On St Patrick's Day and the feast of the Annunciation I joined the brothers' community for the evening meal. In the mornings and evenings I was joined by the kangaroos coming out to feed on the grass around the cottage, and the whole countryside was teeming with rosellas, magpies, native mynas and many other birds. In the evenings after I finished tea I'd sit on the bench outside the cottage looking across the paddocks and watching the cows grazing in the distance as the sun set and the evening settled down.

If you would like to spend time at the Shepherd's Hut you'd be warmly welcomed by the brothers. Come for a few days and, if you find you can manage the time by yourself and look after yourself well, you can come back and stay longer. You can even bring a laptop and use Wireless internet to access your emails while you're there (an Optus wireless USB certainly gets good reception and others may, too). You'll find the bed quite comfortable with linen supplied from the retreat centre, complete with quilts and doona for cold weather. There are also cutlery, crockery and cooking utensils in the cottage.

Pat Lynch

----------oOo----------

You can organise to stay at the Shepherd's Hut by ringing Gary Ferguson at Mulgoa and he will make all the arrangements for you.

Mobile: 0410 651 905

Office: (02) 4773 5555

Email: gfferguson@edmundrice.org