Missionary women and work: Benedictine women at New Norcia claiming a religious vocation

The community of Catholic women from Spain and South America who worked with Aboriginal children in the Benedictine mission town of New Norcia in Western Australia offers a case study of tensions within the definition of a missionary vocation. This article looks especially at the place of work within the broader monastic tradition and assumptions about the work of women in a mission context. Taking the Benedictine Missionary Oblate Sisters as a case study, this article explores the tensions within the definition of a missionary vocation. It looks especially at the place of work within the broader monastic tradition and negotiations about the role of women as authentic missionaries. Drawing on Foucault's concept of physical discipline as a "technology of the self", especially as it has been refracted for religious life by Pierre Hadot, this article tests Foucault's theory against the experience of the Benedictine missionary women of New Norcia, using letters from the 1930s as well as oral evidence from contemporary members. I argue that the Rule of Benedict upheld the status of manual work, and so supported the women's claims for the full religious status of their missionary vocation.