The funeral of the late Fr David Michael Brundell will be held on Friday 9 October at 10.30am in St Joesph's Church, Port Melbourne. All are welcome to attend. You can also watch the livestream of the funeral here.
Fr David Michael Brundell was born on 25 June 1945 in the country town of Yallourn, Victoria, Australia. The family subsequently moved to Melbourne where Michael spent some time working in public service before qualifying as a teacher.
Michael joined the Carmelite novitiate on 20 February 1974, making his first profession of vows on 15 February 1975 and his Solemn Profession on 1 October 1978. He was ordained in the Carmelite Church at Middle Park (VIC) on 3 February 1979 and was appointed to the Carmelite parish of Wentworthville (NSW) as assistant priest.
In September 1980 he was sent to the Order's International house of studies in Rome, studying at the Gregorian University where he completed a licentiate in Sacred Theology. There he also had the opportunity of studying the Carmelite mystics. From 1983 he spent two years as Director of the Retreat Centre at Aylesford.
Returning to Australia in 1985 he was involved in spirituality ministry at the Carmelite Institute (Donvale VIC) and lecturing at Yarra Theological Union, Box Hill.
In 1988 he returned to England and was engaged in retreats and spirituality ministry at Allington Castle, before moving to Ireland as a lecturer at Milltown Institute in Dublin.
Michael returned to Australia in 1997 and was assigned to Coorparoo (QLD) to work in spirituality and adult education. In 2000 he was transferred to Wentworthville (NSW) where he worked as part of the spirituality team at St Joseph’s, Baulkham Hills for four years and Marymount Centre, Castle Hill for a further four years.
Suffering a debilitating stroke in 2008 Michael spent many months in rehabilitation before returning to the Wentworthville community where he remained involved with the parish family. He moved to Port Melbourne community in 2014, giving occasional sessions in the Carmelite Centre (Middle Park) and helping with Sunday masses. As his mobility decreased, he moved into aged care in 2020 where he remained until his death on 2 October 2026.
Throughout his Carmelite life Michael was always interested in the Carmelite mystics, especially John of the Cross, Thérèse of the Child Jesus and Teresa of Avila. These formed the basis of his retreats, lectures and spirituality ministry.
May he rest in peace.
