by Lucie Johnson OblSB,
Saint John's Abbey
1 August 1999
Nowhere
There is, I was told, a small convenience store, in between Clyde and Conception, that describes itself as "conveniently located on the way to nowhere..." which is exactly where the Oblate Director and two unrelated members of the great Johnson clan, Michael and I, seemed to be headed -- in the cream-colored station wagon that picked us up in Kansas City. Ninety miles of soybean and corn fields, up and down roads, a most friendly and knowledgeable driver (Karen Ceckowski, Oblate at Conception Abbey) leading us to the meeting of the North American Association of Oblate Directors and Oblates, hosted jointly by Conception Abbey and Clyde Monastery, from July 24 to 29, 1999.
Conception Abbey, where the 130 or so participants stayed, has a seminary college and a retreat center. It has grassy lawns and big tall trees, and a stunningly beautiful church: the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, which was just renovated. It is also home to the Printery which produces all manner of cards, and also prints wonderful icons, many of them contemporary, the work of Sister Marie-Paul, a French speaking Benedictine who lives with her community in Jerusalem.
Oblate Stories
The conference started slowly. On Saturday, we prayed with the monastic community, we were fed and welcomed. Little by little we shed the impatient and stressful ways of our everyday lives, so that by Sunday afternoon, we were ready to listen to a panel of Oblates from Clyde and Conception tell us what it meant to them to be Oblates, and what word in the Rule meant the most to them. One Oblate, for example, spoke of looking to the Rule for guidance in how to conduct business. Another chose "tears" as her important word in the Rule, and spoke of a silent retreat where she came to a place within herself where prayer led to tears, and she felt washed and renewed. Six sacred stories, all different, told with earnestness seasoned with humor. How can one listen and not be humbled and awed?
Mutual Blessings
Sometimes we tend to refer to ourselves as "just Oblates", in contrast to the vowed monastics -- the real article. As became obvious through the presentations, Oblate commitment, too, can go to the depths of one's soul, and transform one's life. In her presentation, "Monastics and Oblates: Mutual Blessings," Norvene Vest, Oblate at St. Andrew's Abbey and well known author in Benedictine spirituality, made the point that lay people also have vocations. Oblates are called to bring monastic principles into their everyday lives. They have monastic vocations -- but out in the world. The number of Oblates is growing, which might lead eventually to an increase in monastic vocations. At this point, there is a need to develop Oblate leadership, and programs for Oblate formation. The Oblate community, as well as the monastic community can be a source of support.
Different Strokes
We discovered, in a meeting just for Oblates (while the Oblate directors met somewhere else), that various monasteries formed their Oblates in different ways. Some monasteries have very structured programs, with weekly meetings, and sometimes also Oblate or monastic sponsors. Some -- such as Saint John's Abbey -- are much more fluid, provide candidates with suggested readings, and invite them to participate in Oblate days of recollection, retreat, or local Oblate groups. Some are somewhere in between. St. Gregory's Abbey, a small Anglican community, admitted rather freely a large number of people to a "confraternity," but being an Oblate was a much more selective and arduous process. It seemed all of us, however, are quite happy with what we had received in the process.
Though Oblates differ in what they seek (for example in terms of wishing to be of practical help to the monastery, or participating in some of its work), there was a consensus that all of us prized a space for solitude and personal connection with the monastic community. None of us wanted a lot of meetings. We also found in the larger group of Oblates the same elements present in the earlier panel: being an Oblate made much difference in day to day lives, and progressively changed a person's perspective and actions.
Catholic Workers
Being an Oblate can, for example, lead a person to see Christ more readily in the other. This is why, said Brian Terrell, Oblate at Clyde Monastery, so many Catholic Workers are also Benedictine Oblates -- as was their founder, Dorothy Day (Oblate at St. Procopius Abbey). Brian, and his wife Betsy Keenan (also an Oblate at Clyde) are rural Catholic Workers. They originally met in an urban Catholic Worker House, but for the last 12 years, they have been living at a Catholic Worker farm in Southern Iowa with their children. "We go to the poor," said Brian, "in order to find Christ. We seek our own conversion." An important part of this is learning to see life through the eyes of the poor. This is activism with a strong contemplative component.
Brian and Betsy felt called to start a subsistence farm, getting thus involved in all the issues of sustainable agriculture, and other concerns of the rural community where they live. Their work is in line with the Catholic Worker's desire to reconstruct the social order, because work is more than a commodity. Work ought to be co-creation, it should not destroy, but become holy work -- as Benedict certainly would have wished.
There is no question that living one's Oblate call as a Catholic Worker is a radical choice. It can bring one in conflict with people one deeply loves, and even with other Benedictines. Such was the case for Dorothy Day, said Brian. In a letter full of warmth, love, and pain, Dorothy found herself declining an honorary degree from Saint John's University -- though she loved and appreciated Saint John's -- because public acceptance of this honor conflicted with her pacifism stance (since the university maintains an Army R.O.T.C. program). Radical voices such as hers -- even when we disagree -- encourage us to examine our assumptions, to stay open to the possibility of change.
Fruits of Stability
The ability to entertain the possibility of change while keeping one's heart still is part of Benedictine stability, said Phyllis Thompson, Oblate at St. Peter's Abbey -- who shared with us the result of many years of lectio centered on stability. Here are some "nuggets" gleaned from what she said.
Stability is resting on a firm foundation,
it is rootedness.Being rooted enables us to be more flexible.
Stability is a gift which God offers
so that we can participate in his peace.
It is the virtue by which we participate
in the perseverance of Christ.
It is stability to a group.
It is a willingness to be inserted into the will of God
via this group.It is a commitment to stability of soul,
to inner stillness.It is resting secure on God's stability.
Stability is an inner landscape
that goes wherever one goes.It is an inner holy ground.
It is learning to be rooted in God's presence.
It is bearing fruit where I am.
Its opposite is alienation and
unwillingness to change.
Its contre-poids is accepting change.
Famous Oblates
Having read this far, maybe you are as impressed with these Oblates as I have been. Oblates can be pretty remarkable people. Certainly, there must be a book somewhere about Oblates' lives? No, there is not, but there soon will be if Sr. Linda Kulzer OSB (Saint Benedict's Monastery) has her way. She is spearheading the writing of a book on "famous" Oblates such as Dorothy Day, Paul Claudel, Jacques and Raissa Maritain etc.... It will be coming out in 2002. Thus it won't be quite done yet by the next meeting which will be in 2001, and will be sponsored by -- you guessed it -- Saint John's and Saint Benedict's.
Foreign Oblates
In 2001, as we host this meeting, there will be in attendance -- as there were this year, monastics and Oblates from some other countries as well. In attendance this year were Brother Pirmin Ngolle OSB (studying at Mt. Angel), and Sister Atukuzwe Nyirenda OSB (studying at Saint Benedict's) -- both from Tanzania. There were also two Oblates from the Pan de Vida Monastery in Mexico: Rosario Gonzalez and Pilar Rozada. Their presence there was connected with the work of AIM (Alliance for International Monasticism), an organization of Benedictine and Cistercian communities founded to assist monasteries in the Third World. Sister Atuzukwe told us a bit about the history of her community. Founded by German Benedictines, they were first a community of Oblates, who then became a religious congregation. They have many vocations -- but there is so much work, and so few resources. Sister Atuzukwe showed us some slides of her community's life and work -- much of it with orphaned children, the result of conflicts and refugee influx.
Oblate Society
The AIM session, fittingly perhaps, was the last session on the program, opening our hearts to a larger world, before sending us home. There was more of course to this meeting than the programmed sessions. There was ample time for socialization, for "being around" the Benedictine spirit in its many forms, and letting it soak in. There was an extraordinary artistic performance on Sunday night, in the Basilica. Ellen Oak OblSB, an artist and oblate of Clyde, sang the music of Hildegard von Bingen, and read excerpts of her letters. Hildegard came alive, as her beautiful voice and the strength of her person held us in thrall.
Oblate Visitors
We also had the opportunity to visit Clyde Monastery, pray evening prayer with the Sisters and learn their history. Some of us went to Atchison on Tuesday afternoon, and toured both the men's St. Benedict's Abbey, and the women's Mount St. Scholastica Monastery. We were amazed at their work, at the institutions they built, the service they provided -- and still provide to the church and the community, at their adaptability to changing circumstances.
What strikes me particularly about Benedictine work, though, is that it is not just well done, it is done beautifully. There are beautiful gardens and beautiful churches, and health centers designed with love. So of course, our last evening at Conception Abbey, our hosts served a beautiful banquet, with tablecloths, flowers, wine -- and even sparkling juice for those of us who do not drink.
I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to go to Missouri this summer, even if it was in the middle of a heat wave, and on the road to nowhere. Pearls of great value are often found in unexpected places.
"Monastics and Oblates: Mutual Blessings"
by Norvene Vest OblSB
OSB Index |
OSB Oblates
SJA |
SJA Oblates |
The Oblate