Neither the history of the Oblate movement nor the history of the Oblates affiliated with St. Vincent Archabbey is particularly well documented. Therefore, the following reflections present only a tentative sketch, which was gleaned from various sources. If the reader has any significant information that might fill in any gaps, then perhaps it could be submitted for future editions of this booklet.
The following sketch of the history of the Oblate movement is taken from the 1937 edition of a Manual for Oblates of St. Benedict, by Abbot Alcuin Deutsch, O.S.B. (St. John's Abbey Press, Collegeville, MN), with some additions from the Manual of the Secular Oblates of St. Benedict issued by St. Vincent Archabbey in 1898.
The earliest use of the term "oblate" with regard to Benedictine monasteries refers to boys who were offered by their parents to be educated for the monastic life. This custom is described in RB 59 and mentioned by St. Gregory the Great in his story of St. Benedict's life. St. Gregory also seems to imply that some adults living outside the monastery put themselves under St. Benedict's direction and visited his monastery occasionally for spiritual guidance. However, we cannot tell whether such people were "oblates" in the present sense of the term, and there is no known use of the term "oblate" for adult affiliates until the eleventh century. Still, as early as the ninth century the term "confratres" was used in monastic literature to refer to faithful lay people who participated in the life of the monastery through prayer and almsgiving.
In the 11th century St. William, Abbot of Hirschau, gave a more precise status to Oblates by referring to them in two categories: "Interns," or "Regular Oblates," who lived in a monastery under its discipline but without vows, and "Externs," or "Secular Oblates," who lived on the outside but were affiliated by promises of obedience and turned over a part or whole of their possessions to the monastery, sometimes by way of legacy. During this age when Benedictine monasticism reached a peak of influence in Europe, many lay people chose to consecrate themselves in the latter way. Since St. Henry II (972-1024), Duke of Bavaria and a Holy Roman Emperor, vigorously promoted Benedictine life, he is considered a special patron of the Oblates.
During the 14th century the Congregation of the Olivetans, founded by St. Bernard Tolomei, generated new interest in the Oblate movement by establishing a Brotherhood of Oblates. Frances of Rome (1384-1440) gathered together a number of noble Roman women to place themselves under the spiritual direction of the Olivetan Benedictines, to renounce their lives of extravagance, and to give service to the poor. These women then began to live in community and to engage in daily common prayer in addition to their work with the poor. This group became known as the "Institute of Oblates" and exists in Rome even today. Therefore St. Frances of Rome is considered a patroness of the Oblates.
With the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, Benedictine monasteries were practically wiped out, and so the Oblate movement also declined; but when monasteries began to be reestablished, interest in the Oblates was likewise revived. In 1884 a General Assembly of the Cassinese Congregation of Benedictines approved of the reception of Oblates for the entire congregation.
Oblates first gained an official canonical status as the "Institute of the Secular Oblates of St. Benedict" in 1888, when the Holy See favored Oblates with numerous indulgences and later confirmed a "Ceremonial for Oblates" through the Congregation of Sacred Rites. In 1889 Pope Leo XIII approved a set of statutes for Oblates for a period of 10 years, and in 1898 he issued a brief granting many spiritual favors and privileges to Oblates. In 1904 the Holy See gave official approval to a set of "Statutes and Rules" for Oblates, and in 1927 a new edition of these, including a few alterations and additions, was approved by the Sacred Congregation of Religious. It is important to note that the "Statutes and Rules" were mainly spiritual guidelines, not binding under pain of sin, and that the administration of Oblate programs has been left ultimately in the hands of the monastic communities with which Oblates have been affiliated.
In a letter to Abbot Hugo Lang of Metten on May 21, 1865, Abbot Boniface Wimmer mentioned his desire "to bring about some sort of a third order of St. Benedict into which lay people of both sexes can be admitted." In a letter to the same abbot on July 11, 1867, Abbot Boniface wrote, "Our 'St. Benedict Sodality' is practically established in every parish of ours, and I promise myself much help from it." This comment may refer to Oblates of St. Benedict. An old certificate of Oblation states that the "Institute of Secular Oblates of the Benedictine Order" was introduced to the United States with papal approval by Abbot Boniface on August 6, 1865.
It is not known precisely when concrete efforts to receive Oblates affiliated with the Archabbey began. There is no record of Oblations in the Archabbey's archives until August, 1917, when Oblates were being received during lay men's summer retreats, which had begun in 1913. The first edition of a Manual for Benedictine Oblates, with a preface by Archabbot Leander, was published at the Archabbey in 1898; so apparently there were already sufficient numbers of Oblates to warrant such a publication. Second and third editions were printed in 1923 and 1932. In the preface to the 1898 edition Abbot Leander states that, while in Rome, he "humbly petitioned His Holiness, Pope Leo XIII, to be allowed to introduce into the United States of North America the Secular Oblates, according to the Statutes of the Cassinese-Sublacensian Congregation" and that in an audience on May 20, 1894, the Pope had granted the request and had given special privileges to Oblates in the United States. Archabbot Leander reflected that after returning from a trip to Rome, he traveled to Benedictine parishes in Johnstown, Carrolltown, and Erie during February, March, and April, 1901, and exhorted the parishioners to become Oblates; but it is not recorded whether any of the people actually were received as Oblates. Perhaps this sketchy early history of Oblates affiliated with the Archabbey could be researched further.
According to the recollections of Fr. Dunstan Debes, O.S.B. (1910-93), current efforts to encourage the development of the Oblate Program can be traced back to 1933, when Fr. Maurice Costello called a meeting of clerics to organize a monthly publication for Oblates, called The Saint Vincent Oblate. Fr. Dunstan, then a cleric in temporary vows, took a special interest in the Oblates from the time that he was asked to guide two elderly women, who were Oblates, to visit the St. Vincent Cemetery. It was he who officially edited The Oblate from 1937 to 1946, and after his ordination to the priesthood he was appointed Director of Oblates in 1940 and kept this position until 1946, when other duties prevented him from continuing with the Oblate Program. There was no official Director of Oblates from 1946 to 1960.
During the period of activity in the 1930's, various "deaneries" of Oblates were established. One group involved students of St. Vincent College, and another students of St. Vincent Preparatory School. The "Westmoreland Chapter" of Oblates included deaneries at St. Vincent Parish, Latrobe; St. Bartholomew Parish, Crabtree; and St. Bruno Parish, South Greensburg. Regular monthly meetings were held in rotation at these three sites and included talks by Benedictine priests. Another group of Oblates was established among the Benedictine parishes in Pittsburgh, where there was a similar arrangement for monthly meetings at rotating locations. In 1937 a women's deanery was established among the alumnae of St. Benedict Academy in Pittsburgh, and their local moderator was the priest of the Archabbey who was their chaplain. Also at this time fund-raising activities were organized by Fr. Maurice to finance the publication of The Saint Vincent Oblate. Furthermore, an annual "Oblate Home Coming" was organized in 1934; this event apparently occurred on the day for ordinations to priesthood at the Archabbey.
During the 1950's Archabbot Denis Strittmatter personally received Oblates at the Archabbey, at least among summer retreatants. In St. Marys, PA, Fr. Gregory McAtee, O.S.B., pastor of Sacred Heart Church, activated an Oblate deanery, and in Erie, PA, Fr. Linus Brugger, O.S.B., pastor of St. Mary Church, did the same. By 1960 the groups of Oblates at parishes in Latrobe, Crabtree, Greensburg, and Pittsburgh were no longer meeting. Fr. Ermin Smith, O.S.B., reactivated the Latrobe Deanery in 1960. In that same year Fr. Clarence Karawsky, O.S.B., was appointed Director of Oblates as well as Director of Vocations of the Archabbey. Within a few years, after a request by several inquirers, he started an Oblate deanery in Williamsport, PA.
The publication of The Saint Vincent Oblate, after a 13-year gap, was resumed in October, 1959, as a project of the clerics of the monastery, and it continued as such until July, 1976. Records from 1962 indicate that in that year Fr. Blase Strittmatter, O.S.B., was moderating an Oblate program in the College and the Seminary, and Fr. Clair Gannon, O.S.B., was moderating an Oblate program in the Prep School. Also, Fr. Ulric Thaner, O.S.B., was moderating the group associated with St. Benedict Academy in Pittsburgh. In 1962 the Holy See issued a rescript which allowed women's Benedictine communities to receive their own Oblates. Thereafter many of the Oblates in Pittsburgh and Erie became affiliated with St. Benedict Monastery in Pittsburgh or Mt. St. Benedict Monastery in Erie, respectively.
In June, 1978, Fr. Clarence began to issue an Oblate newsletter about four times a year. Retiring from parish ministry in August, 1982, Fr. Dunstan was again appointed Director of Oblates. Under Fr. Dunstan and his assistant, Br. Thomas Hart, O.S.B., the newsletter was issued somewhat more frequently, in conjunction with a community newsletter for confreres outside the monastery. New deaneries were established in Virginia Beach, VA, about 1980; in State College, PA, by retired Archabbot Leopold Krul, O.S.B., in 1983; in Johnstown, PA, by Fr. Benjamin Walker, O.S.B., about 1985; and in Baltimore, MD, by Fr. Paschal Morlino, O.S.B., about 1986. Fr. Donald Raila, O.S.B., succeeded Fr. Dunstan as Director of Oblates in January, 1988.
Since about 1984 one of the annual summer retreats has been specifically geared to Oblates. About the same time, Oblates in the area of Latrobe began to be officially invited to attend the monastic celebration of the Solemnity of the Passing of Our Holy Father Benedict, usually held on March 21; aside from the Oblates' participation in the Community Mass, the annual event has included dinner and a ceremony for the investiture of new members. Also, in 1984 or 1985 significant numbers of Oblates began to attend, in a body, the Archabbey's annual Mass for the Feast of St. Benedict on July 11, which also includes the rite for monastic solemn vows. The celebration of an annual "Oblate Day" in early autumn began in 1989 to bring together Oblates from many locations and to offer them a formational talk, a sharing in monastic Evening Prayer, and tours of the Archabbey grounds.
The mailing list of some 780 entries includes about 600 Oblates and 100 Oblate novices. There are probably over 1,000 inactive Oblates no longer on the mailing list; these people have requested removal from the list or have not contacted the Archabbey in some years, or their current address is not known. There are deaneries with regular monthly meetings and with occasional special celebrations in Baltimore, Johnstown, Latrobe, St. Marys, State College, and Virginia Beach. In March, 1994, a new deanery was established in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and in October, 1994, a new deanery was established in the Niagara Area, Ontario, Canada. These developments were both undertaken at the initiative of lay people who were already Oblates or who were keenly interested in the Oblate Program. Other individual Oblates are scattered in the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Texas, California, and Canada.
In addition to monthly deanery meetings, current means of Oblate formation include the quarterly newsletter, the annual "Oblate retreat" in May or June, and numerous books and reprints available at the Oblate Office. Also, since April, 1992, at the initiative of one of the Oblates, a small group has been meeting once a month at the Archabbey for a more intensive reflection on the Rule using the book Preferring Christ. Furthermore, at all times Oblates are especially welcome to join the monastic community at St. Vincent for any of the three daily hours of Divine Office.
On August 30, 1948, seven Directors of Oblates met at Conception Abbey in Missouri with the hope of bringing about a common approach to Oblate life. This was to be achieved without an imposition of rigid standardization; each abbey and priory was to maintain its autonomy in making policies for Oblates. The meeting resulted in a list of 19 recommendations, largely dealing with Oblates' spirituality. From August 23 to 25, 1949, the first National Conference of Directors of Oblates was held at St. John's Abbey in Minnesota. The 15 directors from the United States and Canada who attended stressed that Oblate life was to be taken seriously and that people should be invested only if they had a genuine desire to seek God according to the Benedictine way. They also devised "declarations" which were appended to the 39 statutes issued by the Holy See in 1927, and these "Declarations and Statutes" were printed in the revised Manual for Oblates published by The Liturgical Press in 1953. A second national conference held at St. Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana in August, 1952, involved 15 directors, some of whom offered papers on Oblate life. After the 1953 meeting no such national meetings were held until 1971, but directors worked together in other ways. One example of this work was the initiative to petition the Holy See to allow Benedictine women's communities to receive Oblates affiliated with their own communities.
The 1971 meeting of Directors of Oblates at St. Procopius Abbey in Illinois considered how Benedictine spirituality might be viewed in light of Vatican II. A set of "Guidelines" written by Fr. Roger Schoenbechler, O.S.B., of St. John's Abbey was reviewed at the 1972 meeting at St. Marys Abbey in New Jersey. This summary of Oblate life was meant to reflect current spirituality in a simple way, and it did not specifically follow the statutes of 1927. At the 1971 and 1972 meetings the directorsapproved three pamphlets, published by The Liturgical Press, which were to replace the former Manual.
In the 1970's Abbot Martin J. Burne, President of the American-Cassinese Congregation, suggested biennial meetings of Oblate directors, so that they could consult one another regularly. At subsequent meetings in 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1982, the directors voted against issuing another Oblate manual. Meetings were also held in 1988, 1990, and 1992, and were planned for 1995 and odd-numbered years thereafter.
Although during the 1980's Oblates were urged to pray The Liturgy of the Hours from a book of their choice, it was discerned at the 1990 meeting in Morristown, New Jersey, that many Oblates wanted some sort of "Oblate prayer book" with a simple version of the Divine Office. A committee was established to undertake the project in conjunction with The Liturgical Press, and as of 1994 the work of compiling a prayer book was still in process.
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