Benedictine Oblate #2

  • Thread starter Thread starter Luigi_Daniele
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Luigi_Daniele said:
None of them really beat St. Gregory the Great’s (for the details). Remember, nothing else is known of St Benedict aside from what is in St Gregory’s book and what can be gleaned from the Rule.
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Do you have a link, I see several translations out with some being rated better than others.

Thanks,
 
Some potential news today. I heard back from Fr. Mark at Subiaco Abbey in AR. He wrote me a very nice e-mail detailing their Abbey and went out of his way to state that they try to be faithful to the Magesterium in all things that they do.

I had previously exchanged some e-mails with one of their Oblates who describes himself as a very conservative Catholic who stated that he has never seen anything which causes him concern since he has been affiliated with the Abbey.

With that in mind, I am feeling a bit better about things and think that there is a decent chance that we move forward.

I will of course, keep everyone in the loop.

Peace of Christ,

Jason
 
Luigi_Daniele said:
Excellent news!
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Agreed.

Right now I would describe my feeling as optimistic. I have done a good deal of reading on Benedictine Spirituality and the Holy Rule and am feeling pretty confident that this is the direction which God is calling me to go. I had also spent several hours nosing around the website for Subiaco Abbey, and several of the other monasteries they are affiliated with. I am hopeful that I will be able to make a trip up there this summer for a retreat and start the formal process of becoming and Oblate.
 
jwinch2 said:
Agreed.

Right now I would describe my feeling as optimistic. I have done a good deal of reading on Benedictine Spirituality and the Holy Rule and** am feeling pretty confident that this is the direction which God is calling me to go**. I had also spent several hours nosing around the website for Subiaco Abbey, and several of the other monasteries they are affiliated with. I am hopeful that I will be able to make a trip up there this summer for a retreat and start the formal process of becoming and Oblate.
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Me, too, too. 😃

Praying for you, sir.🙂
 
At this time, I am scheduled to go on an Oblate retreat at Subiaco Abbey this August. While, I might prefer to get up there for a visit sooner, this seems to be the preference of the Oblate director, so I am going to follow his lead. It actually might be a blessing as that will give me time to get through several more books, etc. before I get there which may maker the formation during the visit more meaningful and allow me to ask better questions, etc.

Here is my Benedictine Reading list as it stands (the ones with the dashes are ones I have completed). I have several more on my wish list on Amazon, but I plan to try to get through these first, and in this order before purchasing anything else to read.
  • How to Be a Monastic and Not Leave Your Day Job: An Invitation to Oblate Life
    Benet Tvedten, OSB
  • Share in the Kingdom: A Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict for Oblates
    Benet Tvedten, OSB
  • The Rule of Saint Benedict
    Saint Benedict, Leonard J. Doyle (Translator)

    Earthen Vessels: The Practice of Personal Prayer According to the Patristic Tradition
    Gabriel Bunge, OSB

    Commentary for Benedictine Oblates: On the Rule of St. Benedict
    G. A. Simon, Leonard J. Doyle

    The Path of Life
    Cyprian Smith, OSB

    The Desert Fathers: Saint Anthony and the Beginnings of Monasticism
    Peter H. Gorg

    Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict
    Paul Delatte, OSB, Justin McCann, OSB (Translator)
If anything changes in the meantime, I will post it here.

Peace,
 
I received a nice e-mail from Fr. Martin at St. Gregory’s Abbey today following up on some questions that I had asked him a while back about the focus of their monastery. Honestly, I had started to think he had decided to move on when I asked about how traditional they were, how they handled non-Catholic Oblates, etc. I often try to be discrete and subtle in these types of situations, but I stink at it and tend to come across very blunt, direct, and even aggressive at times. As it turns out, he was very open to my questions and had simply been busy with traveling, etc. which had prevented him from responding. Shame on me for assuming the worst and kudos to him for being a patient and kind man. Anyway, here is some of his response:
Answering some of your questions brfiefly. I hope you will visit soon here at the Abbey and we can have more extensive discussions.
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The history of our monastery is contained in Tenacious Monks by Fr. Joseph Murphy, OSB. available here at the Abbey.
We are founded from Pierre Qui Ver, France. It is the strict observance of the Rule of Benedict…
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…Our roots are very traditional, we eventually joined the American Cassinese Congregation since there were no other Primitive Observance monasteries in the US. I have visited many monasteries in the US as Abbot and now retired, I can say that we are considered to be very traditional. Just a few weeks ago , our Abbot President Hugh, OSB presiding over 21 Monasteries said of our monatery ”St. Gregory’s is the Camelot of monasteries.” That is open to different interpretations, but I took it as a compliment…
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…Each monastery is distinct in their charisms and living out the Rule of Benedict. Each seeks to live our Gospel values and a balanced life of work and prayer. Most monasteries with Oblates do accept and have those of other faiths, but it is always within the context of the Catholic Faith seeking ecumenical relationships . We have many non-Catholics as Oblates, and some are ministers. There is a Presbyterian minister who is equivalent to a bishop who is a scholar and reads constantly and writes about the Church Fathers. Others are good Christians…

…At any rate I can’t do justice to these great issues in just a short e-mail. I hope to further discuss this with you in person. I am just a simple Parish Priest , not a theologian. You would have a great time discussing issues with our present Abbot Lawrence, who is a Theologian.

We are having retreat being offered in July and August. I hope you can attend. In the meantime, let us continue to pray for each other.
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And let me know your concerns and questions.
Yours in Christ,
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So, at this time, I think I will probably try to go for a retreat at St. Gregory’s sometime this summer if it works out on both ends from a scheduling standpoint. I am still going to the one at Subiaco as well. It is probably a good idea for me to visit more than one monastery anyways, and I do have a good feeling about Subiaco from the conversations I have had with one of their oblates and their oblate director. St. Gregory’s is much closer (2.5 hours instead of 6), but I don’t want to choose based upon that. If I end up at one or the other, or a different one all together I want it to be because they were a good fit for me and I was a good fit for them. I have no idea where I will be living three years down the road anyway so I might as well pick based on fit rather than convenience. Obviously, I need to be a good fit for them as well. After all, I would be joining them, not the other way around.

Peace of Christ,

Jason
 
Looks good.

I am going to make a small “confession”. I can’t understand the attraction of Benedictine life for non Catholics. So much emphasis on the LotH. I see the attraction, obviously. It just surprises me that every single one of these people doesn’t convert to Catholicism.
 
Luigi_Daniele said:
Looks good.

I am going to make a small “confession”. I can’t understand the attraction of Benedictine life for non Catholics. So much emphasis on the LotH. I see the attraction, obviously. It just surprises me that every single one of these people doesn’t convert to Catholicism.
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I agree.
 
This priest’s homilies and reverent manner of celebrating the Mass are what sparked my initial interest in Benedictine spirituality when my wife and I were home in Iowa for Christmas.

youtube.com/watch?v=sVJ9bK1QpUU&feature=g-u-u

We are fortunate that our pastor is a very good preacher, so we typically get very solid homilies. However, I also try to watch Fr. Aquinas every week as well.
 
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