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billcu1
Guest
Is the only order that us laity are invited to join (for the men of course) the Knights of Columbus, of which I am an insurance member? It seems like everything else is for the clergy.
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JimR-OCDS
Guest
There are religious orders which open to laity called 3rd Orders.
Carmelies, Franciscans, and Benedictines have them
Jim
Carmelies, Franciscans, and Benedictines have them
Jim
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Luigi_Daniele
Guest
A small correction re: Benedictines. Their associates are known as Oblates, and are attached to a particular monastery. 
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billcu1
Guest
What’s that mean? I don’t believe in this diocese there are any benedictines. Maybe so carmalites or discalced carmalites. What about the Dominicans, Gregorians, and Augustinians?A small correction re: Benedictines. Their associates are known as Oblates, and are attached to a particular monastery.
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Luigi_Daniele
Guest
Oblates make their oblation to a particular monastery. Franciscans (for example), are members of their own order and are “attached” to all friaries (in theory-an OFS in good standing moving from, say, California to Florida will be usually accepted at the local fraternity in Florida, assuming that member is in good standing, ie, the “receiving” fraternity retains the right to refuse him.)
I’ve heard of Augustinians, but not Gregorians.
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L_Marshall
Guest
The KofC is not a proper order. It’s a fraternal organization which provides invaluable service to the Church and parishes across the world, but it’s not an order.
As other posters said, there are oblate and tertiary programs run by various orders (e.g.: Franciscans, Carmelites, Benedictines, et c.) which members of the laity can join.
Furthermore, I’d like to point out that almost all religious orders are open to the laity–being a religious doesn’t make someone stop being a layperson. Someone only stops being a layperson when they’re ordained to the diaconate.
As other posters said, there are oblate and tertiary programs run by various orders (e.g.: Franciscans, Carmelites, Benedictines, et c.) which members of the laity can join.
Furthermore, I’d like to point out that almost all religious orders are open to the laity–being a religious doesn’t make someone stop being a layperson. Someone only stops being a layperson when they’re ordained to the diaconate.
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JimR-OCDS
Guest
But they’re still a 3rd order, or similar, right ?A small correction re: Benedictines. Their associates are known as Oblates, and are attached to a particular monastery.
Jim
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Luigi_Daniele
Guest
No, sir.
I mean, they appear to be one.
A Benedictine Oblate is attached only to his monastery. Think of it as a “mini 3rd order” of only that monastery. There is no national structure (or even state one), unless I am mistaken. .
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JimR-OCDS
Guest
OKNo, sir.
I mean, they appear to be one.
A Benedictine Oblate is attached only to his monastery. Think of it as a “mini 3rd order” of only that monastery. There is no national structure (or even state one), unless I am mistaken. .
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Luigi_Daniele
Guest
I hope that I didn’t come across as being disrepectful. If I did, I truly apologize, sir.
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SuscipeMeDomine
Guest
Many orders or religious congregations have groups for the laity. They go by many different names – oblates, seculars, third orders, associates, and possibly others.
Such a group may not be in your parish or even in your diocese. But if you are attracted to a certain spirituality then you can see who is nearby or how far you would have to go to meet with them. The web can help you out. Call the closest monastery, friary, convent, or whatever for the group you are interested in and they can tell you about their group for the laity.
Being a member of one of these groups is a serious decision to make and involves certain commitments on your part, but I find it to be a very fulfilling addition to my spiritual life.
Such a group may not be in your parish or even in your diocese. But if you are attracted to a certain spirituality then you can see who is nearby or how far you would have to go to meet with them. The web can help you out. Call the closest monastery, friary, convent, or whatever for the group you are interested in and they can tell you about their group for the laity.
Being a member of one of these groups is a serious decision to make and involves certain commitments on your part, but I find it to be a very fulfilling addition to my spiritual life.
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JimR-OCDS
Guest
No apology necessary. You educated me.I hope that I didn’t come across as being disrepectful. If I did, I truly apologize, sir.
Jim
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Luigi_Daniele
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billcu1
Guest
I guess the gregorians I am thinking of is the brotherhood of st gregory and is Anglican. But there is alot of gregorian thought and things in the Roman Church too.Oblates make their oblation to a particular monastery. Franciscans (for example), are members of their own order and are “attached” to all friaries (in theory-an OFS in good standing moving from, say, California to Florida will be usually accepted at the local fraternity in Florida, assuming that member is in good standing, ie, the “receiving” fraternity retains the right to refuse him.)
I’ve heard of Augustinians, but not Gregorians.
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Luigi_Daniele
Guest
He was a Benedictine monk, and wrote the biography of St Benedict.
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OraLabora
Guest
Luigi is correct, Benedictine Oblates are not a 3d order. The similarity is that they do attach itself to the spiritual works of an order… the Benedictines, just as third orders do. The thing is that Benedictines are a very loose order, with individual abbeys having a very high degree of independence.
Oblates as such are attached to a specific monastery and not the order. While all monasteries share in the Benedictine charism, they are individual communities and can be very different from one another: different liturgy, different way of life (geographical and cultural variations), some very modern, some very traditional, some cloistered, some engaged in apostolic work like teaching, etc. An oblate makes his promise to the monastery, not the order. Just like a monk might not fit in a different Benedictine abbey, an oblate might not be a good fit with a different Benedictine community.
It is possible to transfer one’s oblation to another community but it would not, say, be automatic as in the case of a 3d order; dissolution of the community for example would mean you cease to be an oblate as that community no longer exists, unless you formally ask to transfer your oblation to another community and are accepted by that community.
Vatican II however abolished that category. Now any professed member of an order is a consecrated religious which is not quite the same as a lay state. It’s not a sacrament like the diaconate or ordained religious, but it isn’t exactly the lay state either. A consecrated religious of an institute of pontifical right, for example, requires Vatican approval to be dispensed from his or her vows. The vows are otherwise binding for life.
Oblates as such are attached to a specific monastery and not the order. While all monasteries share in the Benedictine charism, they are individual communities and can be very different from one another: different liturgy, different way of life (geographical and cultural variations), some very modern, some very traditional, some cloistered, some engaged in apostolic work like teaching, etc. An oblate makes his promise to the monastery, not the order. Just like a monk might not fit in a different Benedictine abbey, an oblate might not be a good fit with a different Benedictine community.
It is possible to transfer one’s oblation to another community but it would not, say, be automatic as in the case of a 3d order; dissolution of the community for example would mean you cease to be an oblate as that community no longer exists, unless you formally ask to transfer your oblation to another community and are accepted by that community.
Not quite. Fully professed but non-clerical members of an order are considered consecrated religious. Benedictines did used to have “lay brothers”; they lived in the abbey, took simple vows, and generally did the manual labour of the abbey, had their own “little offices” instead of the Divine Office said by the choir monks, etc.
Vatican II however abolished that category. Now any professed member of an order is a consecrated religious which is not quite the same as a lay state. It’s not a sacrament like the diaconate or ordained religious, but it isn’t exactly the lay state either. A consecrated religious of an institute of pontifical right, for example, requires Vatican approval to be dispensed from his or her vows. The vows are otherwise binding for life.
Benedictines, for instance, are institutes of pontifical right.
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TimothyH
Guest
The Cistercians (OCSO) have moved away from the term “oblate” and now use the term “Lay Associate” instead.No, sir.
I mean, they appear to be one.
A Benedictine Oblate is attached only to his monastery. Think of it as a “mini 3rd order” of only that monastery. There is no national structure (or even state one), unless I am mistaken. .
***We see blossoming on the Cistercian trunk a branch different from all that has appeared up to now: men, women, married or celibate, who are receiving from the Lord a call to serve Him in the school of love, according to the Rule of St. Benedict and the Cistercian tradition. How far does the openness of the Cistercian charism go? Something has developed that is becoming more and more evident: the flowering of all your groups around the world. The values and common practices such as lectio divina, individual and liturgical prayer, simplicity of life, conversatio morum, interior silence and contemplation, work as a means of santification, bind you to one another and to us. We welcome this new phenomenon as a sign of the times and willingly place it in relation to the role that lay people taking increasingly in the life of the Church. **
In all cases it is the bond to a particular community (monastery) which confers on the associate his membership in the Cistercian family. There is no national or international structure but the Lay Associate groups do have a meeting every three years.
Here are a few links to Lay Cistercian Groups.
trappist.net/about/lay-cistercians
laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/
laycistercians.com/
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billcu1
Guest
Hum. I have never heard of Cistercians.
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SuscipeMeDomine
Guest
They follow the Rule of St. Benedict. So if you’re drawn to Benedictine spirituality, you might also be interested in Cistercians/Trappists/Camaldolese who all follow the same Rule as the Benedictines.
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billcu1
Guest
All I know about Benedict is lectio divina is what is practiced and he was a excorcist I guess.
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