What is an Oblate of the Most Holy Redeemer?

[ddxtwo]

I have been searching but cannot find information about oblates. In 1967 my great-grandfather was selected and honored as an Oblate of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. He is deceased now and I cannot find anyone who can explain to me what this honor meant! Please, can you help?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer is the formal name of the religious order better known as the Redemptorists. This is the religious order founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori in the 18th century. Oblates are associates of the Congregation, clerical or lay, who “share the spirit and missionary zeal of the Congregation [and who] must have the benefit of proper initiation and constant contact with the Congregation, according to norms to be laid down in the individual (vice)provinces” (source). Generally speaking, oblates are similar to the “third order” or “secular order” associations of other religious orders. So, basically, your great-grandfather was a lay member of the Redemptorists.