“St. Benedict’s Rule embodies the opposite attitude: food is for sharing with guests, prayer is for the benefit of all, the liturgy is a gift free and fertile beyond measure, life is to be expended not on oneself, but in service to brethren and strangers.”
Thank you for a wonderful article, Peter. I’ve been an Oblate almost 40 years, and as wife and mother the hospitality was where most of the energy went (though with plenty of prayer and study, of course). Now as a widow with an empty nest, I am far more devoted to the Liturgy, which (as you say) is “fertile beyond measure.” The beauty of praying in communion with the Church (and the faithful Benedictine communities in particular) is such a consolation. Their humble dedication to “ora et labora” worked wonders over the centuries and is needed now more than ever.
As for your titles at the end, I cannot recommend Canon Simon’s “Commentary” highly enough; and of course any work by Dom Marmion is a treasure. Happy feast day!
I think hospitality is grossly underestimated. Welcoming people into one's home is in many ways the most important act of the Church outside of the liturgy.
If you don’t mind me asking—Was hospitality as a form of service always directed toward welcoming others into your home, or was service toward your own family also considered hospitality? Was there any aspect of being an oblate that was difficult when your children were still at home? What are your daily obligations as an oblate? I’m a mother of young children, but I keep feeling a pull toward a more committed spiritual life. (Oblate or servite have my interest.)
You are absolutely right - hospitality in the family is practiced first and foremost towards one's own children (and, where possible, one's relatives). One should never open up the home in a way that would distract or detract from this primary sphere of responsibility. That being said, most families find that welcoming friends over for, say, a Sunday brunch or a feastday meal is a great way to "put the children to work" on behalf of others, letting them develop certain social virtues. They learn from conversations. But it gets much easier as children get older.
Very good questions, Taylor. Parents welcome children as their first "guests" and have an obligation to see to their needs, but part of their formation is learning virtue. While we have to be aware of Mrs Jellyby (Bleak House by Dickens) and what happens when charity is misguided, still, children do need to learn to defer to the legitimate needs of guests (within reason). I wish I could remember the exact phrase, but a friend from a large family had a password whispered around the table which meant to go lightly on the food to make it stretch when unexpected guests made proportions a challenge (a great memory for them!) I also know of a family who extended a dinner invitation to the priest living next door. He came. Every. Night. (Not a good memory at all, causing understandable stress and eventual bitterness--maybe husband should have intervened, or priest should have recognised the imposition).
As for obligations, you do what you can. There's an abbreviated office (in Oblate handbooks, as well as in Magnificat and Benedictus missalettes). There is no obligation that carries with it the pain of sin if neglected, but it's good to try to manage the Benedictus, the Magnificat, and the Nunc Dimittus prayers with whatever psalms one can manage (and a daily examen) on a daily basis. Children would benefit by knowing them anyway, so you could make it part of your foundation for family prayer. The point is to pray with the Church, which you are probably doing anyway.
The last thing that I love about the Benedictine order is its emphasis on stability and order, both of which help children (especially) to thrive. I did move several times (we were a Navy family) and I have settled since near one of my children. The consideration of this last move was that it might be my last, but again, if I need to go, there's no sin. Monks were occasionally sent to establish new monasteries so they weren't always stable, but the point is to "bloom where you're planted," to use a familiar cliché, and not hanker for new vistas or experiences.
I can't explain my love of the Benedictine charism. My heart has simply always warmed to Benedictine saints, and I admire what they did in laying the groundwork for Christendom. The way your spiritual life develops should be a rich, organic trajectory, and such an oblation guides that growth gently with an ancient wisdom--all good!
Thank you for the information! I would love to go to Italy someday. If ever I do go, Norcia would be one of the top places I would visit, even if I were just passing through.
Thank you, sir, for this interesting article! I am a former member of the Secular Franciscan Order, but left them when their “woke” tendencies became evermore intolerable: to me, at least. I feel a kinship with St. Francis of Assisi still, having studied his life and writings for a long time. Another, more traditionally-minded, Franciscan organization has piqued my interest, but I’ve felt a bit “gun-shy” about committing to them due to my previous experience. Your article about your serious commitment to a Benedictine vocation within a vocation has, well, steeled the seriousness of applying myself to such a vocation, albeit a Franciscan one! I don’t know if that’s considered ironic or not, but the article has helped me with the decision. I’m grateful.
You're welcome, and yes, I am all in favor of promoting all the different ways laity can unite themselves more closely to religious orders or communities and their distinctive spiritualities. Of course, it is crucial to find a community that truly embodies the spirit AND teaching of the founder (in your case, St. Francis). After Vatican II, this has sadly become very difficult, since the "adaptation" undertaken by most religious led them much, much further from their founders than had ever been the case in the entire history of the Church. But there are traditional Franciscans, like the Marian Franciscans in England, led by Fr. Serafino Lanzetta:
Dr K, an excellent article as always. I know your books have focused on the liturgical and theological issues facing the Church today - and how we got here- but I encourage you to pen a volume on the spiritual life. This post was not only well-written but inspirational. We would all benefit from a treatise from you on the “meat and potatoes” spiritual practices for ordinary the “person in the pew.” Please think and pray about it!
One of the priests in my FSSP parish is entering the monastery in Norcia this August. I'm happy for him, because he really seems suited to a more recollected kind of life (he has always seemed "different"), but I am very sad he is leaving because he is such a good priest. Perhaps you can say hello to him in one of your next visits to Norcia, once he is there? :-)
Fascinating article--thank you. Can you recommend a book, article, or website that explains the differences between Benedictine, Dominican, Carmelite, Salesian, Franciscan spiritualities?
3 cheers for the traditional monastic communities!
I often pray along with the monks of Le Barroux through their podcast. I have a little speaker connected to my phone, follow along in my monastic breviary, and chant with one side of the choir. It helps me pray consistently and reverently and connects me to the monks.
But I’ve often thought of setting up a similar system at other monasteries to allow their oblates - or anyone - to pray with them. Norcia used to have a podcast too, but not anymore.
If anyone is interested in this work, please reach out. I’d like to provide this service for oblates and the promotion of the liturgy.
Peter, you have been so blessed and so fortunate with your Catholic life. And, sharing your life's experiences with us has been an honor and privilege seldom experienced.
Thanks for this very fine article with so many insights from experience and suggested readings for the uninitiated. I’m also inspired by the comments. (I once belonged to a fraternity of pastors and the compline we chanted on retreats was ripped from Rome. But my FSSP parish has about fifteen folks who stay after Mass and Rosary Tuesday evenings and we chant the Latin. I’m learning, and it’s a nice bridge from my old life.
You mentioned earlier that the Little Office of the Divine Wrath has the unabridged Psalmody; how old is it and how are the Little Offices to be used? And it’s not in print?
So... if you want the unabridged psalter, you should just use an old breviary (either Roman or Monastic), or you could use the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Little Office of Divine Wrath is a recent composition that someone made for private devotion, it has no real history or standing.
This is very helpful as someone who was educated by Benedictine monks and considers their example and spirituality a primary influence on my faith (e.g. my daily effort to pray Mattins and Vespers, though I've triangulated to the Anglican Ordinariate's DW:DO as a good balance (no censoring of psalms, lots of scripture!) for a busy layman and father). I've wondered about becoming an oblate, but unfortunately live very far from the monastery where I was educated, or even any other.
Since that time, I've also come to a greater appreciation for traditional liturgical forms than seem to be practiced at that monastery (and not surprisingly vocations, which were once exploding, seem to have dried up). Not sure where that leaves me at the moment.
Yes, for English, the DW:DO is by far the best option.
As I mentioned, it's not impossible to be an oblate of a distant monastery, but if one has no realistic chance of visiting periodically, then probably a non-starter.
At least one can do much of the oblate life on one's own, without a formal attachment.
Sadly, most Benedictine monasteries are living VERY FAR from the Rule of St Benedict, in their daily customs and liturgical prayer - it would have been unrecognizable to any monk from ancient times to the eve of Vatican II. That's why I tell people don't even bother with a non-traditional monastery. Your options are: Clear Creek; Whitestone; Silverstream; Norcia; Le Barroux; Fontgombault; Our Lady of Cana; Benedictines of Mary in Gower; and a few others.
To be clear, I'd love to work towards praying the psalms in Latin, so it's not the language that keeps me with DW:DO. It's that the entire office is designed around praying two hours each day that are of a length that can be reasonably accommodated by a busy layman. I've thought about switching to the Monastic Office, but it would mean missing most of the psalter (as long as I'm stuck at two hours per day).
In my view the structure of DW:DO, which goes through the entire psalter (uncensored) each month in those same two hours is ideal for the layman today (the semi-traditional calendar is a bonus); if one day a "Benedictine Oblate" version of the same were to appear, with Latin and other traditional flourishes, I'd be eager to switch. I wouldn't especially miss the Coverdale psalter, for example...
As a TOP Dominican I concur completely on what you say. The combination of Traditional TOP and Traditional Dominican Rite suppression, a modernist Dominican modern 'rule', alienated TOP tertiaries like me to an isolated experience unfortunately.
The pre conciliar rule required a tertiary to recite the Pater Noster, or the Little Office of the BVM, or 15 decades daily.
The post conciliar rule requires nothing, only referencing that saying the rosary when one can is admirable.
I weep.
Ergo, I could not join the local Dominican laity gathering, as I would be completely at odds with their approach.
Yes. The postconciliar "third orders" are a pathetic shadow of what they used to be. All of them are ripe for reestablishment in their traditional forms. What the USA desperately needs is a fully traditional Dominican community like the St. Vincent Ferrer friars in France.
I had the pleasure of meeting Fr. Cassian in 2015. Already in my 40s and a lifelong Catholic, I had the feeling of "wow, I've met a real monk!"
Fast forward to 2020, I made my first visit to a monastery. Attending Vespers and hearing 50 monks at Clear chant the Office made an impression on me. Immediately, I knew that I wanted what they had. It was a feeling that grabbed me and would not let go. I followed up with an inquiry about becoming an Oblate and was invited attend the next Oblate Day.
I am now an Oblate at Clear Creek Abbey. Like many, I live far from the Abbey. I still share in the prayers and good works of my monastic family and I make an annual visit to the Abbey. Fr Oblatemaster is pretty good about sending out missives to the Oblates and responding to correspondence.
Echoing what Peter said in his post, if you have an attraction to the Liturgy, to the Office, etc., becoming Oblate might be a good fit for you. Visit a monastery and pray.
Thank you so much for this Substack! As I said I early anticipated its publication and read it thoroughly. It has strengthened by resolve to pursue admission to the oblates. I have developed over the last few years a real love for and devotion to St. Benedict and I desire to formally dedicate myself to the life of an oblate in the Benedictine tradition. I have searched the various orders and feel drawn to the Benedictines by the Rule and was particularly influenced by very early on by the motto coined by St. Benedict “Ora et Labora” because it was what I have always believed in even before I knew about it formally. Sadly it appears that my financial means may limit my ability to associate with a monastery as I probably can’t stretch to even a yearly visit; as much as I would dearly love to do so. I will pray more about it and see what can be done. May your visit to Norcia be blessed by many graces. Please pray for us.
How does one become an oblate of the Benedictines of Mary in Gower? I looked at their website but did not see anything there about this. Would one just contact them directly? Thanks again for all of your beautiful and timely writing.
You can send them an email and inquire. They will send you some information that will help you to discern. I am an oblate novice with them, and it’s been wonderful. I encourage you to give it a try and contact them!
Viva Norcia! May the Abbazia di San Benedetto in Monte endure for a thousand years - or at least until Our Lord returns which the way things are going might be a bit sooner than that
“St. Benedict’s Rule embodies the opposite attitude: food is for sharing with guests, prayer is for the benefit of all, the liturgy is a gift free and fertile beyond measure, life is to be expended not on oneself, but in service to brethren and strangers.”
Thank you for a wonderful article, Peter. I’ve been an Oblate almost 40 years, and as wife and mother the hospitality was where most of the energy went (though with plenty of prayer and study, of course). Now as a widow with an empty nest, I am far more devoted to the Liturgy, which (as you say) is “fertile beyond measure.” The beauty of praying in communion with the Church (and the faithful Benedictine communities in particular) is such a consolation. Their humble dedication to “ora et labora” worked wonders over the centuries and is needed now more than ever.
As for your titles at the end, I cannot recommend Canon Simon’s “Commentary” highly enough; and of course any work by Dom Marmion is a treasure. Happy feast day!
I think hospitality is grossly underestimated. Welcoming people into one's home is in many ways the most important act of the Church outside of the liturgy.
If you don’t mind me asking—Was hospitality as a form of service always directed toward welcoming others into your home, or was service toward your own family also considered hospitality? Was there any aspect of being an oblate that was difficult when your children were still at home? What are your daily obligations as an oblate? I’m a mother of young children, but I keep feeling a pull toward a more committed spiritual life. (Oblate or servite have my interest.)
You are absolutely right - hospitality in the family is practiced first and foremost towards one's own children (and, where possible, one's relatives). One should never open up the home in a way that would distract or detract from this primary sphere of responsibility. That being said, most families find that welcoming friends over for, say, a Sunday brunch or a feastday meal is a great way to "put the children to work" on behalf of others, letting them develop certain social virtues. They learn from conversations. But it gets much easier as children get older.
Very good questions, Taylor. Parents welcome children as their first "guests" and have an obligation to see to their needs, but part of their formation is learning virtue. While we have to be aware of Mrs Jellyby (Bleak House by Dickens) and what happens when charity is misguided, still, children do need to learn to defer to the legitimate needs of guests (within reason). I wish I could remember the exact phrase, but a friend from a large family had a password whispered around the table which meant to go lightly on the food to make it stretch when unexpected guests made proportions a challenge (a great memory for them!) I also know of a family who extended a dinner invitation to the priest living next door. He came. Every. Night. (Not a good memory at all, causing understandable stress and eventual bitterness--maybe husband should have intervened, or priest should have recognised the imposition).
As for obligations, you do what you can. There's an abbreviated office (in Oblate handbooks, as well as in Magnificat and Benedictus missalettes). There is no obligation that carries with it the pain of sin if neglected, but it's good to try to manage the Benedictus, the Magnificat, and the Nunc Dimittus prayers with whatever psalms one can manage (and a daily examen) on a daily basis. Children would benefit by knowing them anyway, so you could make it part of your foundation for family prayer. The point is to pray with the Church, which you are probably doing anyway.
The last thing that I love about the Benedictine order is its emphasis on stability and order, both of which help children (especially) to thrive. I did move several times (we were a Navy family) and I have settled since near one of my children. The consideration of this last move was that it might be my last, but again, if I need to go, there's no sin. Monks were occasionally sent to establish new monasteries so they weren't always stable, but the point is to "bloom where you're planted," to use a familiar cliché, and not hanker for new vistas or experiences.
I can't explain my love of the Benedictine charism. My heart has simply always warmed to Benedictine saints, and I admire what they did in laying the groundwork for Christendom. The way your spiritual life develops should be a rich, organic trajectory, and such an oblation guides that growth gently with an ancient wisdom--all good!
Friend just reminded me: they would whisper FHB (“family hold back”)
Can anyone visit the Norcia monastery, then? Including women?
Yes, all visitors are welcome, and anyone can sign up for the guest house.
Info here: https://en.nursia.org/visits.html
Thank you for the information! I would love to go to Italy someday. If ever I do go, Norcia would be one of the top places I would visit, even if I were just passing through.
Thank you, sir, for this interesting article! I am a former member of the Secular Franciscan Order, but left them when their “woke” tendencies became evermore intolerable: to me, at least. I feel a kinship with St. Francis of Assisi still, having studied his life and writings for a long time. Another, more traditionally-minded, Franciscan organization has piqued my interest, but I’ve felt a bit “gun-shy” about committing to them due to my previous experience. Your article about your serious commitment to a Benedictine vocation within a vocation has, well, steeled the seriousness of applying myself to such a vocation, albeit a Franciscan one! I don’t know if that’s considered ironic or not, but the article has helped me with the decision. I’m grateful.
You're welcome, and yes, I am all in favor of promoting all the different ways laity can unite themselves more closely to religious orders or communities and their distinctive spiritualities. Of course, it is crucial to find a community that truly embodies the spirit AND teaching of the founder (in your case, St. Francis). After Vatican II, this has sadly become very difficult, since the "adaptation" undertaken by most religious led them much, much further from their founders than had ever been the case in the entire history of the Church. But there are traditional Franciscans, like the Marian Franciscans in England, led by Fr. Serafino Lanzetta:
https://www.themarianfranciscans.org/
Dr K, an excellent article as always. I know your books have focused on the liturgical and theological issues facing the Church today - and how we got here- but I encourage you to pen a volume on the spiritual life. This post was not only well-written but inspirational. We would all benefit from a treatise from you on the “meat and potatoes” spiritual practices for ordinary the “person in the pew.” Please think and pray about it!
I'm thinking and praying about it...
One of the priests in my FSSP parish is entering the monastery in Norcia this August. I'm happy for him, because he really seems suited to a more recollected kind of life (he has always seemed "different"), but I am very sad he is leaving because he is such a good priest. Perhaps you can say hello to him in one of your next visits to Norcia, once he is there? :-)
Very timely for this reader. Thank you.
Fascinating article--thank you. Can you recommend a book, article, or website that explains the differences between Benedictine, Dominican, Carmelite, Salesian, Franciscan spiritualities?
Interesting question. There must be a book out there that does this. Meanwhile, I did a series at OnePeterFive you might find interesting:
https://onepeterfive.com/seeing-holy-mass-with-benedictine-eyes/
https://onepeterfive.com/holy-mass-carmelite/
https://onepeterfive.com/holy-mass-dominican/
https://onepeterfive.com/holy-mass-franciscan/
https://onepeterfive.com/holy-mass-jesuit/
3 cheers for the traditional monastic communities!
I often pray along with the monks of Le Barroux through their podcast. I have a little speaker connected to my phone, follow along in my monastic breviary, and chant with one side of the choir. It helps me pray consistently and reverently and connects me to the monks.
But I’ve often thought of setting up a similar system at other monasteries to allow their oblates - or anyone - to pray with them. Norcia used to have a podcast too, but not anymore.
If anyone is interested in this work, please reach out. I’d like to provide this service for oblates and the promotion of the liturgy.
I agree. Perhaps Norcia, now that they are more settled, could revive this?
Peter, you have been so blessed and so fortunate with your Catholic life. And, sharing your life's experiences with us has been an honor and privilege seldom experienced.
Thank you for saying so, Henry! AMDG
Thanks for this very fine article with so many insights from experience and suggested readings for the uninitiated. I’m also inspired by the comments. (I once belonged to a fraternity of pastors and the compline we chanted on retreats was ripped from Rome. But my FSSP parish has about fifteen folks who stay after Mass and Rosary Tuesday evenings and we chant the Latin. I’m learning, and it’s a nice bridge from my old life.
You mentioned earlier that the Little Office of the Divine Wrath has the unabridged Psalmody; how old is it and how are the Little Offices to be used? And it’s not in print?
So... if you want the unabridged psalter, you should just use an old breviary (either Roman or Monastic), or you could use the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Little Office of Divine Wrath is a recent composition that someone made for private devotion, it has no real history or standing.
This is very helpful as someone who was educated by Benedictine monks and considers their example and spirituality a primary influence on my faith (e.g. my daily effort to pray Mattins and Vespers, though I've triangulated to the Anglican Ordinariate's DW:DO as a good balance (no censoring of psalms, lots of scripture!) for a busy layman and father). I've wondered about becoming an oblate, but unfortunately live very far from the monastery where I was educated, or even any other.
Since that time, I've also come to a greater appreciation for traditional liturgical forms than seem to be practiced at that monastery (and not surprisingly vocations, which were once exploding, seem to have dried up). Not sure where that leaves me at the moment.
Yes, for English, the DW:DO is by far the best option.
As I mentioned, it's not impossible to be an oblate of a distant monastery, but if one has no realistic chance of visiting periodically, then probably a non-starter.
At least one can do much of the oblate life on one's own, without a formal attachment.
Sadly, most Benedictine monasteries are living VERY FAR from the Rule of St Benedict, in their daily customs and liturgical prayer - it would have been unrecognizable to any monk from ancient times to the eve of Vatican II. That's why I tell people don't even bother with a non-traditional monastery. Your options are: Clear Creek; Whitestone; Silverstream; Norcia; Le Barroux; Fontgombault; Our Lady of Cana; Benedictines of Mary in Gower; and a few others.
To be clear, I'd love to work towards praying the psalms in Latin, so it's not the language that keeps me with DW:DO. It's that the entire office is designed around praying two hours each day that are of a length that can be reasonably accommodated by a busy layman. I've thought about switching to the Monastic Office, but it would mean missing most of the psalter (as long as I'm stuck at two hours per day).
In my view the structure of DW:DO, which goes through the entire psalter (uncensored) each month in those same two hours is ideal for the layman today (the semi-traditional calendar is a bonus); if one day a "Benedictine Oblate" version of the same were to appear, with Latin and other traditional flourishes, I'd be eager to switch. I wouldn't especially miss the Coverdale psalter, for example...
As a TOP Dominican I concur completely on what you say. The combination of Traditional TOP and Traditional Dominican Rite suppression, a modernist Dominican modern 'rule', alienated TOP tertiaries like me to an isolated experience unfortunately.
The pre conciliar rule required a tertiary to recite the Pater Noster, or the Little Office of the BVM, or 15 decades daily.
The post conciliar rule requires nothing, only referencing that saying the rosary when one can is admirable.
I weep.
Ergo, I could not join the local Dominican laity gathering, as I would be completely at odds with their approach.
Yes. The postconciliar "third orders" are a pathetic shadow of what they used to be. All of them are ripe for reestablishment in their traditional forms. What the USA desperately needs is a fully traditional Dominican community like the St. Vincent Ferrer friars in France.
I had the pleasure of meeting Fr. Cassian in 2015. Already in my 40s and a lifelong Catholic, I had the feeling of "wow, I've met a real monk!"
Fast forward to 2020, I made my first visit to a monastery. Attending Vespers and hearing 50 monks at Clear chant the Office made an impression on me. Immediately, I knew that I wanted what they had. It was a feeling that grabbed me and would not let go. I followed up with an inquiry about becoming an Oblate and was invited attend the next Oblate Day.
I am now an Oblate at Clear Creek Abbey. Like many, I live far from the Abbey. I still share in the prayers and good works of my monastic family and I make an annual visit to the Abbey. Fr Oblatemaster is pretty good about sending out missives to the Oblates and responding to correspondence.
Echoing what Peter said in his post, if you have an attraction to the Liturgy, to the Office, etc., becoming Oblate might be a good fit for you. Visit a monastery and pray.
Thank you so much for this Substack! As I said I early anticipated its publication and read it thoroughly. It has strengthened by resolve to pursue admission to the oblates. I have developed over the last few years a real love for and devotion to St. Benedict and I desire to formally dedicate myself to the life of an oblate in the Benedictine tradition. I have searched the various orders and feel drawn to the Benedictines by the Rule and was particularly influenced by very early on by the motto coined by St. Benedict “Ora et Labora” because it was what I have always believed in even before I knew about it formally. Sadly it appears that my financial means may limit my ability to associate with a monastery as I probably can’t stretch to even a yearly visit; as much as I would dearly love to do so. I will pray more about it and see what can be done. May your visit to Norcia be blessed by many graces. Please pray for us.
How does one become an oblate of the Benedictines of Mary in Gower? I looked at their website but did not see anything there about this. Would one just contact them directly? Thanks again for all of your beautiful and timely writing.
Yes, you can contact them directly, either through the website or by mail. I did the same for Clear Creek.
You can send them an email and inquire. They will send you some information that will help you to discern. I am an oblate novice with them, and it’s been wonderful. I encourage you to give it a try and contact them!
Viva Norcia! May the Abbazia di San Benedetto in Monte endure for a thousand years - or at least until Our Lord returns which the way things are going might be a bit sooner than that
A wonderful and very helpful article. Thank you!