Please note:

Due to the uncertain renovation program at Clyde we will only have TWO Oblate gatherings at Clyde in '09. The first will be the weekend of June 12-14th. The annual Fall retreat will need to be in mid-September, the 11-13th. We would encourage our Oblates to get these dates on their calendars and let us know in good time if they intend to be present. There will be NO Oblate candidacy or oblation ceremonies this year. I would ask those who are in their study year to be in touch with me regularly and count on the following year for their ceremonies.

Sr. Jean Frances, OSB

OBLATE GATHERINGS

Gathering		Jun. 12, 13, 14
Annual Retreat		Sep. 11, 12, 13

ABOUT OUR OBLATES

Oblates affiliated with our Clyde monastery gather three times a year for a long weekend of spiritual input and sharing, renewing friendships, and feeling the support of community. They arrive by 5 p.m. on Friday and leave after the noon meal on Sunday.

The participants follow the community schedule for the Liturgy of the Hours and Eucharist, have several presentations on monastic practices or the Rule of  St. Benedict, enjoy time for reading, walking, resting, personal prayer and visiting among themselves.

There is an annual Oblate Retreat weekend in the fall. At this time new Candidates are formally received, those completing their year of formation make their oblation and all the Oblates present renew their oblation together. These ceremonies are held in the context of the community's noon prayer on Sunday. A closing meal with the Sisters follows before the Oblates' and Candidates' departure.

Persons interested in discerning an Oblate vocation are welcome to attend these meetings. Due to limited rooms available (12), early registration is a must. A freewill offering from the participants is gratefully accepted .

HOW DOES ONE BECOME AN OBLATE?

Write or e-mail the Clyde Oblate Director for information. If you live too far from the Clyde monastery to attend at least one meeting per year, the Director will refer you to a monastery closer to your location.

• Come to Clyde for a personal interview.
• Attend one of the Oblate meetings and meet other Oblates. They will gladly share their stories with you and help you verbalize what you are looking for.
• Learn about the Clyde monastery and our Congregation, its charisms and ministries.
• If accepted, enter upon the year of discernment with the Oblate Director.
• Pray, study, read books chosen for beginners, learn appropriate monastic practices and how you might concretize them in your daily living.
• Together with the Director, discern your readiness for making a commitment as an Oblate of the Clyde monastery.

A ceremony of commitment is conducted when the director and candidate discern readiness for oblation. The ceremony is held in the presence of the monastic community or locally with several witnesses to share the Oblate's joy. A Certificate of Oblation is given at this time along with the Oblate emblem of our Congregation.

The oblation is not a vow but a firm resolve, accepted and confirmed in a sacred ritual. There are no dues and no penalties for withdrawing if an Oblate, after prayer and discernment, decides to discontinue association with the monastery or to transfer the commitment to another monastery. In our mobile society this is sometimes necessary for those who wish to stay with a meeting group of Oblates.

WHO CAN BE AN OBLATE?

All Christians can be Oblates and engage in spiritually based prayer, practice prayerful reading, seek contemplative union with God and expend themselves lovingly for others. Anyone can practice this way of spirituality that is essentially the same as taught by St. Benedict over 1,500 years ago.

Monasticism is a way of life in which the desire and search for God is all-important. Its spirituality is a process of transformation into Christ through self-emptying in order to be totally available to God. As such, it is not necessarily tied to any single belief system.

Since it predates the separation of the Christian churches, monasticism forms an ideal basis for ecumenism in today's world. The main forces transcending all our differences are the love of God, of Sacred Scripture and prayer and our genuine love and concern for one another.

OBLATE NEWS

Oblate Directors association conducts biennial meeting

BSPA Congregation Oblate Director Sister Jean Frances Dolan attended the meeting of the North American Association of Benedictine Oblate Directors held July 29th, Aug. 3 in Yankton, S.D. The meeting, whose theme was "Benedictine Oblation: A Way of Life," involved more than 100 directors and invited oblates from around the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Sessions included Coping with Crisis: the Benedictine Way, Mentoring and the Rule of St. Benedict, Integrating Benedictine Spirituality into the Classroom and Benedictine Journey: Listening with the Ear of the Heart.

Sister Jean Frances, who gave the welcome, recently completed a six-year term as coordinator for the Association of Benedictine Oblate Directors. The organization is a non-profit association whose purpose is to provide ongoing formation for directors of oblates and a forum for discussing needs and issues. They meet once every two years.

For more information contact:

Sister Jean Frances - Congregational Oblate Director
Phone: (660) 944-2221