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OBLATES: MUTUAL SUPPORT |
Douai
Oblate
June 2001
No 13
From the Oblate Director
Plans for the development of the former school buildings have now been published. The school has been sold on long lease to Bewley Homes who are specialists in redeveloping stately homes. They plan to develop the property as homes. The older buildings, which are listed, will be turned into apartments, whilst the more recent and life expired buildings will be demolished to make way for houses. So we shall soon have new neighbours, in fact a small village.
As the present monastic refectory, kitchen and guest dining room belong to the school complex of buildings, these will be taken over by Bewley Homes, which means that we shall need to build a new monastic refectory, kitchen and guest refectory. We also wish to increase our guest house, and hopefully build a proper monastic library which will be outside the enclosure so that it will available to anyone who needs to make serious use of it.
We have appointed as architect David Richmond who has drawn up plans for the proposed completion of the monastery buildings. These plans along with Bewley’s have now been submitted to West Berkshire County Council for planning permission.
One of the advantages for oblates of an increased guest house will be that we should be able to accommodate all those who wish to attend the retreats.
There has been a notable increase in the number of people showing interest in becoming oblates, which is very encouraging, and in line with international trend. I have been impressed to see a number of Douai oblates taking part in the Oblate Forum on the Internet. There have been some good exchanges and discussions. These exchanges are very valuable for the growing oblate movement.
The next retreat will take place from Friday July 6 until Sunday 8. If you wish to come please let me know as soon as you can. On the evening of Sunday July 8 to celebrate the anniversary of the Consecration of the Abbey Church,there will be a Choral Vespers which will include music by Bruckner, Mozart Victoria and Poulenc as well as the chant. Oblates will be welcome to extend their visit to take part in this festal Vespers, and stay the night after if necessary.
Review of John McQuiston’s Always We Begin Again: the Benedictine Way of
Living, Morehouse USA, 1966, (available through SCM-Canterbury Press at
£5.99) by Simon Bryden-Brook OblOSB
Hearing the Rule read every day, or reading it oneself, one is inevitably struck by such oddities, hardly surprising in a document almost 1,500 year old. There are all sorts of detailed arrangements for the liturgy, eating and sleeping etc that are no longer appropriate. Pyjamas or night shirts are worn now and communities have more than one knife per member, so that there is no risk today of them getting into bed with one stuck in their belts and doing themselves an injury (ch 22). McQuiston is an American lawyer, and not obviously a Catholic. He has paraphrased and summarised the Rule into a very small book of 95 pages, 4 inches by 6. He has sought to make the wisdom of the Rule accessible to everyone in our secular age and therefore all direct reference to God or our Lord has gone, as indeed has anything specifically 'religious'. Thus, 'obedience to do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord' (Prologue 3) becomes ‘fidelity to a way of living that transcends understanding' (p 17), which on reflection does not seem an impoverishment even if it does take us out of the traditional vocabulary.
The tenth degree of humility, 'avoiding ready laughter', (ch 7: 59) is justified by Benedict using the Master's quotation from Sirach: 'Only a fool raises his voice in laughter' which seems a bit harsh. At least Benedict removed a reference found in the Rule of the Master from Ecclesiastes: 'Like the crackling of thorns under a cauldron is the laughter of fools'. McQuiston on the other hand suggests that the tenth step is that we should 'refrain from taking pleasure in the losses of others ... each other's shortcomings and misfortunes' (p 44) which seems an interesting attempt to make some sense of an ancient injunction against laughter that seems rather odd to the modern ear.
Oblates and religious may regret this simplification or de-mystifying of the text, and indeed can see that they have lost something, but in fact it throws into relief what is eternally and universally valuable in this ancient book. As an explanation for the rationale of his approach, McQuiston has assembled a varied collection of relevant quotations at the end of the book. These include Exodus 20: 4-7 forbidding the making of idols, Panikkar (from The Silence of God: the Answer of the Buddha) warning that even to speak of God is tantamount to destroying him, and the challenging and much misunderstood Episcopalian Bishop Jack Spong (Resurrection) arguing that 'God is the love that creates wholeness, the Being at the depths of our being, the Source from which all life comes'. McQuiston also offers three short meditations and even a weekday schedule with seven 'stopping points', all very interesting and thought-provoking.
It is well known that Benedict did not write all of the Rule, but adapted previous works, particularly the so-called Rule of the Master (Migne, PL LXXVIII col 943 ff, and see the exhaustive work of de Vogüé). Benedict's section on humility for example (ch 7, referred to above) is based heavily on Cassian's De institutis coenobiorum and the Rule of the Master, often copied word for word, but what is telling is how he has adapted these texts. For example, after listing the twelve steps of humility, Benedict says that, rather than fear, the motive for loving God is not 'the love of goodness itself and the delight of virtue' as Cassian and the Master have it, still less the detailed promises of heavenly bliss found in the Master, but ‘love for Christ, good habit and delight in virtue' (ch 7: 69), a subtle improvement. McQuiston, in his attempt to make the Rule universally appealing and not just to Christians (‘through habit rather than by discipline ... as our natural manner' p 45), omits this subtlety but still manages to convey the essence as well as making us Christians want to return to Benedict's version for even more riches.
Throughout his Rule one finds that Benedict brings a moderation, humanity and understanding of psychology to the traditional rules and this is his contribution which is so appealing today. McQuiston's little distillation is an exciting attempt to show that this sixth century document has a profound relevance for our secular age. It is cheap and small enough for all of us to carry around with our red RE 1980 version from the Liturgical Press at Collegeville.
NB Temporarily out of print, copies will be available in Douai Abbey Bookshop when it becomes available.
Rebuilding at Helfa
Three important German mystics had been monastics of Helfta, St Gertrude the Great, St Mechthild of Hackeborn and Mechthild of Magdeburg. The monastery which had been founded in the early thirteenth century became a dynamic centre of education and mysticism. It earned a reputation as the ‘crown of German monasteries’ and florished as a spiritual centre for three centuries. It is situated in the city where Martin Luther was born and died, Eisleben, in the province of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. For 450 years since the Reformation it had been a ruin.
With the fall of Communism in East Germany, a movement arose to restore the monastery. Four separate organisations united to form the Associated Friends of the Monastery at Helfta under the patronage of the bishop of Magdeburg, Leo Nowak. The group has raised sufficient money to enable the diocese of Magdeburg to buy the entire property from the government trustee and to rebuild the church and two of the monastic buildings.
In August 1999 a small group of Cistercian nuns took up residence under Abbess M Assumpta Schenkl. The abbess and founding sisters believe they have been called to Helfta by the Holy Spirit to revive there a centre of spirituality and learning.
Both the bishop and the abbess have a vision that the monastery, standing as it does in the city of Martin Luther, will become an ecumenical centre and a sign of God’s blessing and abundant love. It is hoped it will be a place where Catholics and Lutherans can grow closer together, and where the light of Christ will shine out in an area where 80% of the people are unchurched and where Catholics are only 5% of the population. It is also in one of the poorest areas of Germany.
The monastery is seeking funds to build a guesthouse, a retreat and conference centre and an education and information centre. The community ask all to support them in prayer and to help identify possible sources of funding. You can visit their website at http://www.kloster-helfta.de/
Monastic Ecumenism
There are Benedictine monasteries which are not Roman Catholic, Elmore, is one example of an Anglican monastery which a group of Douai Oblates visited during the last retreat, when foot and mouth disease prevented the customary Saturday afternoon walk. There are also Lutheran Benedictine monasteries in other countries. In the USA there is now an ecumenical monastery of Benedictine women in Madison, Wisconsin. We have a copy of a video they have produced which I hope we shall have an opportunity to view at the forthcoming Oblates Retreat.
Oblates, of course, can be members of any Christian Church, among oblates, world wide are members of all the main stream Christian Churches, and there are notable oblate authors who are Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian.
Whilst the number of monastics is declining, the number of oblates is growing rapidly. As one oblate participant at last year’s American Benedictine Academy Convention, divorced Protestant laywoman Donna Vande Kieft writes "There was a fair amount of focus on the changes in monastic life due to diminishment of members with emphasis on consideration of new models and paradigms. Thus enter the role of the oblate. We may be a big part of the future of monastic life. For me that is both an awesome and scary thought."
Oblates like monastics must be involved in ecumenism, that is the Church’s request for all Benedictines.
Oblates News WE are happy to report that Richard Cavanagh has made good progress in recovering from his bypass operation, and he thanks everyone for their prayers and support.Through taking part in the Oblate Forum on the internet Zina Neagle has discovered another Oblate living in her parish of Windsor.
Please remember in your prayers David and Sylvia Baynes, aspirant oblates, who had hoped to visit Douai recently, but since they are sheep farmers from Yorkshire they have been prevented by foot and mouth disease. Although their flock has not been affected, they report that farmers all around them have been, and the distress and anguish is considerable.
Forthcoming retreat dates,
July 6 -8, 2001Monastic Community OUR sick brethren are getting better, Fr Timothy who had a triple bypass with complications is undergoing a long convalescence away from his parish of Kemerton. Fr Nicholas is due back from hospital tomorrow after receiving a new hip, and picking up an infection in the hospital, and Fr Leo is making rapid progress after receiving two new knees.
Sept 28 - 30, 2001
Dec 7 - 9, 2001
April 5 - 7, 2002
June 28 - 30, 2002
Sept 27 - 29, 2002
Dec 13 - 15, 2002
revised 28/06/01(GH)