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Douai
Oblate
October 2003
No 20
From the Oblate DirectorMANY of our oblates were present for the celebration of the centenary of the community’s arrival in Woolhampton, which took place on June 21. Cardinal Murphy O’Connor presided at the Mass which over five hundred people celebrated with the communuity.
We are very grateful to the help given by so many oblates in serving teas for all the people and helping to clear the abbey church after the Mass.
A number of oblates were able be present the following day when the abbot primate, Notker Wolff OSB, addressed them. Those present found his talk encouraging. He stressed of the importance of oblates in the world today, and pointed out that the number of oblates is growing throughout the world. He had started a group of oblates at Sant’ Anselmo in Rome. He spoke also about the congress of oblates which is to be held in Rome in September 2005.
* * * * * Fr Wilfrid died suddenly very early on August 1. Although he had suffered from a heart problem for several years, his death was not expected. At the beginning of the week he had returned from a holiday in North Wales which he had enjoyed in the company of Fr John Bolton OSB. On the morning of July 31 he had attended a bursar’s team meeting and in the afternoon he was working on an electrical fault. He collapsed in his workshop while reaching for a box of nails. Fortunately Fr Terence was with him and was able to phone for help immediately. He was airlifted to hospital in Reading, but never regained consciousness. He died at about a quarter after midnight.Wilfrid had been a good supporter of the oblates. Although normally during the past year he had retired before Compline, he always stayed up to come to Compline when oblate ceremonies were to take place after it, and also attended the social afterwards. Happily a number of oblates were able to be present for his funeral Mass on August 8 and once again the community is grateful for the help they gave in serving tea afterwards.
* * * * * The first weekend of October a group of eight monks travelled to Douai, France, as the guests of the town to celebrate the centenary of our departure. We were royally received with great kindness and generosity. We lodged with sisters of La Saint Union. A packed itinery had been arranged for us, with visits to the cemetary to pray at the graves of our monks buried there; to the Lycée Corot, which is now housed in our former monastey and where we were able to celebrate Mass in our old chapel which was a most moving occasion; to the town library where we shown the collection of works with English connections; to Planques, our former country estate, now a public park, where the mayor and the abbot unveiled a plaque; and to the museum in the former Carthusian monastery. On the Sunday we sang Terce and joined the parish Mass in the church of St-Pierre, where the parish priest, André Merville welcomed us.‡The Benedictine Handbook
THE BENEDICTINE HANDBOOK was published early this year. It is a handsome volumn, hardbound in red with gold lettering and it provides a valuable compendium of Benedictine life and spirituality.
The book is divided into six parts. After an introduction by Anthony Marrett-Crosby of Ampleforth, part one consists of the text of the Rule in the translation of Abbot Patrick Barry, also of Ampleforth, together with a short introduction by the translator.
The second part is called Tools of Benedictine Spirituality with articles on the work of God, Lectio Divina, prayer, work, perseverance, the vows and hospitality. The authors of these articles include oblate Kathleen Norris, Demetrius Dumm of St Vincent’s Archabbey, Pennsylvania, Michael Casey OCSO of Tarrawarra Abbey, Australia, Mary Forman of St Gertrude’s, Idaho, and Abbot Richard Yeo of Downside.
The third part is called The Benedictine Experience of God. It contains a simple form of Morning and Evening Prayer suitable for oblates, various Benedictine prayers, a Benedictine Who’s Who and a summary of Benedictine Holy Places, compiled by Oswald McBride of Ampleforth, Robert Atwell an Anglican Benedictine, and Colmán Ó Clabaigh of Glenstal Abbey, Ireland. The fourth part is about Living the Rule in community, in solitude, as an oblate and in the world, authored by Columba Steward of St John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Maria Boulding of Stanbrook, Dwight Longenecker, an oblate of Downside and Esther de Waal. The fifth part is called The Benedictine Family and includes a history as well as surveys of Benedictines and Cistercians today, by Joel Rippenger of Marmion Abbey, Illinois, Dominic Milroy of Ampleforth and Nivard Kinsella of Roscrea, Ireland. The final part is a glossary of Benedictine terms compiled by Jill Maria Murdy of Sacred Heart Monastery and Terrence Kardong of Assumption Abbey, both in South Dakota.
From this decription you will see that the book has a vast scope, and that, I think for the first time, it includes authors, both monastics and oblates, from Britain, Ireland, Australia and the USA. This provides a great richness of content and interpretation. It also illustrates the wide spread of Benedictinism in the English speaking world.
Although intended for oblates the book would also be essential reading for anyone aspiring to the monastic life as it provides a summary of what is involved. For the oblate the chapter on Lectio Divina is particularly enlightening, since it is part of the life which is equally available to the oblate as to those living in monasteries. It helps us become a listening people, and practised with vigilance and regularity and will lead to an increasingly joyful relationship with Christ. This chapter is admirably complemented by Mary Foreman’s on prayer: being open to God’s presence permeating all of one’s life.
The ‘who’s who’, the short history and the survey of the Benedictine family I found most interesting and informative. The richness and diversity of Benedictine life is quite amazing, as is the phenomenal growth of the oblate movement. Why? I think the chapter by Esther de Waal Living the Rule in the World gives us the answer. "When I first read the Rule it was as the wife of a busy husband and mother of four teenage sons. It spoke to my situation then, and that has remained true through all subsequent change, and not least in my present sitation where I find myself living on my own." In the face of a materialist and self-centered world St Benedict shows us that Christ wants the whole of our lives, and shows us how change can come. St Benedict shows us how to avoid being over-busy in a world full of stress through finding balance and order, he shows how there is no separation between praying and living, he shows us the importance of listening with the ‘ear of the heart’. "If I am carrying the heart of stillness and emptiness then I have more chance of being available, able to hear the Word and thus discern whether it is God’s will that I am trying to follow and not my own self-centered fulfilment."‡
St Wulstan, Benedictine monk and Bishop of Worcester
At a meeting in September the Oblate Chapter that meets in the Midlands took as their patron St Wulstan.
Wulstan’s chaplain, Coleman, wrote an account of his life, now lost, which was the basis of the Latin life by William of Malmesbury.written between 1124 and 1143. A new edition of the translation by an archdeacon of Worcester, JHF Peile has been published by Llanerch publishers in Lampeter.
WULSTAN, sometimes spelt ‘Wulfstan’, was born around 1008 at Itchington in Warwickshire son of Anglo Saxon parents, Aethelstan and Wulfgifu, who both later entered monasteries in Worcester. To be educated Wulstan was sent to the abbey at Evesham where he ‘was first taught his letters’ and then to Peterborough for further studies.
Wulstan seems to have been a typical athletic young man since it is recorded that he won a prize in a race. A local girl attempted to seduce him, but like St Benedict he fled to a thorny place. This was not the last time he was to be tempted, later when he was prior, a married woman tried to court him and even approached him in the cathedral in an attempt to get him to leave with her. To get her to desist he had to smack her across the face.
Wulstan entered the household of Brihteah, bishop of Worcester. At that time the only way for someone who was not a nobleman to further his education was to enter the household of some noble person, ecclesicatical or secular.
Wulstan was ordained priest but turned down a wealthy parish near Worcester. Instead he became a Benedictine monk at the Cathedral Priory of Worcester. He held various offices in the very small community of twelve monks, including sacristan and cantor, and eventually prior. As prior he gained a reputation for holiness, he would stand at the church door for hours in order to help those who were poor or suffering. At this time he also adopted ascetical practices such as doing with very little sleep and lying prostrate on the stone floor before the altar.
In 1062 the bishop of Worcester was translated to York, and the papal legate recommended Wulstan succeed as the new bishop. The king, St Edward the Confessor, agreed and the departing bishop, Aldred, consecrated him.
He had to combine the offices of diocesan bishop and monastic superior. He is the first English bishop known to have carried out systematic visitations of the diocese. He encouraged the building of churches and insisted on stone rather than wooden altars. He began the rebuilding of Worcester Cathedral in 1084, where his crypt remains still. He was faithful in attending the cathedral offices.
After the battle of Hastings he professed his loyalty to William the Conqueror, and was the only Anglo Saxon bishop to retain his see.He remained loyal to the king, and in the barons’ risings in 1074 and 1088 he defended Worcester Castle against the rebels.
When Lanfranc became Archbishop of Canterbury Wulstan supported his reform policies and placed Worcester definitively as a suffragan of Canterbury rather than York. He promoted clerical celibacy and preached successfully for the abolition of the slave trade from Bristol.
Wulstan enjoyed good health. In lifestyle he exemplified St Benedict’s maxim moderation in all things, so it was said of him ‘he was neither lavish nor niggardly in the choice of clothes and standard of living’. He died at the age of eighty-seven a little after midnight on January 19, 1095.
According to his biographer, William of Malmesbury, Wulstan had gained a reputation for miracles even during his lifetime. He is said to have enabled a workman who fell 40ft from the cathedral roof to get up unhurt, to have healed a dying monk, a leper, a daughter of King Harold and a frenzied woman in Evesham.
Wulstan’s cult began immediately after is death and many more miracles were reported through his intercession. He was canonised by Pope Innocent III in 1203. His shrine was covered with gold and silver by William Rufus, although stripped in 1216 to pay off the French king, it was soon replaced by an even more resplendent shrine. It remained a pilgrimage centre until it was destroyed by Henry VIII.‡
This and That
Mentoring
NEW (and possibly some not so new) oblates might find the idea of having a mentor helpful. A mentor would usually be another who has been an oblate for longer rather like St Benedict’s ‘spiritual father’. The role of mentor can be seen as being that of someone who walks alongside. A mentor can be an advisor and a support. A mentor would be a person one could talk to, to ask advice, talk through issues that are puzzling and also someone who would be prepared to say a kindly word of warning if the oblate were treading on toes or going off at a tangent which it is quite possible for someone to do so without either intending it or even being aware of the fact. A mentor could provide a helpful check in such a situation. Obviously a mentor would have to be chosen by the oblate herself or himself, possibly with help from the oblate director.
Lectio divina in common
NOT all oblates find having lectio divina in common helpful, some prefer it on their own. So I suggest that in future when we have lectio divina in common that the session be clearly optional. Those who chose not to take part should spend the time in personal practice of lectio or some other prayer or meditation.
It has also been suggested that the Conference Room on a Sunday morning is not conducive to prayerfulness because of the surrounding noises of washing up in the room next door. We must look at finding an alternative venue, for example the upstairs sitting room or the lobe at the back of the abbey church, or finding an alternative time.
I recommend Fr Luke Dysinger OSB’s paper on Lectio Divina which is available on the internet. I use it for Lectio Divina retreats and I can give a copy to anyone who has not seen it.
Spirit & Life
I RECOMMEND this magazine which is published by the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. It can be obtained by writing to Spirit & Life, 800 N. Country Club Road, Tucson, AZ 85716-4583, USA or e-mail benpubctr@theriver.com. There is no charge but the sisters are very grateful for any donation towards the costs that you can afford. Thanks to the kindness of one of our oblates, it is available in the guesthouse library at Douai. The most recent, July-August 2003 issue is particularly rich in articles on Benedictine spirituality, which seems to have been inspired by the Trinity Institute Conference on Benedictine Spirituality in the Contemporary World, the papers of which we used in our retreats in September and October and will be employed at the meeting of the Cromer Oblates on November 6.
Chapters
THE Wulstan Chapter meets fortnightly on Thursday afternoons alternately in Studley, Alcester and Stratford. The Julian Chapter meets on the first Thursday of each month at Cromer. I hope to be present there for the November meeting.
Oblation
Congratulations to the following:
Philomena & Philip Sheppard who made oblation taking the names Hildegarde and Julian, and Sylvia Head who became an oblate novice on Saturday July 5;
Alan Jagiello who made oblation taking the name Jacob on Sunday September 29;
Ali Wrigley and Paul Hirons who made oblation taking the names Godric and Edmund respectively on Wednesday October 22.Retreats
MID-WEEK retreats are becoming more popular, so we have planned an extra one for next year, Oct 26 - 28. The dates of future retreats are:
2003 Tu 9 - Th 11 Dec. (O603) Fr 12 - Su 14 Dec. (O703) 2004 Fr 26 - Su 28 Mar (OB104) Tu 11 - Th 13 May (OB204) Fr 9 - Su 11 July (OB304) Fr 1 - Su 3 Oct (OB404) Tu 26 - Th 28 Oct (OB504) Tu 7 - Th 9 Dec (OB604) Fr 10 - Su 12 Dec (OB704) 2005 Fr 8 - Su 10 Apr (OL105) Tu 10 - Th 12 May (OL205) Fr 8 - Su 10 July (OL305) Fr 30 Sept - Su 2 Oct (OL405) Tu 25 - Th 27 Oct (OL505) Fr 9 - Su 11 Dec (OL605) It is important that those who book for retreats actually do attend, or at least let us know well in advance that they are unable to come. Not to arrive for a retreat one has booked is not only discourteous, but it may actually result in a room been left unused that someone else could have occupied.
Prayers
PLEASE pray for Mia Nye, granddaughter of Joy, who has a life threatening skin disease;
for oblate novice Fr Maurice Twomey who has been unwell and has had to have time off;
for Sarah Morris, niece of Sylvia Head, who has cancer.‡
Douai Oblate is the Newsletter for the Oblates of Douai Abbey. It is published at Douai Abbey, Upper Woolhampton, Reading, Berks, RG7 5TQ, phone 0118 971 5338, fax 0118 971 5303, e-mail oblate@douaiabbey.org.uk October 29, 2003
Go to Oblates Page : To Douai Oblate June 2003.Douai Abbey Registered Charity No. 236962
19/10/03(GH)
Gervase Holdaway OSB, Douai Abbey, Upper Woolhampton, Reading, Berks. RG7 5TQ