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Douai
Oblate
November 2004
No 23
From the Oblate DirectorRome Forum 2005
THE gathering of oblate representatives from all over the world is planned to take place in Rome from September 19 to 25. There will be 300 places in total. One place has been alotted for each monastery which responded to the questionnaire the organisers sent out last year. The fairest way to decide who is to go seems to be by ballot. So, would anyone who would like to go please let Simon Bryden Brook know before December 31. A ballot will then take place. The cost will be 650 euros which will include accommodation. We would ask all our oblates to contribute towards the fare and cost of accommodation of the one who is chosen, since that person represents all of us and it would be very unfair if someone were prevented from going because of cost. Whoever goes, of course, will be expected to report back to the rest of us. There is a web site giving full details: Oblates World Congess.Oblates Handbook
Canterbury Press are going to publish a Benedictine Oblates Handbook in conjunction with Liturgical Press, Minnesota. The book is intended to be a useful and informative tool for oblates and people interested in becoming oblates. It is planned that the majority of articles shall be by oblates, so contributions are required. If you have a idea you would like to write about or would like to see written about please let me know. Do not actually write the article yet, just submit the idea, since it will be necessary to make sure several people do not write about the same topic while other important matters are not covered at all. We do need your input. and support. It is hoped that the book will appear during 2006.Oblate Day, July 9
As you will see from the article on page 2, we are planning to hold an Oblates Day at Douai on Saturday July 9. It was felt that as our numbers are growing and with chapters in Norfolk and Warwickshire as well as holding midweek and weekend retreats at Douai, there are many oblates who never meet each other. In order to rectify this an Oblates Day was proposed so that as many as possible would come to Douai, in order to get to know one another.Retreats
Fr Francis, the associate oblate director led the two October retreats on the subject of, obedience and authority, and how it applies to the life of oblates, living outside the wall of a monastery.Oblations
At conventual Mass on Saturday July 10, Fr Abbot received the final oblations of Anna Charles who took the name Hilda, Pamela Young who took Gertrude and Fr Derek Vidler who took Theodore.
On Saturday October 2, Fr Abbot received the final oblation of Sylvia Head.Silver Jubilee
On June 29, the feast of Ss Peter and Paul, Oblate Ron O'Toole celebrated the silver jubilee of his ordination to the diaconate in the parish church of Our Lady of Refuge, Cromer, where he is deacon. The bishop of East Anglia, Michael Evans, was principal celebrant at the Mass. Most of the Julian chapter were present as well as Fr Gervase and Katherine Ryan who represented the wider oblate community. The parish priest Fr Brown welcomed everyone and the parishioners provided a fine buffet supper.Statistics
There are now 24,155 Benedictine oblates, worldwide, according to the questionnaire filled in for the Oblates Congress.Prayers
Please pray for Mavis, mother of Ali Wrigley who is dying, for Allen Jagiello who is to face exploratory surgery, for Mia, granddaughter of Joy Nye who is still critically ill, and for June Bartlett who may have to have an operation. ‡
Oblate Day 2005An item for your diaries!
As the number of oblates is growing it has been decided to select a day for all Douai oblates to get together and become better acquainted with each other. This will be on Saturday, July 9, 2005 at Douai Abbey and run in conjunction with the July Oblate weekend retreat.
As a number of oblates will be attending just for the Saturday, most of the specific Oblate Day activities will be arranged to occur on that day.
Of course oblates will be free to make arrangements to come earlier and/or leave later and thus be able to take part in the usual activities of the retreat taking place from Friday supper to Sunday lunch. Those wishing to extend their stay will need to make arrangements with Fr Gervase in the usual manner so that bookings can be confirmed and appropriate arrangements made.
In order to provide an opportunity for as many oblates as possible to attend, we are asking if those oblates who live close to Douai Abbey would be willing to provide accommodation for one or two nights for those who live further away. If you are able to help with accommodation please contact Zina Neagle who is compiling a list: zinaneagle@hotmail.com
In addition we have reserved the cottage and those who don't mind the more spartan conditions can stay there, self-catering.
The timetable for the day is currently being drawn up and once it is finalised it will be made available to you.
Many have requested that there should be plenty of opportunities for socialising and getting to know other oblates during the day. We are proposing to have a group photograph.
To encourage interaction, we are proposing to have a shared picnic lunch on the Saturday and are asking everyone to bring sufficient food for themselves and some extra to share with others.
As the cottage has been reserved, if the weather is kind to us we can all eat together outside in the cottage garden, otherwise we shall be able to eat indoors.
A paper has been prepared for presentation on the day which we hope will prompt discussion among us concerning how we individually arrived at becoming a Benedictine Oblate.
We will produce an A5-size handout for presentation to all attendees on arrival which will contain the programme of events.
Should you wish to comment or contact any member of the committee please feel free to do so.
We look forward to meeting you all.
Peace and good wishes,Jim O'Mara tel: 023 8026 9732 email james.omara@virgin.net
Mary Macauley tel: 01488 683134 email m-macauley@newbury-college.ac.uk
Simon Bryden Brook tel: 0207 235 2841 email brydenbrook@talk21.com
Zina Neagle email zinaneagle@hotmail.com
Ron O'Toole tel: 01263 512263 ronotoole@aol.com ‡
Recommended Book
A Good Life, Benedict's Guide to Everyday Joy by Robert Benson
Paraclete Press, Brewster, Massachusetts. £9.95IT is amazing how many new books appear about Benedictine spirituality, and how many of them come from people in the Protestant tradition. Robert Benson is an alumnus of the United Methodist Church's Academy for Spiritual Formation, a retreat leader and conference speaker who comes from Nashville, Tennessee. He uses Benedict as the basis for his retreat giving.
This book would be ideal both for someone who is coming to Benedict for the first time, a would-be oblate maybe, and for those of us who have known Benedict for years since there are fresh insights . The approach is unsophisticated and simple. The author starts from Benedict's basic approach, balance, "...we are going to look at the way that we balance our prayer and our work and our rest and our relationships".
The reason Benedict is as needed now as in any previous age is explained, "...it is clear that with the noise and the pace and the demands of life in the information age-if that is still the name for the age in which we are living-the struggle to balance all of these things becomes more and more difficult, and more and more necessary". A healthy life needs balance and Benedict shows us how to attain that.
The titles of the chapters show how the author has understood this essential feature of Benedict's teaching, Longing, Prayer, Rest, Community, Work, Living. Each chapter opens with a lengthy quotation from the Rule, and then the author shows us how Benedict has an antidote to many of the problems that beset the contemporary world. For instance the chapter on Community points out that 'all who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ' especially the poor, the sick, the needy, so our community must include 'the person next door, who fell on her steps, the sixteen year old whose father is a crack dealer, the young girl who cannot find a friend'.
In the modern age, work takes on an inflated sense of its importance. Our work is to be done in moderation, it is not the centre of the universe, but is a service and must not get out of balance. So we need Benedict to remind us to 'cultivate silence'. We need time off for silence and rest, before returning to the life of work and community and prayer that has been given to us.
In a busy life it is prayer that usually gets diminished. The author warns of the dangers stemming from this, "...the bells are calling is all, and that echo we hear within is the sound of our longing to be with God".
There is just one point on which I cannot quite agree with the author. He says that if you don't take vows you can't live under the Rule, just influenced by it, however I think oblates would disagree, albeit not in vows, they live under the rule in so far as they can. This however is a small quibble in a book I heartedly recommend. ‡
Two Benedictine Saints
1. St Benet Biscop 628-689
feast day January 12BISCOP Baducing was the son of a noble family in Northumbria who served at the court of King Oswiu, until 653. He made a couple of pilgrimages to Rome and on the return journey from the second, he became a monk at Lerins off the south coast of France, taking the name Benedict. While visiting Rome for a third time he met Theodore who had just been appointed Archbishop of Canterbury and returned to England with him, becoming abbot of St Augustine's, Canterbury.
He wanted to make his own foundation in Northumbria: in 674 King Egfrith gave him land to found a monastery at Wearmouth. He employed Frankish masons to build a Romanesque church, and he also imported various craftsmen including glass makers, who not only worked on the church, but also taught their crafts to local Northumbrians. Books were also imported and Biscop drew up a rule based on that of St Benedict, together with the customs of the many monasteries he had visited on his travels.
In 679 he made his fifth visit to Rome, and brought back to Wearmouth the arch cantor of St Peter's Rome to teach the Roman chant to the community, and the abbot of St Martin's to teach the Roman liturgy and uncial script. As well as books he also brought liturgical texts, relics and paintings to adorn the church. The monastery was put under the special protection of the Bishop of Rome.
In 682 King Egfrith provided some more land to make a foundation at Jarrow, to which Benet sent twenty-two monks with Ceolfrith as abbot. As he grew old he delegated the rule of Wearmouth to others and when he was approaching death he addressed the community telling them to elect an abbot for the worthiness of his life and not for his family connections, and he asked them to maintain his library. The community duly obeyed and elected Ceolfrith as their second abbot, and the library enabled St Bede to achieve his great work. The script and iconography he introduced at Wearmouth enabled England to produce work that was the equal of the best continental efforts. ‡
2. St Benedict of Aniane 750-821
feast day February 11BENEDICT, the son of a noble family, served at the court of emperors Pepin and Charlemagne. In 770 became a monk at Saint-Seine near Dijon, before becoming a hermit on his family estate, by the river Aniane, in order to live a more austere life. He was joined by other hermits, all engaged in field and copying work, so effectively forming a community.
Monasteries in the empire had fallen into disarray, since they had suffered from lay ownership, as well as from invaders. The emperor, Louis the Pius, wished to reform the monasteries and he invited Benedict to do this, for which purpose a council was held at Aachen in 817. Benedict was by then abbot of the monastery now called Cornelimunster, which still exists today. The aim was to establish the Rule of St Benedict in all monasteries in the empire and to ensure that only monks were to be allowed to be abbots.
A certain uniformity was imposed on the monasteries, though it was by no means absolute. Benedict stressed the importance of the liturgy and tried to insist on daily conventual Mass and the use of the Roman rite, as well as adding other accretions to the office. He stressed the clerical element and preferred writing and teaching to manual work.. His reforms were written up in the Capitula of Aachen, and his work prepared the way for later reforms in 10th century England under Ss Dunstan and Ethelwold and for the work of Cluny in France.
Like St Benet Biscop in Northumberland a century earlier, he paved the way for teaching and scholarship in monastic communities, which were to become centres of art and learning and which were to build great Romanesque churches. Like his mentor, St Benedict, Benedict of Aniane had given up the eremitical life to lead the more balanced community life of a monastery.‡
RetreatsThe Abbot President has decided to hold the visitation of the monastery the week beginning May 8, so we have had to change the dates of the May retreat to May 3 - 5.
The dates of future retreats are:
20042005
- Tu 7 - Th 9 Dec.
- Fr 10 - Su 12 Dec.
2006
- Fr 8 - Su 10 Apr.
- Tu 3 - Th 5 May
- Fr 8 - Su 10 July
- Fr 30 Sept - Su 2 Oct
- Tu 25 - Th 27 Oct
- Fr 9 - Su 11 Dec
- Mo 12 - We 14 Dec
- Fr 7 - Su 9 Apr
- Tu 30 May - Th 1 June
- Fr 7 - Su 9 July
- Fr 29 Sept - Su 1 Oct
- Tu 24 - Th 26 Oct
- Fr 8 - Su 10 Dec ‡
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 November 5, 2004
Go to Oblates Page : To Douai Oblate June 2004.Douai Abbey Registered Charity No. 236962
06/11/04(GH)
Gervase Holdaway OSB, Douai Abbey, Upper Woolhampton, Reading, Berks. RG7 5TQ