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From the Oblate Director

IN our last issue we were looking forward to a visit from Kathleen Norris; unfortunately she was unable to come, as her husband is ill with cancer, and she felt she should remain with him. Please remember them both in prayer. However, her book, The Cloister Walk has been published in this country by Lion and is now available in the Abbey Bookshop price £16.99. It is highly recommended to all oblates and indeed anyone wishing to acquire a deeper understanding of Benedictine spirituality, and its special relevance for people today.

We welcome two people who have become Oblate novices at a distance. Tess Vaughan was received on Lady Day, March 25, by Fr Romuald Simpson OSB in our parish of Stratford-upon-Avon where she has been sacristan for many years. Jaakko Baskmakov became an oblate novice on May 15 at the Orthodox church of St Nicholaos and St Alexsander Nevsky in Tampere, Finland. He keeps in touch with us by e-mail having learned about us from our web site.

At Douai, we held another Oblates' Day on Sunday May 9. Only three people came, and we agreed together that longer visits were to be preferred for a retreat, so we shall discontinue the single days, at least for the time being. Our next retreat is scheduled from Monday July 5 till Thursday July 8. We know that mid week is not suitable for many of you who have to work, but there are some people who cannot come at weekends, priests in parochial ministry for instance, and some who have family commitments at week ends. So it seems right to hold at least one retreat a year during the week. The next weekend retreat is scheduled for Friday December 3 to Sunday December 5.
Next year the first weekend retreat will be April 7 to 9. Please let us know if you are able to come.

On page 4 there is a delightful article by Christopher Briscoe. If anyone else has a contribution to offer, I would be delighted to consider it for inclusion in a future edition of Douai Oblate.

I do commend to you again the Oblates Forum on the internet. There are some important conversations taking place there on matters relevant to oblates, and it would be good to see some of our oblates taking part. The address is

Please pray for the father of Linda Pollard who died in May, also for Ron Power, father of Fr Edmund, and Doris Simpson, mother of Fr Romuald who both died on the same day in April.

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Hospitality: Prism of the 21st Century

“All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: 'I was a stranger and you welcomed me'.” St Benedict's Rule. 53:1 HOSPITALITY was the subject for the Convention of the American Benedictine Academy held at St Vincent's Archabbey from August 9 to 12, 1998, the proceedings of which have recently been published in one volume together with the pre-convention papers. Hospitality is central to St Benedict's Rule, and that aspect of the Rule more than any other is thought to be crucial for monastics in the new century. That, of course, includes oblates; indeed several of the pre-convention papers are by oblates.

Several authors and speakers pointed out the contrast between St Benedict's approach to guests and that of the Rule of the Master, which St Benedict used as a source. It is constructive to notice the passages from the Master which St Benedict omitted. The Master was generally suspicious of guests; they were tolerated rather than welcomed. Their reception was more of an obligation than a gracious welcome, perhaps reflecting a desert situation where not to receive a traveller could lead to his death. Benedict however reflects an older desert tradition found in the Rule of Macarius and Cassian where all are welcomed with kindness. Guests are never lacking in a monastery, Benedict tells us. They are to be welcomed as Christ. The monk is to see Christ in the guest and the guest is to find Christ in the monastic host. Hospitality is a two way thing; each is Christ to the other.

Special arrangements are to be made for guests. For instance, there is to be a special kitchen, since they do not necessarily arrive at scheduled meal times, but need food at odd times. The abbot is to break his fast to eat with guests, that is to say, normal monastic discipline is to be relaxed for the sake of hospitality. It is ungracious to offer a guests a meal without sharing it with them. Two monks are assigned to look after this kitchen and another is to be responsible for looking after the guests. Sufficient beds and bedding are to be kept ready. The Master also allots two monks to be responsible for guests, but his major concern is to keep watch on them lest they steal the monks' property! Moreover he does not allow guests to stay more than two days unless they are prepared to work for their living. All these points St Benedict carefully omits. For him guests are to be shown every kindness and are to be cared for, especially if they are poor or pilgrims. When guests arrive their feet are to be washed. Washing feet was the first mark of courtesy in ancient times, when people wore sandals and roads were hot and dusty. Foot washing was done by the lowest of servants; it was considered a necessary menial task, but St Benedict directs that the abbot and all the community are to wash guests' feet, using Christ at the Last Supper as model. However we can't just copy old customs in modern life. If all guests had their feet washed on arrival nowadays, they would be highly embarrassed and think monastics eccentric beyond measure. It would be neither courteous nor kind. We have to find a modern day equivalent form to show the warmth and genuineness of our welcome. St Benedict also directs that the monks are to pray with guests. We have to welcome people consciously in the name of Christ. Guests are always invited to share in the monastic prayer with the community. This is really fundamental to a monastic welcome. Indeed there are visitors who come to the monastery specifically to share in the monastic prayer.

St Benedict states that those monastics not directly concerned with the welcome of guests are not to talk with guests. If addressed they are to greet the guest and explain that they are not permitted to talk to guests. What lies behind this? Two points are made; firstly, guests although welcome are not to disrupt or take over the monastery, and secondly, guests have to be protected from disgruntled or bored monks who will regale and disedify them with their personal woes and hang-ups.

Guests come to monasteries, like the monks themselves, to find God. They seek peace and quiet and prayer. If, however the community did not preserve its own inner space, it would be swamped by guests, and the very thing guests come for would be destroyed. So boundaries need to be established for the sake of the monks and the guests.

Although ostensibly guests come for a variety of reasons, at root they come to find and experience God. Some stay a half hour to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, celebrate Eucharist, or pay a visit to a friend. Others come for a day or two, or a week. Some come and stay for life. Each person must be respected for whatever reasons he/she comes. They come to find peace or some sort of balance for their life. They come to be nourished or be enriched in mind or spirit. For whatever reasons they come, or for whatever length of time they come, they need to be able to be received as Christ, to be honoured and cherished, and find a haven that overflows with 'an inexpressible delight of love' (Prol 49)” Elaine Schroeder OSB Monastic Hospitality: Welcome to the House of God.

Oblates share in monastic hospitality, and it is something they take into their own lives, so that their homes are places of hospitality, and they carry that welcoming spirit of Benedict wherever they go, finding Christ in whomsoever they meet, and being Christ to those people.

Copies of 'Hospitality: Prism for the 21st Century' can be purchased for $15.00, cheques payable to 'American Benedictine Academy' from Renée Branigan OSB, Subiaco Manor, 2441 10th Ave. W. #10, Dickinson, ND 58601, USA

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Three Tenth Century English Benedictine Saints: Dunstan, Ethelwold & Oswald

WE keep the feast of these three great English Benedictine bishops on May 19. They were undoubtedly the most important ecclesiastics of the tenth century, being responsible not only for the re-establishment of Benedictine monasticism in England, but also for the reform of the English church. Their achievement lasted at least until the Reformation in the sixteenth century.

St Dunstan

Dunstan 909 - 988 was born near Glastonbury. His uncle, Athelm, was archbishop of Canterbury, so it was quite to be expected that the young lad should become part of the episcopal household, later moving on to that of King Athelstan, whence he was expelled, accused of studying pagan poetry and being a magician. He then became a hermit, living near Glastonbury, and developing skills as a painter, embroiderer and metal worker. He was ordained priest, and was appointed by the next king, Edmund, to be abbot of Glastonbury and restore the monastery, which he did, introducing the Rule of St Benedict in 940. After Edmund's death he was exiled by King Edwy to Ghent where he experienced at first hand reformed continental monasticism. The next king, Edgar, recalled him and made him bishop first of Worcester in 957, then of London in 959, and finally, Archbishop of Canterbury in 960. As archbishop, with the king's help, he was able to reform the church in England, largely using Benedictines for the purpose. His two friends, Ethelwold and Oswald were made bishops.

Dunstan died on May 19, 988 at Canterbury. His cult developed rapidly, and although it went into decline at the Norman Conquest, it was firmly re-established by St Anselm. St Dunstan is the patron of goldsmiths, jewellers and locksmiths. There is also a strong tradition that he was a musician, and the only piece in the Kyriale that is known to be of English origin, the Kyrie of Mass VII, is said to be by him.

St Ethelwold

St Ethelwold, c912 - 984 was born in Winchester. He too joined the court of King Athelstan, and was ordained priest on the same day as Dunstan. He joined Dunstan at Glastonbury, where he became prior. He wanted to go to France to experience the reforms of Cluny at first hand, but King Edred sent him to restore the abbey of Abingdon, for which he used monks from Glastonbury. So he sent another monk, Osgar, to study at Fleury. In 963 Ethelwold was made Bishop of Winchester, the principal city of Wessex, where the king had his palace. At Winchester he replaced the cathedral chapter of canons with Benedictine monks, which made Winchester the model for that particular English phenomenon, the monastic cathedral. With royal support he restored several former monasteries and founded new ones at Peterborough, Ely and Thorney. He was a versatile worker, having been cook at Glastonbury, a builder at Abingdon, and was responsible for building the largest organ in England at the time in Winchester, which had 400 pipes and 36 bellows and required two monks to play it. He was also responsible for bells and metal work in his monasteries as well as introducing a new style of manuscript illumination, which surpassed the work of continental scribes. His monastery at Winchester established a school of vernacular writing, as well as creating the first English polyphony in the Winchester Troper The Regularis Concordia, probably composed by Ethelwold himself, and based on the best practices of Ghent, Fleury and Glastonbury became the rule for the thirty reformed monasteries in the south of England. Ethelwold was also responsible for a translation of the Rule of St Benedict into Old English.

St Oswald

St Oswald was a more cosmopolitan figure than his two friends. He came of a Danish family and was educated at Fleury-sur-Loire in France. Two of his relatives were archbishops, Oda at Canterbury and Oskytel at York. On Oswald's return from Fleury, he had already been ordained priest and Dunstan recommended King Edgar to make him Bishop of Worcester in 961. In 969 he established a monastic chapter of Benedictines, which gradually replaced the canons. Oswald founded several monasteries including Westbury-on-Trym near Bristol and Ramsey, from which Pershore and Evesham were founded. As well as being bishop of Worcester the king appointed him Archbishop of York, and he ran both dioceses satisfactorily at the same time.

After the death of King Edgar there arose an anti-monastic movement in the country, led by local magnates who resented the increase in monastic property and power, and some of the new foundations were dispersed for a time. Ramsey, however, continued untroubled, and Oswald spent some time there each year. Each day of Lent, Oswald washed the feet of twelve poor men, and it was after completing that task on February 28, 992 at Worcester, his favourite cathedral, that he died.

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These three great Benedictine bishops had a tremendous effect on the church in England, in restoring Benedictine monasticism after it had been destroyed by invaders, and in reforming church life, quite apart from their cultural achievements. Three quarters of the Bishops in the century before the Norman Conquest were monks from the restored monasteries.Their influence survived even the Norman Conquest. 

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A Bluebell Wood at Easter
by Christopher George Briscoe OblSB

ON first entering an old wood, long known and cherished, but not visited for some years I was saddened to see so many fine trees lying prostrate or propped at uncomfortable angles against those still standing. Sad too, to see around the periphery, much ugly detritus of human waste and carelessness. I remember long ago when the ash and birch and hazel from these woods were regularly harvested and the trees felled and coppiced before storms brought them to an timely end. Today we denude foreign forests of irreplaceable timber while we allow our own woods to rot and decay. As you go further into the wood the impression changes. True there is death and decay all around, but the spring sunlight falls on millions of tender green shoots and blades and minute new unfolding leaves. Everywhere the fallen giants of yesterday are being replaced with vigorous new growth. The whole vast underfloor is a carpet of softest green now, but soon after Easter it will blaze into a miracle of shimmering blue from rim to rim of that wide and deep and hidden valley.

At the very bottom a little brook trills and meanders between old roots and boulders. By the perpetual miracle of evaporation and precipitation the stream is forever renewed and some particles of those myriad atoms may well have been blown here from Jordan or Nile. The little stream is of one element with every river that has ever flowed, even with the saving waters of Baptism. In places the tiny stream gurgles, rejoicing as it tumbles over stones and pebbles, which it has smoothed and polished until they gleam and sparkle like multi-coloured jewels.The stones sometimes break the surface into quilting that looks impossibly regular, sewn by some unseen embroiderer into a marvel of symmetrical shining beauty. Another patch may be rucked or smocked or gathered, but quieter stretches collect the silt and mud, unappealing when looked at directly. Yet it is these tranquil stretches that reflect the glorious sunlit sky above, filtered and laced by the young foliage and branches that arch across above. It is a mathematical certainty that as many gallons of the life-giving water pass through those seemingly still limpid mirrors as boil and rush over the rapids just above or below.

The death and decay are a meditation in themselves. A huge old birch may lie prostrate with gleaming silver skin still as silky smooth to touch as in its youth. Yet the wood inside is now all rotted away almost to powder. On some boles, mosses and ferns and parasites feed and a few years hence the unremembered grave of a once mighty tree will be a smooth part of the valley floor, no different from any other. Others still stand, but defaced and distorted by monstrous cancerous or parasitic growths. No man has ever planted here. There are no rows or firebreaks or regimented trees of a single species. It is all jumbled, irregular, dappled, incredibly ancient yet incredibly alive. Overhead there is a symphony of birdsong, though the singers are seldom seen by ageing astigmatic eyes. All round are rabbits and insects while underground there are the vast complex holts of badger and earths of fox and thousands of worms replenishing the soil.

Only a tithe of the rain that falls on the valley ever finds its way down to that little brook. Much is sucked in greedily by the leaves as it falls. Much more finds its way into deep aquifers that eventually feed great towns. More again is sucked up by thirsty roots and some finds its way to dark sinister looking bogs. In all this there seemed to lie a parable. The first stirrings of life and consciousness arose in the primaeval ooze. Water, God's most precious gift, was as necessary to the birth of Life as it is for our own rebirth in Christ. God's ever proffered gift of grace and redemption polishes only a few of the saints who glitter like the primaeval ooze. But the saving water flows past all alike and even the dull and undifferentiated mass reflects the glory of creation like that little stream.

Every human body carries within it the seeds of its own destruction and to dust we all surely return. Yet amidst all there is always new life bursting forth and always the promise of resurrection and paradise. Always the hope of rebirth.

Christopher was moved to write this piece after his last visit to Douai, and sent it to us in response to the article in the Douai Abbey Newsletter on new growth in the monastic community. Please continue to pray for vocations to the community.

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Please let us know if you are able to come to the retreats July 5 to 8 and December 3 to 5. Early booking is helpful.ž

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Douai Oblate published at Douai Abbey 31.05.99

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