Books we like and recommend:
How to be a Monastic and Not Leave Your Day Job: An Invitation to Oblate Life (2006)
by Brother Benet Tvedten, a monk and Oblate Director at Blue Cloud Abbey in South Dakota (now closed)
The rising number of oblates today are ordinary lay people from various Christian traditions who are linked together by common appreciation for God and the Rule of St. Benedict. Originally written for monks, the principles in the Rule (a 6th Century document) may be applied by the rest of us so that in today’s hectic, changing world, being an oblate offers a rich spiritual connection to the stability and wisdom of monastic life. This easy-to-read guide explains how people who live and work in "the world" are still invited to balance work with prayer, cultivate interdependence with others, practice hospitality, and otherwise practice their spirituality just like monks and sisters.
Benedictine values include rhythms of prayer and work, humility, concern for peace and justice and hospitality. Tvedten explores these and offers commentary on the rule using examples from the lives of oblates he knows. He emphasizes how the Benedictine way represents a whole different way of being in the world. Our way, he explains, is finding God in seeking and embracing our daily routines. Brother Benet also offers explanations that help make The Rule of Benedict (written for beginners like us!) more understandable (i.e. Benedict’s prohibition on laughter is explained as a prohibition on mockery and buffoonery).
His final section explores the calling of oblates, their commitment to the rule and to the values of conversion (turning from your former way), and stability (commitment to a particular monastery); guidelines for oblates and the value they bring to the wider monastic community, the church and the world. These last 11 points help extend St Benedict’s generosity in giving us the Rule to anyone who feels the calling to a deeper purpose and spirituality.
Part 1: St Benedict and Benedictine Spirituality
What is Benedictine Spirituality?
Seeking and Finding God Today and Every Day
“Running” According to the Rule
Part 2: Benedictine Values for Daily Living
Climbing the Ladder
Benedictine Ways of Behaving
Peace and Justice
Hospitality
Part 3: Being an Oblate
Origins of the Oblates
The Calling to Oblation
Conversion and Stability
Five Simple Guidelines for Oblates
The Value of Oblates to a Monastic Community (11 points)
In short, the life of an oblate is a life of prayer, holy reading (Lectio Divina), a life of work and a life of relationships. From the Rule: “Do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord; let us prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may he bring us all together to everlasting life; that in all things God may be glorified.”
by Brother Benet Tvedten, a monk and Oblate Director at Blue Cloud Abbey in South Dakota (now closed)
The rising number of oblates today are ordinary lay people from various Christian traditions who are linked together by common appreciation for God and the Rule of St. Benedict. Originally written for monks, the principles in the Rule (a 6th Century document) may be applied by the rest of us so that in today’s hectic, changing world, being an oblate offers a rich spiritual connection to the stability and wisdom of monastic life. This easy-to-read guide explains how people who live and work in "the world" are still invited to balance work with prayer, cultivate interdependence with others, practice hospitality, and otherwise practice their spirituality just like monks and sisters.
Benedictine values include rhythms of prayer and work, humility, concern for peace and justice and hospitality. Tvedten explores these and offers commentary on the rule using examples from the lives of oblates he knows. He emphasizes how the Benedictine way represents a whole different way of being in the world. Our way, he explains, is finding God in seeking and embracing our daily routines. Brother Benet also offers explanations that help make The Rule of Benedict (written for beginners like us!) more understandable (i.e. Benedict’s prohibition on laughter is explained as a prohibition on mockery and buffoonery).
His final section explores the calling of oblates, their commitment to the rule and to the values of conversion (turning from your former way), and stability (commitment to a particular monastery); guidelines for oblates and the value they bring to the wider monastic community, the church and the world. These last 11 points help extend St Benedict’s generosity in giving us the Rule to anyone who feels the calling to a deeper purpose and spirituality.
Part 1: St Benedict and Benedictine Spirituality
What is Benedictine Spirituality?
Seeking and Finding God Today and Every Day
“Running” According to the Rule
Part 2: Benedictine Values for Daily Living
Climbing the Ladder
Benedictine Ways of Behaving
Peace and Justice
Hospitality
Part 3: Being an Oblate
Origins of the Oblates
The Calling to Oblation
Conversion and Stability
Five Simple Guidelines for Oblates
The Value of Oblates to a Monastic Community (11 points)
In short, the life of an oblate is a life of prayer, holy reading (Lectio Divina), a life of work and a life of relationships. From the Rule: “Do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord; let us prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may he bring us all together to everlasting life; that in all things God may be glorified.”
Are you looking for a really good read with a Benedictine flavor?
Penelope Wilcock has written a series of historical fiction that centers around a Benedictine Monastery in medieval England. Beginning with The Hawk and the Dove (Trilogy of the first three books) Wilcock invites us into the life of the very human monks of St. Alcuin’s Abbey. Her skill at capturing the wisdom and lived experience of the 1500 year old Rule of St. Benedict and weaving it into the most common of human joys and struggles makes for a truly inspirational read. Of her own work, Wilcock says, “I love simple human kindness and gentleness, and I am moved by human vulnerability. I am fascinated by the power that is within our grasp to lift one another up, to heal and strengthen and encourage each other - our power to bless. The Trilogy is followed by six other volumes, leading the reader further into the dailiness of monastic common life, which truly is an immersion in the human experience.
These books have a universal appeal, and hardly stay on our library shelves. Each in its own right has the power to challenge and inspire; to move the reader to desire to be his or her best self. They are a great read; you will not be disappointed!
(Kathy McNany, OSB)
Penelope Wilcock has written a series of historical fiction that centers around a Benedictine Monastery in medieval England. Beginning with The Hawk and the Dove (Trilogy of the first three books) Wilcock invites us into the life of the very human monks of St. Alcuin’s Abbey. Her skill at capturing the wisdom and lived experience of the 1500 year old Rule of St. Benedict and weaving it into the most common of human joys and struggles makes for a truly inspirational read. Of her own work, Wilcock says, “I love simple human kindness and gentleness, and I am moved by human vulnerability. I am fascinated by the power that is within our grasp to lift one another up, to heal and strengthen and encourage each other - our power to bless. The Trilogy is followed by six other volumes, leading the reader further into the dailiness of monastic common life, which truly is an immersion in the human experience.
These books have a universal appeal, and hardly stay on our library shelves. Each in its own right has the power to challenge and inspire; to move the reader to desire to be his or her best self. They are a great read; you will not be disappointed!
(Kathy McNany, OSB)