Open the Ears of Your Heart
A special thank you to Amanda Berger who is currently in Oblate Formation at the Monastery. She wrote this article for her own publication, Spiritual Growth and Inspire Magazine published by St. Philip The Deacon Lutheran Church. She has generously shared it for our Monastery Monthly E-newsletter.
It’s possible that it has something to do with my childhood obsessions with Joan of Arc or The Sound of Music. Or in the curiosity aroused in college when I first read the spiritual memoir of author Kathleen Norris, The Cloister Walk, where she writes about her extended stays at St. John’s Monastery in Collegeville, Minnesota. Or perhaps it was more recent. Recognizing a kindred spirit in St. Benedict as I read books on faith formation and spiritual disciplines for my spiritual direction certification class.
It could have been in any of those moments that God first planted the seed. But it was in my first visit to St. Paul’s Monastery last winter that the idea of becoming a Benedictine oblate (pronounced aah-blate) began to seem like a possibility and something that I truly desired. Oblate, which comes from the Latin word oblatus, means “one offered up.”
An oblate is an associate of a monastic community, who agrees to integrate practices and commitments of the monastic community within their daily life. Oblates do not take the same vows as monks and nuns; they are both male and female, married with family or single, and can be from any Christian background. And while there are oblates in many monastic traditions, those of the Benedictine tradition are often the most familiar (due to authors, artists and activists who were oblates—people like Kathleen Norris, Dorothy Day and Rumer Godden—among others).
St. Benedict of Nursia founded the Benedictine Order in 529 A.D. Benedict’s Rule, or way of living in relationship with God, the community and the world, has been used for over 15 centuries and people continue to find relevance and guidance from it. I certainly found that to be true as I began to read the Rule and could see immediately its wisdom for balancing my own spiritual life, vocation, family and rest.
The thing that appeals to me most about Benedictine spiritual practices? Benedict was deeply committed to a way of moderation. The rule is neither too strict nor ascetic but favors simplicity. The highest priorities are the health of the community and the support of individual spiritual growth. I also deeply appreciate the Benedictine vows of stability (commitment to the people and community for life), faithfulness (a commitment to monastic values and the willingness to allow Christ to transform one’s life) and obedience (listening for God’s leading in all things.)
I have only just begun the process of oblate formation. Over the next year, I will be guided by the community at St. Paul’s Monastery as I learn about how to integrate Benedict’s Rule more fully into my own life. At the end of that formation process, I will then be invited to make a promise to the community to continue living by the rule and commitment to involvement in the community—serving and worshipping alongside the St. Paul’s Monastery community.
What might that look like? Alongside the commitment to incorporating Benedictine values and practices into my home life, it might also look like: serving on the spiritual direction team at the monastery, participating in regular retreats and classes with the oblate community, or it might look like dinner and bingo night with the nuns. The only thing it certainly means is a promise to be a part of the community in some way.
As I continue to learn more about Benedictine spirituality, it occurs to me that I have been living by some of their tenets for years already. I firmly believe in stability—I have been committed to St. Philip the Deacon for 18 years (and counting!), whether in peaceful, exciting seasons or seasons of challenge. Attentiveness to God’s leading and presence in the world has long been my definition of our purpose in the world. And a willingness to be transformed by the person of Jesus is not something that I ever considered as optional.
If you are curious about the Benedictine Rule, I highly recommend Joan Chittister’s The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century. Written like a daily devotional, Chittister presents a section of the Rule, then offers her own commentary as a Benedictine nun on its relevance for modern life.