Becoming an Oblate

This morning I woke up feeling refreshed and looking forward to spending the first part of my day at Mount Saviour Monastery. Today is their Dedication Day, when their monastery was first dedicated in the early 1950s. It’s a very important commemoration day in the life of a monastery or church, like a birthday or anniversary.

Some of my family members were present for that initial event in the middle of the last century and were involved with helping the monks as the community grew over the years. As a child and teen here in Elmira, I loved visiting the monastery with my mother. The light-filled chapel in the round with its bell steeple and the beautiful crypt (lower level) with its cool darkness and 13th century statue of Our Lady surrounded by novena candles were more fundamental to my own spirituality than I had realized back then. I still have a book that influenced my love of things mystical and symbolic that I purchased in their gift shop as a tween: The Book of Signs, by Rudolph Koch.

Spring 2016

The community has been active in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue and events since its inception. And the monastery was founded by Fr. Damasus to be truly contemplative, rather than starting and running schools and universities, as many Benedictine communities had come to do. It seems to be one of the few Benedictine monasteries that have kept this charism, apart from Trappist monasteries like the one in Huntsville, UT that was my spiritual home away from home.

Today I was to meet with Brother Gabriel after Mass and celebratory public brunch, to discuss the ins and outs of becoming an Oblate. I wondered what was entailed, and was it right for me? An Oblate is a man or woman living in the world, not in a monastery, but who shares the Benedictine spirituality with a particular monastic community. We had a long talk, covering a lot of ground, and he gave me the names of a couple of Oblate women in town. He mentioned that there is a retreat for Oblates coming up in October, so I asked him if he thought I could become an Oblate before that retreat so that I could go. Not only did he say yes to that, but he offered to make me an Oblate Novice this very day.

I “tested” this against my inner judgment, which is where the Holy Spirit speaks to me, and I found no roadblocks, no warning bells, no stop signs. Just peace and a strumming of quiet joy. And so, around 2:00 this afternoon, I was received as an Oblate Novice at Mount Saviour Monastery, taking as my patron saint Augustine (of Hippo). (He and Therese of Lisieux, my Confirmation saint, have their work cut out for them.)

Monastery church (with Br. Matthew).
Notice bell ropes on the righthand pillar.

It was a very simple ceremony, just the Director of Oblates and myself. Simple, as I’ve noted many times before, seems to be part of my personal charism. I received the Rule of St Benedict and the medal of St Benedict, which I wear now in lieu of the crucifix I’ve worn every day for the last four years. Next year, if I should choose to do so, I will make Final Oblation (which means promise).

How natural this all feels! It’s kind of like eloping after a prolonged engagement. You just wake up and realize “This is it, this is what I’ve been praying for and it’s been in my face all along. Why wait?” From the time I was twelve years old, I’ve loved this monastery, the presence of God so close and so joyful and peaceful. And, you know, it’s in Elmira. Proximity is everything.

I trust in the Lord, for through days darker than any human will ever know, he has never let me go and is bringing me forward into the light so that his will may be done through my life.

Embracing my current state and vocation as a laywoman, I am called to what God calls us all to: holiness. No matter where we are in life, we are being called to be holy and to love as God loves – unconditionally. Our individual lives are expressly unique and precious, created for unique vocations, not cookie cutter versions of how we perceive vocations are supposed to be (whether a nun, a mother, a layman, a priest, a consecrated virgin, etc.).

I give glory to God for having created me, and I thank God for giving me the grace to live this vocation.

St. Benedict, Pray for us.

St. Scholastica, Pray for us.

St. Augustine, Pray for us.