SAINT BENEDICT AND AN ANGLICAN SECRET
It was a former Archbishop of Canterbury who
referred to our religious communities as ‘the best
kept secret’ of the Anglican Church. If this is
indeed the case, then oblates of these religious
communities must be a mystery indeed.
Ellis Peters introduces us to an ill fated oblate,
Eleric, in The Rose Rent, one of her earliest Cadfael Chronicles.
Eleric was an oblate of the Benedictine Monastery of Shrewsbury.
As was the custom of Benedictine houses in the early Middle Ages,
Eleric would have been placed in the care of the monastery as a
child while he grew up. This practise, however, was gradually
abandoned but the place of the oblate remained. It was taken up
by laity who chose to live at a monastery or in close association
with it but who did not take full religious vows.
In more recent years, with the resurgence of religious communities
in the Anglican Church and more especially those whose lives are
based on the Rule of Saint Benedict, laity and clergy are able after
due process and discernment to become spiritually affiliated to
certain monastic communities as oblates. Each monastic house that
encourages oblates has its own way of nurturing this affiliation.
I became a Benedictine Oblate in 1982
becoming spiritually affiliated to the
Monastery of Our Lady and Saint John,
better known as Alton Abbey. As an
oblate, when I visit the monastery I
become one of the family, having a
place in quire with the monks at the
daily offices and eucharist, but also
being able to join the monks in their
common room as well if I wish. No
doubt there are some reading this wondering what relevance Saint
Benedict has for a parish priest like myself or, for that matter,
laypeople, because oblates are by no means all clergy.
It was Esther de Waal’s book Seeking after God that opened our
eyes to the vision of Saint Benedict who’s wise Rule is accessible
and meaningful to those of us beyond the monastery walls. Unlike
the vows of ‘Poverty, Chastity and Obedience’ – all of which are
difficult to translate into ordinary life. The Benedictine promises
‘Obedience, Stability and Conversion of Life.’ These are perhaps
more easily translatable into daily life and they under-gird my own
daily spiritual life and the lives of countless oblates around the
world.
It was during my sabbatical early in 2003
that I began to more fully appreciate my
relationship with the monks of Alton
Abbey. I had decided to explore the story
of the Raising of Lazarus and as part of
this exploration embarked on the painting
of an icon under the tutelage of Dom
Anselm Shobrook. He painted the Abbey’s
icon of Our Lady and Saint John which
gives you some idea of his gifts. The
abbot, Fr. Giles, graciously allowed me to
stay in the enclosure of the monastery in
what had been Fr. Peter’s room (may he
rest in peace) and it was there that I painted the icon of the
Awakening of Lazarus which hangs in the parish church of Saint
John’s, Merrow. During my visits over that period of three months I
truly began to realise that I have an extended family of loving and
caring brothers.
I regularly meet oblates from my own monastery, but more recently
I have begun to get to know oblates from other monasteries both
Anglican and Roman Catholic. In fact I was very pleased to learn
that denominationalism isn’t a characteristic of Benedictine
hospitality as there are many Anglican oblates of RC communities
(though I have to say I don’t know of any RC oblates of Anglican
orders!).
Believe it or not, the Anglican Church has nine Benedictine
communities in England and from those who have oblates, three of
us had the great privilege of be travelling to Rome in September of
2005. We are oblates of the abbeys of Elmore (formerly Nashdom);
West Malling and, of course, Alton. Together with around 300
oblates from around the world we
attended the First World Congress
of Oblates from Monday 19th to
Sunday 24th. The theme of the
Congress was ‘Communion with
God and with the world’ inspired
by the vision of Saint Benedict in
which, according to his own
description the whole world was
gathered up before his eyes "in
what appeared to be a single ray of
light.” This motif was emblazoned
everywhere at the congress in a painting by Concetta Sinopoli.
Details of the papers and itinerary can be found on the Congress
Website: http://www.oblatesworldcongress.com/
Our week involved the daily Liturgy of the Hours and the daily
Eucharist celebrated in
all of the languages of
the world. We visited
Monte Cassino and also
Castel Gondolfo where
Pope Benedict XVI
praised our presence.
The wisdom of Saint
Benedict’s Holy Rule is
timeless as it is inspired
by the Scriptures and
the experience of a
ORGANISERS: (from left to right): Mr. Giorgio
Marte, Abbess Maria Giovanna Valenziano,
wise and holy father
O.S.B., Abbott Primate Notker Wolf, O.S.B.
who knows all about
(president), Mrs. Caterina Feliziani, Fr. Luigi
the stresses and strains
Bertocchi, O.S.B. (coordinator).
of community life. For
many of us, the nearest we get to community life is through our
television screens with the popular soaps. However, the popularity
of the recent BBC2 reality T.V. program The Monastery filmed at
Worth Abbey in West Sussex reveals the richness of the life of true
communities and schools for prayer.
The First World Congress of Benedictine Oblates was the vision of
the Abbot Primate, Dom Notker Wolf osb. In his inspiring opening
address he said,
“we are not a wealthy or highly organised movement. My vision
is of Benedictine Oblates being a spiritual movement within the
Church. Our power is in the Cross and, while some co-ordination
is required, this should be in the context of Benedictine freedom.
We will always depend on individual spiritual fires blazing up in
many places, rather than on a strong organisation.”
The overarching theme of Communion was developed through the
week with keynote addresses and discussion groups under three
headings:
1. Communion with God
The oblates were agreed that without such communion we are like
fish out of water. We also concluded that our monasteries help us
to sustain this communion with the statement ‘no monastery – no
oblate’. Finally, however, we concluded that the world is our
cloister and this too is the place where our communion with God can
grow and develop.
2. Communion with the Family and Others
Many of us shared the reality of ‘impaired communion’ with partners
and families who don’t share our spiritual journey. We also found
our Benedictine ‘charism’ enriched by sharing with oblates from
other monasteries. We acknowledged how vital it is for Benedictine
oblates to maintain a spirit of hospitality to others and to treat
strangers as if they were Christ (Chapter 53). This spirit is also
present in the Hindu greeting - “Namasthe”.
3. World Communion
We shared many stories of the importance of our monasteries being
open to those of other faith and for dialogue to be encouraged. We
acknowledged the importance of being open to people of other
faiths as fellow human beings, rather than stereotyping them. We
shared many experiences when oblates were able to build bridges
between others by simply being people of prayer in whatever
situation we find ourselves. Finally we realised the Benedictine
oblate needs to ‘break step’ with the mores of society, reminiscent
of Benedict’s call for the ‘conversion of morals’ (Chapter 58).
There is a tendency to believe monastics are so heavenly minded
they are not of this earth. However on the Wednesday night we
were treated to a wonderful concert of music by the Abbot Primate
and other religious from different parts of the world. On the Friday
we enjoyed fellowship together in Rome and on our penultimate day
visited Monte Cassino. The abbot and his community made us most
welcome and we had the abbey to ourselves for a couple of hours,
enjoying uplifiting liturgy, lunch in the gargantuan refectory and
guided tours. Our final day consisted of a visit to Castel Gondolfo
when, during his address, the pope praised the oblates of Saint
Benedict.
The whole congress galvanised the spirit
of Saint Benedict in the lives of the
oblates. In his final address, the Abbot
Primate told us his continuing vision for
oblates and the hope for a second
congress in 2009 in Rome. He reminded
us Benedictines are not a movement of
power. One of the organisers made us
gasp when he remarked “I have come to
see during this congress that Lectio
Divina is no longer important …!” After a
suitable pause he continued, “....it is
crucial!” Perhaps I can leave the last
word to the Abbot Primate himself:
•
“Our spirituality has no method,
we simply chew God’s Word until our bones and flesh are
transformed by the work of the Spirit.’ Dom Notker Wolf
Alan Hodgetts
Oblate of Alton Abbey and Anglican Parish Priest of Merrow
For details of Anglican Benedictine communities visit:
http://www.osb.org/intl/angl/angl1.html