Via Vitae
BENEDICTINE OBLATE NEWSLETTER NO. 21, MAY 2016
Way of Life
B ened ict ine Oblates of The World Community for Christian Meditation
Ÿ
S ome communities will pray in the city and lead people into the way of silence. Others may witness far from the city in a life more explicitly rooted in the cycle of nature. And others will engage the contemporary chal-
From Fr Laurence Freeman OSB One of the special highlights of my travels in our monastery without walls is to receive a final oblation on behalf of the whole worldwide community. It is always a sacred moment and one that touches each one witnessing it, whether they are oblates or not. The offering of oneself in and through a community changes the individual and, of course, the community as well. But like stone thrown in a lake its radiating influence is both great and unpredictable. There are many ways of expressing this. For some older oblates it is expressing an aspect of their life-vocation that they were not able to express before and so it seems to unify and gather many strands of their lives. For younger oblates it is a way of setting out on the path of work, relationship and service with a sense of grounding in a tradition and being held in a broad, inclusive yet focused community. As humans we are wired for community. So much that is isolating and alienating in modern culture drives people to rediscover this aspect of themselves. But again there is a great diversity of expression depending on age and background. We all feel drawn to some level of community because of the companionship, and friendship founded in deeply shared values and faith. This is a wonderfully reassuring and joyful connection to discover in one’s life. It makes a lot of hardship bearable and helps them transmute into growth. But community has another side. Friction and conflict always arise when people’s egos are aroused. If you are living in physical community with others, when this happens it is painful and soon there’s an inevitable feeling of ‘is it worth it?’ The impulse is to run. But there is also a great opportunity in these moments to plunge deep into the healing power present in us to emerge with finer wisdom and compassion when the storm passes.
lenge of reconciling these two dimensions within the same community experience –
“As humans we are wired for community. So much that is isolating and alienating in modern culture drives people to rediscover this aspect of themselves”.
service and solitude, city and village, cloister and marketplace. Monastery without Walls: The Spiritual Letters of John Main ed. Laurence Freeman osb
The World Community for Christian Meditation
St Benedict understood this perfectly – that is why he gives such careful comments on how to deal with conflict and unruly individuals. And of course this opportunity is available in some form for many who do not live in regular community but participate in the life and work of the community in other ways. Because we believe in the essential importance of making community we are looking for a larger place where we can do this; and where a small group of oblates will form the core of the international centre. So it will be an international home for the WCCM Oblate community – with walls we hope although a few places we have looked have approached the wall-less state. It will also be a retreat centre for the whole of the WCCM with a Meditatio Conference Centre, so there will be many guests to “receive as Christ himself”. Please keep this search in your heart as we continue to feel where the Spirit is leading us.
Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016 At the Meditatio Seminar in Sydney (on the environment) I was able to meet up again with Trish Panton. The National Council meeting, which I attended after the Seminar, warmly thanked and applauded Trish for her great dedication and gifted organisation of our oblate community. For health reasons she is stepping down (but continuing to work on the Benedictine Oblate Congress in Rome to which she has now become indispensable). So again – thank you Trish. Our love and prayer go out to you. And welcome again to Eileen Dutt (UK) as Trish’s successor. Thank you Eileen for the generous dedication this will involve. With love in our holy abbot Benedict to all our oblates
Trish Panton and Fr Laurence
Editorial Stefan Reynolds
This edition of Via Vitae is a swansong to Trish Panton as International Oblate Coordinator for WCCM. In 2004 Trish went from being National Oblate Coordinator for Australia and New Zealand to becoming International Coordinator. It is from this latter role that she is retiring after really putting WCCM Oblates on the map. Her presence at the World Oblate Congresses helped to raise the profile of WCCM oblates and link us to other oblate groups. The many inspiring articles and editorials she wrote for Via Vitae – may they continue – her mentoring of many novice oblates and her involvement with Fr Laurence in updating WCCM Oblate resources has been a major reason for the growth of the WCCM Oblate community throughout the world. She will be a hard act to follow! But we hope still to be seeing and hearing a lot from Trish.
Trish Panton addressing the Oblates World Congress in 2005
But with one star comes another! Eileen Dutt has generously accepted to take on the role as International Co-ordinator and our prayers are with her. Eileen is UK Co-ordinator for Oblates and is much loved within the community. She has already helped many with her mentoring and organizing very successful Oblate days in the UK. As part of my ongoing life as an Oblate I have recently had the privilage to have three months at The Meditatio House in London living with other Oblates. It has been a very enriching experience for me. Every weekday (when it is not a feast day as I end up at Mass) we meet to read the daily section from the Rule. We take time to ponder the text and share any line, word or phrase, which has spoken to us. Such a Lectio approach to the Rule has helped to bring to life familiar texts for me. Now that my time at the Meditatio House is at an end I hope I can keep the freshness of that communal reading in my daily reading of the Rule (which I admit is just sometimes something I read without making much sense of it). Luckily one of the Oblates here – Andrew McAlistair – has been keeping a record of the Meditatio House reflections on the Rule and they are gradually being posted on his Blog – do google… For Christmas I was given an iPad and, as a frequent traveler I have found it very useful for doing my Lectio Divina and following the Office of Morning and Evening prayer. If you are likewise an Oblate who uses portable computers I’d really like to recommend downloading the App ‘Universalis’, it gives the
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Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016 Mass readings for the day and the full Office including readings for Lectio Divina. I also get the daily reading from the Rule sent to me as an email, it is free just sign up at www.osb.org. Makes it much easier to have your daily reading of the Rule if you are on the move.
tion of Via Vitae. And Trish, our heartfelt thanks… and Eileen thank you also for your generosity. Dr Stefan Reynolds Oblate Co-ordinator Ireland
Thank you to all those who have contributed articles to this edi-
Message from the New International Oblate Co-ordinator
Comment from Trish Panton: Meeting with Fr Laurence 2004 During a meeting with Fr Laurence in Sydney in 2004, we spoke of the growth of the oblate community internationally. This was followed by my being asked to take the role of International Oblate Co-ordinator. Initially I was taken aback but knew within that this work was an important part of the growth of The WCCM Oblate Community, especially as the First World Congress of Benedictine Oblates was to be held in September, 2005, in Rome. Fr. Laurence encouraged me to contact the organisers of the Congress to ask for a ‘seat’ and their reply was positive. Since then I have been involved in each Congress which has been held every four years. We are now preparing for the 2017 Congress.
Just before switching on my computer to write this piece I picked up my copy of ‘Silence and Stillness in Every Season’ to read reflection chosen for today. It read as follows: “The fullness of life that Christ offers each of us is eternal life – life without limit. The mystery is that that fullness of life is offered to us now. All of us have to learn as we live our lives that there must be constant development. The invitation we have is to grow, develop, to mature. One of the elements of that maturity is our growing capacity to enter the present moment more and more fully, more and more perfectly, more and more generously. That is why it is so important that we continue to meditate every day, faithfully, every morning and every evening.”
One of the first questions asked when meeting each other at the Congress, is ‘which monastery do you belong to’? My reply that we are a “Monastery Without Walls” is not easy for some to understand, and yet others are very interested. Over time there has been more interest and acceptance of our “Monastery Without Walls”.
The Door to Silence Daily Readings with John Main (Apr. 22nd) continued next page.....
Table of contents
The role of International Oblate Co-ordinator has been a blessing and I have met, face to face and via email, many meditators who are deeply committed to their call to oblation.
From Laurence Freeman OSB ....................1 Editorial......................................................2 Messages from Trish and from Eileen........3 Tribute to Trish from Australian Oblates ....4 Trish and the Rule......................................6 Oblate Journey in WCCM ...........................7 Night Walk poem .......................................8 Oblate Reflections: UK, Canada, USA.........9 New Zealand Oblates................................11 Fr Laurence Review book.........................12 Benedictine Solitude & Desert Mothers ...14 End Point .................................................16
Trish
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Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016 Had it been my intention to find words of wisdom to share with you at this time I doubt that I could have found a better fit. And as I pondered Fr. John’s teaching I was led to reflect the opening lines of the Rule of St. Benedict: “Listen carefully, my child, to my instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is advice from one who loves you; welcome it and faithfully put it into practice”. I encourage you to sit with these words of Fr. John, which encapsulate, for me, purpose of oblate life, to see where they lead you. If you keep a journal then why not write down your thoughts so that you can return to them in the future? If you don’t keep a journal (always useful to refer to when meeting with your mentor or spiritual guide) now might be a good a time to begin one. If you are not sure how to go about this, or what sort of things to record – always a personal choice – don’t worry, you can always seek guidance from your mentor, national oblate coordinator or you could contact me direct using my email below. I have now been International Oblate Coordinator for four months and this seems to me to be a good opportunity for me to reflect on, and share with you, some of what I have learnt during this short space of time. I now realise that the oblate community is much larger than I imagined. I hope to be in a position to share more about this in next issue of Via Vitae as at this time I am still gathering information and getting to grips with all that is entailed in serving the community in my new role. I can share that we are truly an international community with members – could be postulant, novice oblate or oblate – in more than 20 countries which, since Augustine one of our
residents returned home, now includes China. The Spirit is keeping Josefa, national oblate coordinator in Venezuela, busy extending our warm welcome to four new postulants this year. I am happy to see an increase in the number of oblates willing to serve as their National Oblate Coordinator (full details of who these are can be found in every issue of VV and on our webpage). And we must never forget our good fortune if we are one of the fortunate oblates able to spend time with other oblates during the course of a month, or year. This is not the case in the countries where our numbers are very small and geographically widely dispersed so we do need to hold them in our prayers. In the summer issue of Vitae, 2001, Fr Laurence put forward the following suggestion, “I think it is time for us to reflect on the way we can strengthen and unify the oblate community worldwide.” I would like to suggest that it is now time for us to reflect on this, again. With my love and prayers Eileen
International Oblate Coordinator & UK Oblate Coordinator eduttobl@btinternet.com
Tribute to Trish from the Australian Oblates St Benedict would surely smile to see the flourishing of the WCCM Oblate community over the 12 years Trish has been International Coordinator. We pause in gratitude for our dear Mother Abbess as she hands over to Eileen, a litany of thanks from some our Monastery without Walls speaks for us all… Your loving guidance, Trish, your leadership and wisdom over the years has given encouragement and inspiration on my journey as an Oblate, for which I continue to be so grateful. I wish you every blessing in your handing over the International aspect of your Coordinator role…I look forward to our cell days and your continuing presence, which inspires and delights! On this Mother's Day, it seems only natural to report that I have found Trish to be the Mother hen gathering us under her wings to nurture us through quiet, loving and patient guidance, teaching, and encouragement. How beautifully she does it never ceases to amaze me. I am most grateful for this spiritual mother. Dear Trish, I thank you for your constant, gentle, loving support, your wise, faithful, diligent leadership and your dedicated, generous, compassionate service to all on this path,
I will always be grateful to Trish for her love, mentoring, encouragement and guidance on my journey within the Oblate community. I particularly thank her for exemplifying for me courage, perseverance, unswerving attention, unflagging effort and willing acceptance of any responsibility or task placed before her. Her dedication to raising awareness of and supporting Oblates throughout the world has been a unifying force within the Oblate community at large. She is a faithful and loving presence to us all. On thinking about Trish I found a line from a favourite hymn best describes her for me : Great is thy faithfulness – her caring for us and all the Oblates, her tireless work for ACMC and WCCM and I’m sure her family are an important part of her life too. With grateful thanks Trish for your guidance and help on my Way.
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Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016
Dear Trish, with your passion and concern for the Oblate community you are a shining light that shows me, and many others, the true meaning of living in and for the love of Christ. I am most grateful for your personal guidance and encouragement in my journey and for the many memorable times we have spent together in deep spiritual union with our fellow Oblates, all under your wise and loving care. Trish’s life style embodies the Rule of St Benedict, as summarised in that beautiful line from our closing prayer: “to serve all who come, and to receive them as Christ Himself”. Trish is the most hardworking and faithful person I have ever met. I have had the privilege of sharing friendship in Christ with her for more than 20 years. She has been a constant support to me and my family in many ways and especially with regards to leading me to follow The Rule of Benedict and to become a part of The Monastery without Walls. Words cannot begin to express my gratitude to her. I have come to rely on your wise and loving presence Trish, and your truly Benedictine leadership and formation of our Oblate group. Your constant encouragement has meant so much to me. In ongoing love and gratitude. Trish has been a mentor to me in my roles in the community always gently leading me back to the Rule and supporting me with her wisdom and prayers.
To me Trish, you are a model of fidelity. Your faithful love and trust was a guiding light to me on the oblate journey. Thank you for all you have given and will continue to be within and beyond this community. Trish will always be a most dedicated and faithful presence in our Oblate community. Her tireless commitment to building John Main's vision of our community of love is a profound testament to the power of that 'moment of Christ' that has changed all of our lives. I am forever grateful to her for mentoring me on my journey. Dearest Trish – you know we are lovingly beside you ‘on the way’ and I want to thank you for everything and everyone you have blessed me with on my Oblate journey with you and all those in our Monastery without Walls. Your constant, generous and loving presence to the Oblate community (within WCCM and beyond) will continue to sustain and encourage us all and I thank you for this example of “letting go” that we all need to live daily. So many oblates mentored over so many years, and more yet! And prior to and since the First World Congress of Benedictine Oblates held in September, 2005, in Rome, Trish has at each congress, been a committed presence opening this way to many and representing and interpreting our Monastery without Walls to the wider Oblate world.
e cannot rest content with past forms and formulas. We must be on the pilgrimW age to find new ways of speaking old truths to contemporary men and women at the profoundest levels.
John Main
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Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016
Trish and the Rule - a Reflection on Chapter 2 by Andrew McAlister — Australian Oblate, resident Meditatio House, London in Sydney, Australia, experienced first-hand Trish’s personal love and care for all oblates. These Cell Days were a time to bring to mind and heart oblates across the world and to hold them with us.
For the Prioress or Abbot is believed to hold the place of Christ in the monastery, being called by a name of His, which is taken from the words of the Apostle: "You have received a Spirit of adoption ..., by virtue of which we cry, 'Abba -- Father'" (Rom. 8:15)!1 The Rule of Benedict often uses the word gravitas (see chapters 7, 22, 42, 43, 47, 53 for examples) to describe the way the monastic is to hold themselves and act. The word today seems somewhat vague. As a result, often an english translation will use different words to ‘fill out’ what gravitas might mean: “..dignity and decorum”; “…upmost seriousness and proper restraint”; “humility, seriousness, and reverence”, for example2. Recently, I came across the following description of gravitas: Such seriousness is not meant to become fraught and strained, but is seen rather as part and parcel of an ambience of charity and mutual kindness, which can be expressed just as well by keeping silence as by speaking, as circumstances may demand3. As I read this I thought of Trish. Trish is certainly someone settled in this “ambience of charity and mutual kindness”. In her presence and in her words we experience a consistency of loving kindness that has compelled many of us to call her Abbess. This is not merely a term of endearment. In the way Trish coordinated the Oblates of The WCCM we experienced Christ resonating within us in response to the way Trish brought Christ to her role. Indeed, in her role, Trish held the place of Christ in our midst in a way which (at its best) revealed her as a unique Daughter of God. We could see the Holy Spirit joining with her spirit to bear clear witness to this (cf Romans 8:16). On the other hand, if the shepherd has bestowed all her pastoral diligence on a restless, unruly flock and tried every remedy for their unhealthy behaviour, then she will be acquitted at the Lord's Judgment and may say to the Lord with the Prophet: "I have not concealed Your justice within my heart; Your truth and Your salvation I have declared" (Ps. 39[40]:11)
These words from chapter 2 of the Rule speak of a commitment to the role of Abbess and fellow monastics that is full. Trish brought this mature and full commitment to her time as co-ordinator. From London to Rome to Africa and to the remotest places – oblates across the world were touched by her concern and support. Those of us who were blessed to be at Cell Days
…she should show them all that is good and holy by her deeds even more than by her words, expounding the Lord's commandments in words to the intelligent among her disciples, but demonstrating the divine precepts by her actions for those of harder hearts and ruder minds. With Trish we always knew that her own personal oblate commitment was the ground from which she lived her coordinators role. Her actions (seen and unseen) helped shape our own commitment to the WCCM oblate path; her presence (gravitas!), born from a daily and personal living, brought an immediate context to being oblate that the younger of us on this path grew to value and the older treasured. Trish was an Abbess that never ceased seeking God. Therefore let the Abbess show equal love to all and impose the same discipline on all according to their deserts. There was an underlining mutuality in the approach that Trish took to her role. She worked diligently and with grace to ensure that love was shown through her for all – even when the presence and actions of another challenged her own temperament and personality. Trish would work to adjust to love, making sure enough that what she said and did was for the good and came from love. In her teaching the Abbess should always follow the Apostle's formula: "Reprove, entreat, rebuke" (2 Tim. 4:2); threatening at one time and coaxing at another as the occasion may require, showing now the stern countenance of a mistress, now the loving affection of a mother. Speaking personally, I experienced from Trish both “stern countenance” and “loving affection”. Both of these had the effect of awaking me not just to the practicalities of the meditating and oblate way, but, perhaps more importantly, to the heart involved in any life commitment. Too often pride and arrogance sneak across my vision and, if but briefly, eclipse the heart. Trish has a resolved mind and tender heart – both grounded in God. In her presence and with her words the eclipse would wane and I would eventually ‘find myself’ again.
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Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016 Thus the constant apprehension about her coming examination as shepherd
had the oblate community as its context. She was not bigger than the community, she served the community. She served us by being faithful to her leadership role. She washed our feet with wise words and considered action born of her own experience of God with us. In this servant way of leadership there is cleansing also for the one through whom cleansing comes. In other words: we are all in this together. There are differing roles, differing gifts – each to be valued and respected. Trish lived this Christian and Benedictine way for us and with us.
(Ezech. 34)
concerning the sheep entrusted to her, and her anxiety over the account that must be given for others, make her careful of her own record. And while by her admonitions she is helping others to amend, she herself is cleansed of her faults. Trish took humility seriously. She modelled a leadership that
When we forget ourselves, let’s remember Mother Trish’s example.
1
Saint Benedict's Rule for Monasteries (Chapter 2: What Kind of Person the Abbess Ought to be), translated from the Latin by Leonard J.
2
The Rule of St. Benedict in English (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1982).
Doyle Obl OSB (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2001). 3
The Rule of St. Benedict and The Ascetic Traditions From Asia to the West, Mayeu de Dreuille OSB (Leominster: Gracewing, 2000), 150.
Oblate Journey in WCCM:
How I learn so much from others along the way but especially Trish Panton. By Marina Müller, Oblate Coordinator, Argentina The John Main Seminar in 2008 it was held in Mainz, Germany on the theme of ‘Local and Global Unity’. Stefan Reynolds outlined the seminar for the WCCM website. and I translated that review into Spanish for the Argentine blog we were starting at that time, and I noticed the end of the review said that Stefan was "a Benedictine oblate of WCCM". So I thank Stefan for that article that inspired my spiritual quest. When Father Laurence came to Argentina to visit the community at that incipient moment, as he did every year since 2006, I asked what did it mean to be an oblate, and he told me to contact Trish Panton to find out.
to reach my final oblation at the end of 2011. This move I was doing gave me much spiritual light, much greater awareness of God's presence in my life and in all the events in the lives of others, in the entire universe ... a deep peace, "that the world cannot give" as Jesus told us, and there grew in me a strong vocation to serve the Community. Trish then asked me to coordinate this way of Oblation within WCCM in Argentina, which I still do gladly. In my country there is now a postulant and four novices, and we intend to disseminate in the various meetings and retreats we organize more about the way of Oblation within WCCM.
From then on I began to communicate with her by email, and I explained my desire to deepen the spiritual path of Christian Meditation. My downside was that I was then over 60, and I felt like too old to start this new path. But Trish told me that there was a candidate aged more than 80, which helped me to feel "young and willing" to try. That was how we started a fluid exchange of emails where I was communicating my spiritual journey, and she accompanied me gently and lovingly,
Shortly before my final consecration I wanted to meet Trish personally, and convinced two other Argentine meditators to accompany me first to London to meet the headquarters of the WCCM, and then to Australia, to Sydney and Townsville to meet Trish and then Ernie Christie and Cathy Day to learn about how to teach CM in schools. We arrived at Sydney after almost a full day trip (23 hours from London with stops in Singapore) near midnight. Trish and Penny Sturrock were waiting ... with enormous warmth, then we met some people of the WCCM community there ... My heart was overflowing with gratitude and love.
Cell Day in Sydney, October 2011, Trish, Australian meditators and three Argentine meditators
Later, in 2013, I returned to London for more than a month at WCCM Meditatio house, and during that stay I could also attend the 3rd World Congress of Oblates in Rome, traveling with Susan Spence, Henriette Hollaar and Eileen Dutt, meeting there again Trish and Penny, as well as other WCCM meditators. It was a very deep, excellent, very moving experience.
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Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016 abundant blessings for this new stage of her life, and I know she will follow irradiating her goodness and wisdom of life.
Trish Panton and Marina Müller in WCCM house, London, 2013
And Eileen Dutt, whom I knew personally in the 2013 Congress of Oblates at Rome, is also for me a very special person for her kindness and availability. She has helped to plan from London my "dreamed" trip to the small Julian of Norwich sanctuary, whom I love as one of the greatest mystics of Christianity, and she let me contact with Margaret Comerford, a meditator of that city, who took me to Walsingham where I visited the two biggest Marian shrines of England, the Anglican and the Catholic. I was touched by Eileen´s mail presentation as the new International Coordinator for WCCM oblates, by her sincerity and humility. I predict her coordination to be very fruitful for all of us who follow this path.
Trish has been my mentor, a very special person, who always struck me as very simple, very helpful, very deep and irradiating the sanctity of everyday life, with much love and permanent availability. I love her very much, I wish her well,
What, then? Trish and Eileen are people of deep and solid spirituality, inspiring growth in faith and in love. My gratitude to them is very large. Trish and Eileen, many thanks for you both!
NIGHT WALK by Rebecca Brewin Oblate in UK
The room glows, there's the warmth of cooking And the sweaty tug of a day's labour on my back, As my hand draws the door towards me as in a waltz, And I alight from the house, Into the embrace of night. Gasping at that first draw of air, My eyes tipping up to the tango of stars, Body expiring the day into the dark velvet, Touched by the soothing hands of air I stride into the street. It is hushed, And yes there is the silence, And the windows with their fabric eye-lids Enclosing pictures of workers turning a gentle foxtrot towards bed. But I am with the deeper sounds of the breeze, Moving through leaves on the fingertips of branches, Fluttering in the gutters as though plumping pillows for sleep. And this breathing! As though my blindness Is suddenly a doorway for the spirit to enter, I am captured, I am breathed; I am the dancing entrance to the cave And the prayer that arises within it. Then, as though making sense Of all the voices of striving from the lit room, The domestic hiss, A small voice flickers, and then flames Through the walls of the cave, my mouth And into the night sky... If you want to hear it, Step across the threshold tonight, Peel back the curtain of your searching And listen into the look of your eyes.
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Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016
An Oblate Day in a Tranquil Location
By Rita McKenna, Cockfosters Oblate Cell. North London
"Prayer is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends" These words of St Teresa of Avila became more and more relevant as the day progressed. The Cockfosters Cell Group had responded to an invitation from a small Community of Sisters in Barnet. On the arranged day, we were given a warm welcome. A room which overlooked a beautifully kept garden was accessible to us during the day, also the use of the chapel and garden. Following the coming together over coffee and biscuits, set up for us, we began with a prayer for God's blessing on the day ahead. We settled in slowly reciting the Morning Prayer. Then flowed a period of meditation. We soon appreciated the time and space that were available to us. The day was ours. We stopped for lunch and shared on the day so far. Although there was an atmosphere of relaxation, we kept to a timetable which was set up prior to the meeting. After the lively lunch break an air of solemnity returned for Lectio Divina. We followed the guidelines of the Oblate Community and We took it in turns to read the text slowly, so that we could reflect on the required stages:
1. What am I hearing? 2. How is this touching me? 3. How will I respond? We had an hour for reflection. We could remain in the room, or choose the garden or chapel. Most of us spent the time in the garden, with its nooks in the shade or seats overlooking the fruit trees and flower beds. We returned to the room to share our responses. Some chose a prayer around their responses. These were inspiring, sacred and personal and as such were held in confidence. We wrapped the beauty of the day with a reading from Fr John Main’s teachings, then meditation. We finished with a blessing and time to remember Fr Laurence, Trish Panton and Eileen Dutt with gratitude for their ongoing essential guidance. Time for goodbyes from smiling members of the Community. We smiled too, especially when an invitation to 'come' back’ was extended. Next time we may need a bigger room. You would be very welcome.
Oblate Retreat in Rougemont, Canada About 20 oblates, aspiring oblates and meditators gathered from various far-flung points across Canada at the Cistercian Monastery, Notre-Dame de Nazareth, in Rougemont, Quebec, on the weekend of June 5-7, 2015. For the last several years, Polly Schofield, the Oblate National Coordinator for Canada, has led a retreat at the monastery in Rougemont, which is located in the apple orchard area of Quebec, southeast of Montreal. The weather cooperated, particularly on Saturday, when the sun shone brightly over the gardens, woods and the orchard, which is guarded faithfully by nine friendly (at least to humans) Siberian huskies. It is a delightful site for the retreat. As part of the retreat, we were invited to join the monks for the Divine Office and for mass – some were even hardy enough to rise for Vigils! It goes without saying that there were also a number of periods of meditation each day. The conferences given by Polly were inspiring as they were taken from the talks that Fr. John gave on a weekly basis at the monastery in Montreal. Polly is blessed in having been close to Fr. John. She brought Fr. John to life by recounting her experiences with him that showed him to have been not only a fine spiritual guide and teacher, but also a man who loved good food, music, children and a good party. Most importantly, he was a man who knew that nothing whatsoever took precedence
By Dorothy Wood, Oblate in Canada
over the discipline of community prayer and meditation and one who succeeded in making his dying his greatest adventure, one that inspired all who were privileged to witness it. Although short, the retreat was a time of true renewal for us all. And it was particularly meaningful for me as I made my final oblation on Saturday afternoon in the monastery garden, surrounded by my fellow oblates and meditators. It was a very moving ceremony. I had actually expected my final oblation to take place on Sunday, but the Spirit knew better. Rather than attending mass on Saturday morning, I felt a need to go out for a walk through the woods and the orchard. I didn’t know why, but I had to go. The reason became clear during the walk when the Spirit gave me the great grace of truly knowing, understanding and feeling the great internal freedom that comes with making the commitment to the discipline and way of life of a Benedictine oblate. And then, what a surprise to learn, when I returned and entered the conference room, that I was actually to make my oblation that same afternoon! God is truly a surprise! I am so grateful to all those who have helped me along the way, especially Don Myrick (my mentor), Polly, and the meditation and oblate community in Ottawa. They say it takes a village to raise a child; it also takes a community to “raise” an oblate.
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Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict: Mediocre Oblate
By Elizabeth (Beth) Cordone, Oblate from USA
My first encounter with the Rule of St. Benedict was during my final year of undergraduate studies at Georgetown University. It was there that I had the very good fortune to enroll in Fr. Laurence’s class entitled “The Roots of Christian Meditation.” I remember being delighted by the brevity of the Rule. Compared to our other assigned course readings, it was refreshingly short and easy to digest. Being less intimidated by the length of the document, I resolved to read the entire thing, which I did. I was struck by the simplicity of the language in the Rule; it was written to be understood by all who might read it, not just the elite, holy scholars of the day. However, not all of the Rule was easy to understand. Admittedly, I was somewhat perplexed by the various liturgical intricacies presented in Chapters 8-18, such as precisely how and when the Office is to be said. I am rather ashamed to admit that the various ribbon placements in my Book of Hours still confuse me. Soon after graduating, the Rule took a more important role in
Musings from a
my life, as I became a Benedictine oblate. I was supposed to read and study a chapter of the Rule each day. I did this sometimes, though certainly not as often as I was supposed to. I have always chaffed at the practice of discipline. Now, almost 10 years later, I still do not read the Rule every day, but it is nonetheless an important part of my life. Perhaps if I lived in St. Benedict’s time, I would have been excommunicated from the monastery for laziness and insubordination. And yet, despite my apparent failures as oblate, I have a great love for the Rule. I wear my Saint Benedict medal every day, and when I look down and see it, hanging close to my heart, I am reminded not of the strictness of the Rule, or my own failures. I am reminded only of love. To me, St. Benedict was once a stern Father, showing me a way of life I could never follow as he did. Now he is my guide, my friend, my brother, pointing eternally and simply to the Holy Rule – a Rule that I may not always follow well, but a Rule whose signposts have never left my heart.
Oblates of the World Community
By Apollonia (Polly) Schofield, Canadian Oblate Coordinator
As oblates – ours is a consecrated life. Deeply rooted in the origins of monasticism, the essential commitment of oblature is the sharing of the tradition of silence and prayer. As Benedictine Oblates, we consecrate our lives as we promise to live according to the rule of St. Benedict – the three promises: Obedience, which is the capacity to listen; Conversio, which is a continuous conversion; and Stability, which for us, is the fidelity to our twice-daily meditation. These are the walls of our monastery, firm foundations indeed. The rule is one of moderation and commonsense, written in a turbulent time at the end of the Pax Romana, and survived as a guide for fifteen-hundred years. Its guiding principle is the ‘via media’ – the middle way (nothing in excess), the classical Apollonian maxim written over the entrance to Apollo’s Temple at Delphi. Writing to his Community on the Benedictine life, Dom John Main wrote ‘that the path of the middle way is not one of compromise, but much, much more, one of continuous refusal to compromise. St. Benedict wrote his Rule from a life-time of experience of this truth. The essential spirit of the Rule is the Spirit of Life – its specific quality is that of a fully human life – the whole person, body and soul, making the pilgrimage. One cannot reach the goal of holiness, Father John so often said, without achieving personal wholeness. The Rule stresses discretion rather than blind obedience, moderation rather than egotistical asceticism, spiritual maturity rather than spiritual infantilism – understanding
life as a growth in the experience of Love. Father John called Love perfect when your complete acceptance of the other is fully reciprocated. This is the definition of Love he said. The universal vocation of the monk – and of the oblate – is to love, he said. The universal vocation for all of us – is to love. As oblates, we are encouraged to do Lectio, the Divine Office, and study the Rule daily, and of course, meditate. However, I remember Father John saying to us oblates that ‘if you are really strapped for time focus on the meditation’. All of us have a monastic dimension to our lives. ‘A tonsure and a habit does not a monk make’ was a quote often heard at the Priory. Oblature leads deeper within, into an ever-deepening silence and solitude. A solitude that is not a self-indulgent privacy, but rather, a Bodhisattva-like presence to others. There are a hundred or so Oblates in Canada at various stages of their journey, and we are part of the World-Wide Benedictine Community. Oblates meet in small ‘cells’, and larger community celebrations, when we listen to one of John Main’s talks, meditate and share community news and celebrate with good food and wine. A balance of the serious and fun (no solemnity involved). We also gather annually for a truly monastic oblate retreat, which is open to everyone. However, one does not recruit oblates. They must follow an inner call that is definitely not for everyone. Presently there are
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Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21,May 2016 a few candidates ‘banging on the gate’ and are kept waiting to test their resolve. If accepted, a mentor, an experienced oblate, is found to guide the applicant through six months of Postulancy, followed by a year of Noviciate, then application for full Oblature. New oblates tend to dive into organizing, working for groups etc. – being super-busy Marthas. Unfortunately, this often leads to disillusionment and burn-out. So it is strongly recommended to first ‘Be’ rather than ‘Do’. Father John said that the power of the Christian Community to manifest the Love of God in the world, and personal response to faith, are deeply bound. There is such an urgent need to keep alive the experience of the Divine within. The health of
Oblates at Island Bay
society, as of the individual, depends upon the depth to which Ultimate Reality penetrates it. Father John taught us that no religious community, or Spiritual Fellowship, is justified by merely what it does, but by what it is. However apostolically oriented a community is – whatever services it gives – there must be a space of silence at its centre, and this centre must be the focal point of its raison d’etre, and from centre will flow all its good works and activities. Out of the solitude, good works will blossom and flow in abundance. Our main task as individuals and as a Community, is to return and keep on returning to that silent centre. It is a journey beginning in Faith and ending in Love.
By Ross Miller, New Zealand Oblate
Hugh McLaughlin, our leader, put together a programme of prayer and learning, with room also for us to catch up with each other and to meet some new faces.
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Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016 As January drew to a close, 20 Benedictine Oblates linked to the WCCM gathered for a weekend at the Home of Compassion, Island Bay. For us it was a long-awaited event. The Oblates have regional meetings more often, but getting most of us together from all over the country is not simple.
live the principles we find in the Rule of St Benedict, in our own lives and settings. We have an international co-ordinator and an international Oblate Newsletter, Via Vitae. Our leader is Hugh McLaughlin: hugh.mclaughlinnz@gmail.com
One of the highlights was celebrating the commitment of three new Novices, and of Jo Ward who made her final and full commitment as an Oblate. The new Novices are Tim Auld, Shirley Duthie and Teresa Manion-Wood. Tim is from just north of Auckland, at Kumeu. Shirley is from Otane in Central Hawkes Bay, and Teresa lives on Great Barrier Island. Jo is a Wellingtonian, now living with a community of Catholic Workers at Otaki. She has lived and worked with the Servants ministry, in Manila and other places, and she is medically trained and practises part-time. It was a wonderful thing to have Jo’s Otaki community show up in joyous support for the Mass and Oblation ceremony, along with her family, and of course our own Oblate community. Father Peter Healy came and was the celebrant. Of course, each day, we paid much attention to the Daily Office (mostly Lauds and Vespers) and to Meditation. If however you wish to hear the Psalms chanted as a reflection of the sublime worship of heaven, I suggest that the NZ Benedictine Oblates might not be a smart choice. But our hearts were in the right place.
Here we have (from left) Teresa Manion-Wood,
Tim Auld, Shirley Duthie, placed symmetrically.
We had studies led by Ross Miller, tackling difficult themes of Affliction, of Memory and Memories entering our silences, and of Dark Night. All this meant visiting some important teachers in the history of contemplative prayer and learning something more of their wisdom. The NZ Benedictine Oblate community now numbers 26. Traditionally Oblates are linked with a particular monastery, where they go regularly for residence and refreshment. Our community, along with similar groups in other lands, is linked with the World Community for Christian Meditation. We are all meditators who are seeking to interpret, understand and
.And here is Jo Ward.
Our prayer ought to be short and pure UNLESS by chance it is prolonged by the inspiration of DIVINE GRACE (RB, 20). — 12 —
Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016
Review by Laurence Freeman of
‘Transforming the Moment’
(2016, Mathew James Publishing)
a book of poems by Margrit Dahm, UK Novice Oblate. Poetry slices into life, clearing away the layers of what has be-
templative experience. Her poems in this book are short
come second-hand, derivative and an escape from meaning
prayers and meditations, some of them no longer then haiku
rather than an encounter with meaning as an alive presence.
length and have the simplicity and freshness of haikus. Draw-
Margrit Dahm also tunes her simple and transparent poems to
ing from her own experience and the teaching of Jesus she
what she discovers over and over in her daily practice of med-
gives a very direct access to universal experiences of love,
itation. This is why she communicated something timeless, but
loss, positivity and mindfulness. She gives a wonderful, con-
in a voice that is fresh and surprising.
temporary take on faith in today’s world. In the obscurity of the night a light awaits you which shines brighter than the day.
Editors note: Margrit started her Oblate postulancy at the Meditatio House in London in April. This is her second book of poetry published and has a theme of meditation and con-
Benedictine Solitude and the Desert Mothers By Stefan Reynolds, Ireland Oblate Coordinator
“Benedict lived alone with himself but under the gaze of God.” Life of St Benedict, III, 5. by Pope Gregory the Great
One of the main practices shown by the Desert Fathers and Mothers is ‘paying attention to oneself’. “If you wish to know God? Learn first to know yourself,” said Evagrius, “the pious are not at variance with themselves!” Gregory in his life of St Benedict makes a comment about what ‘living with oneself’ means:
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Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016 The virtue of spiritual discernment could only come from selfknowledge. Discernment meant being able to diagnose exactly what is going on at any given moment. This seems to have been a particular gift of the Desert Mothers. The ammas are underrepresented among the Alphabetical Sayings though many of the Anonymous Sayings may have originated with them. Some characters stand out though. Whereas many of the Father’s sayings emphasise ascetical feats, the ammas emphasise responding to what life presents. Amma Theodora, the wife of a Roman tribune who retired to desert, summed up the art of monastic life as “knowing how to profit from circumstances.”
The purpose of asceticism was not to reject physicality but to accept that “the body is for Him who made it.” In Amma Theodora’s battle with demons she realised what many fierce ascetics forgot:
“What makes demons go away? ‘Is it fasting?’ They replied, ‘We do not eat or drink.’ ‘Is it vigils?’ They replied, ‘We do not sleep’. ‘Is it separation from the world?’ ‘We live in the deserts’. ‘What power sends you away then?’ They said, ‘Nothing can overcome us, but only humility.”
Amma Syncletica, one of the great teachers of the desert, says, “We must direct our souls with discernment.” The troubles of life, she says, come both from outside and from within: “The soul is like a ship when great waves break upon it, and at the same time it sinks because the hold is too full.” What keeps us from peace is at least halved when we let go of “the interior onslaughts of our thoughts.” Discernment, she says, involves the Gospel advice to “be wise as serpents” (Mt 10:16). “Being like serpents means not ignoring attacks and wiles of the devil,” she says, for “like is quickly known to like.” This remarkable psychotherapy rests on the insight that we shouldn’t ignore that we have a shadow side; it is best to fight the enemy on his own ground. Getting to know ourselves is key. For Syncletica this doesn’t necessarily involve renouncing anything exteriorly. The real place of practice is not the desert but our own mind.
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Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21,May 2016
Amma Syncletica said: ‘Many live on the mountain and behave as if they were living amongst the uproar of a city, and they are lost. It is possible while living amongst a crowd to be inwardly solitary, and while living alone to be inwardly beset by the crowd’. Solitude in the end is being oneself, for there is only one of us in the world. To be ourselves we have to accept ourselves as we are. To be in the crowd is to compare ourselves with others, measuring our so-called achievements and failures with them. This seems to have been a besetting problem in the desert where worldly success was replaced by ascetical prowess. The monks tended to compete with each other, to outdo each other in their practices. The Desert Mothers seem to be a wise voice against this crowd mentality. Discernment involved humble and realistic self-knowledge. The monastic cell was the place where one practiced mindfulness. “Go, sit in your cell” many of the Father’s said, “your cell will teach you everything.” But for the Desert Mother’s this was also the place of commitment to others. Ascesis was relational: non-judgment meant not comparing ourselves to others. Amma Sarra said, “I shall not ask that all men should approve of my conduct, I shall pray instead that my heart might be pure towards all.”
Amma Syncletica said: ‘Just as the bird abandons the eggs she was sitting on prevents them from hatching, so the contemplative grows cold and their faith dies when they go from one community to the other’.
(Extract from ‘Living with the Mind of Christ: Mindfulness in Christian Spirituality’, London, DLT, July 2016) — 15 —
Benedictine Oblate Newsletter No. 21, May 2016
END POINT
My Offering
He should first show them in deeds rather than words all that is good and holy... RB
by Margrit Dahm
Oh source of my life, may my aim always be to serve and rest in thee; guard my mind from too much noise that wants to undermine your voice; in your presence let me speak that which with my soul I always seek, and when one day from here I part, let your love enfold my heart.
A Meditatio Seminar organised by Terry Doyle, Oblate UK. Online registration at http://bit.ly/meditatioausterity e: meditatio@wccm.org t: 020.7278.2070 www.meditatio.co.uk
Meditatio Seminar A Contemplative Response to Austerity Wednesday 13 July 2016: 10.00 am – 4.00 pm The Curve, Teesside University, Southfield Road, Middlesbrough TS1 3JN T N AT I O N A L O B L AT E C O - O R D I N AT O R S USA: Mary Robison, maryrobison@mac.com
UK and INTERNATIONAL: Eileen Dutt, eduttobl@christianmeditation.org.uk
NEW ZEALAND: Hugh McLaughlin, hugh.mclaughlinnz@gmail.com
ITALY: Giovanni Foffano, foffano@libero.it
IRELAND: Stefan Reynolds, stefandreynolds@gmail.com CANADA: Polly Schofield, wccm.oblates@bell.net
BRAZIL: Marcelo Melgares, marcelomelgares@yahoo.com.br
AUSTRALIA: Trish Panton, pantonamdg@ozemail.com.au ARGENTINA Marina Müller, marina.r.muller@gmail.com
UKRAINE: Maria, Albert Zakharova, info@wccm.org.ua
POLAND: Maksym Kapalski, maks.benedyktyni@gmail.com
VIA VITAE No. 21, May 2016
Editor: Dr Stefan Reynolds Glenville Park, Glenville, Co. Cork, Ireland + 353 214 880103 stefandreynolds@gmail.com
Graphic Design: Anne Dillon, USA