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About the Oblate Spring web site
for Benedictine Oblates


"And so we are going to establish
a school for the service of the Lord." 

Rule of St. Benedict, 530 AD, Monte Cassino, Italy

 

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You may e-mail me here.
I would be happy to receive your e-mail. 
Any monastic thoughts would
be very welcome. 
Peace to you in the praise of God's grace.

 

How to Find Things on this Website.
Read about the two options.

 

 

 

This Oblate Spring web site provides Internet resources on Benedictine oblates and Benedictine monasticism.  It explains what an oblate is and how to become an oblate at a Benedictine monastery even if you do not live close to a monastery.

Read about the two ways to use the Oblate Spring website resources -- two ways to locate information. 

Over at my Oblate Blog is a running account of my life as an oblate -- living out the principles and practices described on this Oblate Spring website.(1) 

Because of my non-Catholic background, the information is provided with a helping hand to encourage those who have become interested in exploring monasticism, St. Benedict, his Rule, or the 1,500-year history of Benedictine monasticism, and who want to get very basic information as well as suggestions about where to learn more without missing the initial big picture.  If you don't know a Divine Office from a doctor's office, this site may be an over-the-counter remedy.

The name Oblate Spring alludes to Vatican II, to "springtime of the Spirit," mentioned by Pope John Paul II, in Novo Millennio Ineunte, in 2001, but the primary reference and tribute is to Pope Benedict XVI's 2005 statement:

"In this context, I would like in particular to recall and recommend the ancient tradition of Lectio divina: the diligent reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer brings about that intimate dialogue in which the person reading hears God who is speaking, and in praying, responds to him with trusting openness of heart... If it is effectively promoted, this practice will bring to the Church - I am convinced of it - a new spiritual springtime." 40th Anniversary of the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation "Dei Verbum," 16 September 2005.

If you have read enough to know that monasticism in any form is not for you.... as a monk once told me with a warm smile, "That's OK!" 

God bless you.

Oblate Spring is dedicated to first-time visitors to monasteries everywhere, each is an "oasis of spiritual power in the world," and especially to the monks and oblates of St. Leo Abbey in Pasco County, FL, USA, (page with map) and to my dear wife Terri who had the idea in the first place.

For us all, I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us in peace, in the pure joy of God's grace, and hope that sustains us in Christ's love.

Easter 2008
Riverview, Florida, USA

_______________________

Footnote:

(1) From WikiAnswers comes this definition on the difference between a website (Oblate Spring which you are on right now) and a blog (like my Oblate Blog):

"A website is the collection of related web pages (web pages are documents of information) where as blog is website entries which are made in chronological order which gives news online immediately in a chronological order."

I might add that by common practice, blogs are often in a particular format that has come to be recognized as a blog. Thus, today, it is the form and look of how material is presented that marks the difference between a "web site" and a "blog."  If you look at several blogs and look and websites, you will quickly see the difference.