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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.
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