Oblate Day 2020: Benedictine Promises for Sisters and Oblates

by Sister Ruth Ksycki, OSB

Today we are going to begin our year’s study of Benedictine Monastic Profession in the Rule of Benedict. In Chapter 58 it says: “[the novice] comes before the whole community and promises stability, fidelity to the Monastic Way of Life and obedience.”

In order to understand what Benedict envisioned, several clarifications are necessary.  As you no doubt are aware, promises are sometimes referred to as “vows.”  Following Vatican II when religious were called to return to their roots, Benedictine women in the United States did much research about the Rule of Benedict and their own history.  When Sister Ephrem Hollerman was doing her study of our beginnings in America, she discovered that the profession documents at St Walburga Abbey, in Eichstatt, Bavaria began with “Promito” – I promise.  In the U.S., after the decree of the Council of Baltimore in 1866, it became the practice to say “by perpetual vows I promise.”   

This information led to a study by U.S. Benedictine women of the meaning of commitment in the Scriptures.  It began with the research of Sister Sarah Schwartzberg, OSB (a convert from Judaism).  In brief, it revealed the following:

- “Vow and promise denote a solemn and binding ritual action rather than a way of life…They are personal rather than communal, intermittent rather than continuous.”

- The language of covenant as used in Scripture expresses much more adequately the essence of monastic profession.  A covenant assumes a mutual and ongoing relationship.  It entails an exchange of responsibilities, obligations, and expectations between the contracting parties.  A covenant is sealed by an oath, defines our relationship to God and community as one of communion, love, service and sacrifice.”

All of us are aware of how often in the Scriptures we hear of the covenant God made with the people.  “I will be your God and you will be my people.”  From Abraham to Moses to the Prophets and culminating in the New Covenant of Jesus at the Last Supper.  Through Baptism we become God’s people, members of the Christian community.  

In Part One of the official documents of the Federation of St. Benedict, of which St. Mary Monastery is a member, it states: “By the grace of God we are committed in baptism to a life of faith, hope, and love. Monastic profession opens us further to this mystery of life in God begun in baptism.”  As we can see, our covenant relationship began in baptism, and following the monastic way of life only seeks to deepen the relationship. Both baptism and profession are covenant relationships within a community.   Oblation is another form of this covenant relationship.

The second clarification is that monastic profession is a threefold promise.  In our daily living we seek and find God through the threefold promise of stability, fidelity to the monastic way of life, and obedience.  Each of these aspects of the promise is intertwined with the other two.

  In chapter 1 of the Rule, Benedict describes the different kinds of monks.  The cenobites “belong to a community and serve under a rule and an abbot/prioress.”  Benedict refers to them as “the strong kind of monks.”  They are a counterpoint to the Gyrovagues – the wanderers, no stability; the Sarabaites – no rule or experience to guide them; and the Hermits who live alone, whom Benedict does not denigrate, but says from his own experience that they need to be tested by living in community first.

This threefold promise is what will lead those in community to seek God with others who, like them, desire to deepen their relationship with God, their neighbor, and the world.  Together they will be transformed and transform the world so that “God will be glorified in all things.”

Now let us take a brief look at these three foundational elements of Benedictine monastic life.

Stability:  Today in our mobile world (although not during this pandemic), someone might say to you:  What is this stability you talk about? The root word “stare” in Latin means to stand, to know where one stands and what and who one is, to be at home with oneself.  In monastic tradition it means standing in the steadfast love of Christ, following and persevering in that love to the end.  Gregory of Nyssa says, “it is both a standing still and a moving.”  We are bonding with a community on a journey.  Fr. Eric Hollas, OSB says: “in a stable community there is potential for measured growth as well as measured backsliding.  But as a family we help one another deal with the challenges of life.”

For oblates, it is a partnership with the Sisters of St. Mary Monastery and a bonding with the oblate community in your area.  Sr. Aquinata Bockmann summarizes it in these words: “Stability is bonding with the community, and is a concrete expression of fidelity in following Christ.  Stability is a graced answer to God’s fidelity: “God, who calls you is faithful; God will do it.” 

Fidelity to the Monastic Way of Life: According to the documents of the Federation of St. Benedict, “this promise is an expression of living the paschal mystery-entering into the dying of Jesus that we may rise with him. We live it out through daily acceptance of our human condition and steadfast dedication to community life. Experience of God’s healing prompts us again and again to turn to our Creator.  Relying on faithful love, we are gradually transformed.”

 As oblates you live it out through the support and encouragement of your local community as well as your family, church community, and other supportive groups.

Obedience:  The key to obedience is “listening with the ear of your heart.”  These oft-quoted words challenge us - Sisters and oblates alike to open our hearts to listen attentively as we ponder God’s word in Scripture, in  one another, in the Church, and in the global community.  It asks us to consider the common good of all communities and freely carry out what God is calling us to do.  Following the movement of the Spirit in our lives can be wonderful and easy, or distasteful and the exact opposite to our plans.  Being faithful to prayer and lectio divina (holy reading) is a wonderful grounding in carrying out the experience of living daily in the presence of God.  This is true of oblates in their lives also.

There is much more to learn about this threefold promise, and you will have an opportunity to do so during this next year’s study.  May it bring you the enrichment you need to continue living in the Benedictine monastic way of life.

Resources used:

Bockmann, Aquinata:  Perspectives on the Rule of St. Benedict: Expanding Our Hearts in Christ

Chapter 58, pp103-156

Federation of St. Benedict:  With Hearts Inclined: Monastic Profession, p 5-6

Hollis, Fr. Eric:  Father Eric’s Blog at https://monkschronicle.worpress.com