ASK THE ACOLYTE

Mark Biolo

What is an Oblate??

The word Oblate comes from the Latin offere, oblatus, meaning "to offer" or "be offered". The term has had a number of related though different applications throughout the centuries:

Some religious orders go by the title "oblates". These are communities of men or women, not solemnly professed, who have nevertheless dedicated themselves to service of God in religious communities under the promises of chastity, poverty, and obedience. Perhaps the best known are the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI).

In Benedictine monasteries of old it was the practice for young boys to be given over to the monastery by their families to become vowed members of the community as they grew up. These fellows were offered to the service of God and as such were known as oblates.

In earlier times the term oblate also denoted men or women who carried out the menial tasks in the monasteries and voluntarily subjected themselves to religious obedience and observance of the rule of the monastery as long as they remained in its service (which for most was their entire lives).

Today the title is most often used to refer to men or women who, though not having professed solemn vows, join themselves through the observance of the rule of a particular order, and under the guidance of a director belonging to that order, to share in its apostolate, spiritual life, and spiritual benefits. The degree to which these members are incorporated into their religious community varies to some degree. Some of these are known as secular orders or so-called "third orders". Secular Franciscans (SFO), formerly known as Third Order Franciscans (TOSF), are rather numerous in this part of the country. Other orders, as is the case with the Benedictines, refer to these members as oblates. Depending on the order, oblates also wear a form of the habit of the order.

I am an Oblate of the Camaldolese Congregation of the Order of St. Benedict, abbreviated

OSB (Cam). Our order takes its name from the Holy Hermitage of Camaldoli, Italy, founded by the Benedictine monk St. Romuald in the eleventh century. Camaldoli remains the motherhouse of the congregation with daughter houses located throughout the world. Our US house was founded at Big Sur, California in 1958 as New Camaldoli (Immaculate Heart Monastery) and a daughter of this foundation opened as an urban monastery in Berkeley in 1979 (Incarnation Monastery). Camaldolese oblates are very much a part of the community and very actively involved in life in "the house" as well in the secular world.

Camaldolese monks attend to the contemplative life above all else, which is seeking communion with God in a very deep way throughout one’s daily life. Camaldolese Benedictine Oblates are formally bonded to the monastic community and its long spiritual tradition. Candidates, after a period of education and formation not unlike the novitiate of the monks, promise to live a modified version of the rule in their secular lives. They are received into the order in an investiture rite that is conducted during a solemn Mass with the entire community present. Oblate brothers are obligated to times of silence and solitude, lectio divina (a specialized method of divine or holy reading), frequent participation in the Eucharist, work, asceticism, and discipline. Oblate brothers are committed to a life of prayer and are required to pray the Liturgy of the Hours each day, just as the monks in the monastery. In fact, if you find an Oblate you will always find his breviary close at hand. Oblate brothers return to the monastery as often as possible, usually several times each year.