“We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.”

-Servant of God Dorthy Day, An Oblate of Saint Benedict

Oblate Promises

Benedictine Oblates are ordinary people: men and women, married and single, lay and ordained; Catholic and non-Catholic Christians; retired, working in the home and the community.

Benedictine monks or nuns takes Vows of obedience, stability, and conversatio morum, but Benedictine Oblate makes promises to live by these three primary values.

  • Obedience — The Oblate learns to listen to God always and everywhere with the help of Sacred Scripture, the Rule, and meditation.

  • Stability — The Oblate practices perseverance in daily obligations, especially amidst trials, aware of Christ's redeeming presence in all things.

  • Conversatio Morum — The Oblate engages in daily conversion by welcoming God's grace to purify and transform one's life and will.

Transforming Culture

There are many examples of how Oblates have drawn on the Benedictine tradition and promises to transform culture. Here are some of the most famous Oblates, including rulers, intellectuals, martyrs, novelists, and servants of the poor:

  • St. Henry II – Holy Roman Emperor

  • St. Thomas Beckett – Archbishop of Canterbury, martyr

  • St. Thomas Aquinas – child oblate at Monte Cassino

  • St. Francesca (Frances) of Rome – widower and founder of a group of oblate women who served the poor

  • St. Oliver Plunkett, Archbishop of Armagh, martyr

  • Joris-Karl Huysmans – novelist, including The Oblate

  • Jacques Maritain – philosopher

  • Walker Percy – novelist

  • Servant of God Dorothy Day – founder of the Catholic Worker Movement