List of oblate newsletters. A Benedictine oblate blog

A list of online oblate newsletters has been added to the Oblate Spring web site, the companion to this blog. The list is by state and includes links to the oblate program’s web page, the monastery’s main web page, and locator maps.

The 1971 Guidelines for Oblates of Saint Benedict (adopted by oblate directors) lists what proper oblates strive to do. One duty is to foster a spirit of community. It’s clear the Guidelines mean the oblate community of the oblate’s final oblation, but fostering that local community can sometimes be helped by knowing what other oblate communities are doing.

If we were talking about most kinds of organizations, we would be interested in what new idea, new activities, or new practices have been successfully applied elsewhere. But being Benedictine, perhaps we are also just as interested in hearing what traditional ideas, ancient activities, and past practices are being followed at other monasteries and oblate programs.

Of course, new ideas are worthy of following too. For example, as my previous blog showed, I think the Benedictine communities should be encouraged to embrace the Internet and link people to the light of Benedictine spirituality. Yes, the more, the quicker, the better!

The nifty Connect Saint Meinrad page is the first of its kind I have seen by any monastery — it’s Saint Meinrad Archabbey’s separate web page devoted exclusively to electronic connections to Saint Meinrad, you know, I mean like Twitter, blogs, Facebook, RSS feeds, ringtones, YouTube, iTunes, etc.

The list of online oblate newsletters may help us hear the wider oblate community.

Jan. 7, 2010 Update: on the same topic is my Examiner.com article, St. Meinrad Archabbey uses social media to stay connected.

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Footnotes:

Picture is sunset3.jpg by cohdra and is used subject to license.