Oblate Life

Living the Spirit of the Rule

The only obligation on Benedictine Oblates of Westminster Abbey is to live the spirit of the Rule of St Benedict in their own state of life.

Each Oblate will find his own mix of spiritual practices and reading to do this. Two books which have been found helpful to our Oblates are Esther de Waal, Seeking God, and Wil Derkse, The Rule of Benedict for Beginners. There are many other resources available, as a web search will show.

However, as liturgical prayer is so important a part of Benedictine life, we do recommend that the Oblate find some way to integrate at least a part of the official prayer of the Church into his or her daily routine. For most, this will be from the Liturgy of the Hours, which can be found in various forms both in print and online.

Oblates who are not too far away come to the Oblate Meetings at the Abbey. These take place on the third Sunday of every month except July and August, at 3:00pm. One of the monks gives a talk on some spiritual or ecclesial topic. Afterwards there are refreshments followed by Vespers at 4:30.

There is also an annual retreat for the Oblates, held at the Abbey usually in June. It goes from a Friday evening to the Sunday afternoon. Dates can be found on the Abbey website or in the Oblate Newsletter.