Oblate Formation 
Posts concerning Oblate and Novice formation. These include articles which are also applicable to most Christians, whether Oblate or not. Additional articles on instruction of various parts of the Rule can be found under that category.
3 Morning habits that start your day off on the wrong foot
Aleteia: We crowd-sourced lots of ideas for starting your morning off on the right foot, in order to have a more successful day. Whether we’re early birds getting our worms or night owls hooting it up until the wee hours, starting our day off right — no matter when we get up — is not… Read More ›
A Medieval Remedy for Modernity’s Ills
Show me a Catholic not troubled by the circumstances of these days, and I will show you a Catholic asleep. Society’s woes rock his soul, but the historic perils facing Holy Church do so even more. Not only from outside her walls, but more frighteningly, from within. How are we to keep our spirits from sagging?… Read More ›
St. Benedict’s advice for beating the blues
Acedia has two remedies, one is psalmody. As to the other… A while back, for whatever reason, I was most uncharacteristically doing battle with the devilish little megrim that is acedia. Actually, “doing battle” sounds romantic and pro-active. It would be more accurate to say I have been whining, and sitting before my oratory with… Read More ›
The Stumbling Block of the Crucifix
As a Catholic, I am often challenged about our use and reverence for the crucifix. The most common charge has been that the crucifix focuses on Christ’s death and fails to celebrate the Resurrection. But as Catholics we recognize these two events are necessarily intertwined. Each time we reflect on the image of Christ on… Read More ›
Protected in Woe and in Well
After this He showed a most excellent spiritual pleasure in my soul: I was completely filled with everlasting certainty, powerfully sustained without any painful fear. This feeling was so joyful and so spiritual that I was wholly in peace and in repose and there was nothing on earth that would have grieved me. This lasted… Read More ›
The 10 Commandments online: Are we sinning in cyberspace?
Aleteia: How well do we resist the internet’s soul-crippling dark joy of strange gods, murderous spite, sexual temptations and mindless shopping? Every now and then, someone cranks up the gas on the internet, social media catches fire, and we end up surrounded by so much ash and soot, you can barely breathe. There are times… Read More ›
The key to avoiding distraction … from a 6th-century monk
Must-read advice for discussing contentious issues in person and on the web. Do you ever feel like we’re all talking past each other? Even in friendly conversations I notice times when I’m simply waiting for a pause so I can interject a new topic of conversation and hold court about it. In other words, I’m… Read More ›
The Daniel Fast
While anxiety and confusion are usually the first signs of evil, the devil also likes to do two things in a special way. He likes to lie and create fear. For Satan is a supreme liar, and will whisper into your ears discouragement, disparagement, false notion, umbrage, anger, false memory, exaggeration. He can also make… Read More ›
September Newsletter
The September Newsletter is posted to the web and will be mailed to the Oblates on the mailing list. This month’s edition includes the calendar of meeting dates, readings for the next year, and discussion material for the next meeting on September 17. All previous Newsletters can be viewed and downloaded from the Archive page.
5 Steps for Praying When You’re Overwhelmed
Has a large event occurred recently that jolted you? Are you feeling shaken by one of life’s storms like losing a loved one or losing your job? Or is it a seemingly unending laundry list of tasks that has you feeling stretched thin? Stress, anxiety, and the emotions that accompany crisis are often described as… Read More ›