PHOTO: Tucson-area oblate chapter deans, who play a key role in leading the oblates of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, recently met to discuss the future. Pictured are Dean Nancy Kaib, East Valley oblates, Dean Patty Williams, Phoenix oblates, Tucson Oblate Director Sister Hope Rodenborn, OSB, Dean Nancy Hinshaw, Prescott oblates, and Dean Mary Sheridan, Tucson oblate dean. (Photo credit: Barbara Singer)
Phoenix-area oblate groups affiliated with the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration recently hosted Tucson Oblate Director Sister Hope Rodenborn, OSB and Mary Sheridan, dean of the Tucson oblates, to discuss the closing of the Congregation’s Tucson, Arizona, monastery.
“These groups are lovely and so dedicated. They meet monthly for prayer and to share on the Rule of Benedict,” Sister Hope said. “The dialogue about how the closing will affect them went on for two hours with a lively discussion, including how they can attract new members to the oblate groups, especially the youth in their parishes. There was a lot of creativity expressed in the discussion.”
Benedictine oblates are men and women, married or single, who follow a variety of faiths and choose to become formally affiliated with a monastery. They study and incorporate many Benedictine monastic practices into their own daily lives. The Benedictine Sisters have oblates from around the nation affiliated with their two monasteries and the Congregation.
For more information about the oblate program, please contact Congregational Oblate Director Sister Sarah Schwartzberg, OSB at (660) 944-2221 or sarah@bspa.us. |