August 2007 Print

Traditional Religious Orders

Menzingen, Switzerland

What does the word "oblate" mean?

According to the Latin etymology, oblata comes from the verb to offer; hence the term Oblate means offered. The word both summarizes and expresses our whole vocation. Indeed, more than a simple name among so many religious families, is not the name Oblate in itself a call for the total gift of oneself?

This is what every novice should understand when, on the day of her oblation, kneeling at the foot of the open tabernacle, united with Our Lady of Compassion, she gives to God her offering as a victim with the Divine Victim:

I make to Thee the offering of my person, of my life, of all that I have, of all that I am, for Thy greater glory, O my God, for the salvation of my soul, the salvation of all souls, and very especially for the sanctification of priests and of future priests. (Act of Oblation)

What is the relationship of the Oblates to the Society of Saint Pius X?

In 1973, in the "Letter to Friends and Benefactors No.5," Archbishop Lefebvre was asked the question: "Does the Fraternity consist of several different families?" He replied: It consists of priests and future priests, then auxiliary Brothers, Oblate Sisters, and soon, we hope, religious Sisters of the Society....Finally, we hope, by the grace of God, to extend the spiritual blessings of the Society to the lay persons in the world." In 1980, with the birth of the Third Order of St. Pius X, Archbishop Lefebvre saw the realization of his Work as he had conceived it with the four families of the Society.

When these four branches of the Work are enumerated, an order of precedence being always necessary for the classification of persons and things, it has become customary to place the Oblates as the third family, the first being the priests, Brothers, and seminarians; the second, that of the Sisters of the Society; and the fourth, that of the Third Order.

Who founded the Oblate Sisters?

Founded by His Excellency Archbishop Lefebvre, the family of the Oblate Sisters of the Society came into being in 1973. Forced by her conscience to leave her religious community, which had become unfaithful, a French hospitaller Sister, Sister Marie Bernard, knocked on the door at Econe. Others did not wait long to do the same thing, and so our Society was born.

In the beginning, the Oblate Sisters were nuns who were canonically liberated from their obligation vis-a-vis their respective congregations and desirous of protecting their religious life from the post-conciliar debacle. Soon enough, they were joined by women of mature age who were freed from their duties and desirous of sanctifying themselves by contact with the Society and devotion to its works.

Currently, as the crisis in the Church persists and creates new needs, our recruitment tends to modify itself: a new and more flexible structure makes it possible for other vocations to find grounds in which to flourish.

Do the Oblates have their own hierarchy?

No, the Oblate Sisters do not have their own hierarchy. This distinguishes them from most congregations of women like the Sisters of the Society, which, notwithstanding their name and the strong spiritual ties to our Society, are juridically independent.

As full members of the Society, like the Priests and Brothers, the Oblates have no Superior General elected from their ranks. The Superior General of the Society, currently Bishop Bernard Fellay, directs us. It is under his authority that we make our oblation, remaining at his disposal for the needs of the Society.

In our priories, the Prior directs our Sisters. If the community of Oblates in the house consists of more than three members, the Superior General may designate a Superior after consultation with the Prior.

What is the difference between a Religious and an Oblate?

According to the very terms of our Statutes, drafted by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1982, the Oblate Sisters form "a society of common life without vows, but with a promise (engagement) like the society of the priests of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X."

What does this mean? First, we should carefully distinguish between, firstly, the gift made to God, the essentially voluntary act of the person who offers her or his life, his or her entire activity. (This is an act that can very well take place privately in one's inner conscience.) Secondly, the exterior and positive regulation of Mother Church, the fruit of her experience.

When we follow the history of the Church, we observe the development from the general and traditional concept of monasticism (with stability and the solemnity of vows) to the most recent forms of "States of Perfection." Indeed, across the ages, without abandoning anything of the monastic tradition, which keeps its privileged place, new religious families have been founded according to structures that are more and more supple. Freeing themselves from external forms, which are certainly very important but not indispensable, these new forms of religious life have kept only the essence of a life completely given to God, accepted and approved by the Church.

And so, beside the "canonical state of perfection, strictly speaking"–the perfect types of the state of perfection (the Orders of solemn vows and the Congregations of simple vows)–Canon Law defines as a "second canonical state of perfection" the societies of common life without vows. Lacking several juridical elements necessary to the constitution of the canonical state of perfection strictly speaking, such as the public vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, these societies nonetheless possess other qualities that belong to the essence of the life of perfection.

In a word, according to Church law, if these societies are not in the strict sense religious institutions, nor their members clerics, they are nonetheless included or assimilated in the Code.

Being Oblate Sisters as His Excellency Archbishop Lefebvre wanted us to be, we have a well-defined place in the Society and in the Church. Was this not the way traced out for us, for example, by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who, according to the explicit desire of their founder, have never been religious in the canonical sense of the term?

What is the spirituality of the Oblate Sisters?

The spirituality of the Oblates is that of the Society, which is the very spirit of the Church, whose heart is the Holy Sacrifice of the Cross renewed each day on our altars in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. "The holy Mass is thus the inexhaustible source of our spiritual and religious life" (Statutes).

Our entire day is immersed in the Blood of the Lamb, fixed as we are by our Oblation at the foot of the Cross through the Holy Office–Prime, Sext, and Compline–meditation, rosary, spiritual reading, and personal prayer. "They will be happy to participate in the Sacrifice of Our Lord, like Our Lady of Compassion, standing at the foot of the Cross" (Statutes). To contemplate Jesus on the Cross with the spirit of Mary: this is the true vocation of an Oblate:

She will add, in a special way, as the intention of her spiritual life, compassion with the sorrows of Jesus on the Cross, with the picture of Our Lady of Compassion, the Oblates' Patroness–for the redemption of souls, for the holiness of priests, for her own sanctification. (Statutes)

"For the priests": members of a Society whose goal is the priesthood, and everything related to it: it is above all for the priests that we must sanctify ourselves. Indeed, when addressing the Oblate Sisters of Econe on the Feast of Our Lady of Compassion, April 10, 1981, Archbishop Lefebvre explained the spirituality of the Oblates:

...And so you, dear Sisters, [are] auxiliaries of the priests; auxiliaries, not only with your hands but also with your souls and with your spirit; [auxiliaries] that is, of the Priesthood, of the Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, of His Cross, of the extension of His Reign, of the extension of His Love. Thus you are united in a very particular manner to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. Like Her, close to her Divine Son, you will compassionate and suffer with her, and thus you will also contribute very efficaciously to the redemption of souls, insofar as you are able, insofar as Providence has given you the necessary grace.

And in this way you will be associated more profoundly with the priesthood of the priests. Ask that these priests, these seminarians whom you serve, become true priests, that they become truly other Christs; that they unite themselves more profoundly and more perfectly with the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ....You will then ask this of the Most Holy Virgin Mary. Offer your sufferings, offer your sacrifices for this intention, in order to spread the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this hour of crisis for the Church and the priesthood, there is another specific intention Archbishop Lefebvre wanted to include in our mission:

More than ever, there are many sacrileges being committed, painful abandonment of Our Lord especially by those who have consecrated themselves to God. This is why we ardently urge you to offer up your small trials, your sacrifices, your difficulties, all those pains that Our Lord permits you to suffer, which you experience, in union with the suffering of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, in order to make reparation for all these sacrileges. (Sermon, April 6, 1979)

If we would like to sum up our spirituality, we would say that everything is expressed in our Act of Oblation. We, therefore, have it at heart to repeat it as often as possible, so that from it we will draw forth life ever more fertile and intense.

What sort of life do they lead?

One might call it apostolic, since the Oblate Sisters must continue, beside the priests, the discreet role of the Holy Virgin and of the holy Women beside our Lord and His Apostles, a role which is willed by God.

Within the frame of a religious life having a more flexible structure (characteristic of societies of common life without vows), we are in a position to serve the priests in whatever conditions their ministry may present. It is an active life in a most diverse form, which has no limit in the prescription of our Statutes.

Who should be contacted in order to enter the Society of the Oblates?

The Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X should be contacted. It is, however, recommended that the Superior of one's own District first approve such a step.

What are the requirements for becoming an Oblate?

For the admission of all aspirants, a superior must judge whether the aspirant will be a help or a burden in the community life. The Oblate Sisters being devoted to the works of the Society, i.e. helping the priests, whether in the seminaries, priories, or schools, in this perspective, the aptitudes required are the following:

– in general, a well-balanced personality;

– at least a minimum of good judgment and common sense;

– maturity and a strong will to persevere in spite of difficulties, since an Oblate must be able to face all sorts of situations;

– a normal and well-balanced emotional development, which is particularly necessary for an Oblate, since she is called to work and therefore be in contact with priests;

– qualities of sociability necessary for life in common.

 

Of course, the presence of the required aptitudes is not necessarily a sign of vocation: not everyone who has them is called to the religious life. But someone who does not have them is certainly not called. It should also be remarked that a canonical impediment to admission in certain congregations is not necessarily an obstacle to joining the Oblates. Each case depends on the Superior General's judgment.

As will all religious orders, in order to become an Oblate the most important thing is the call from God–that is to say, the vocation.

Is there a special preparation or required studies needed? Is there a minimum or maximum age limit?

The only preparation required in order to become an Oblate is that of a genuine Christian life based in Tradition. As for age, it is very variable... According to our Statutes, persons of a certain age (from 30 onwards) who are not able to enter the Sisters of the Society of St. Pius X can apply for admission to the Oblates. But there are cases where an exception is made when other impediments besides age hinder the aspirant from being accepted by the Sisters. No age limit is fixed as long as the aspirants are still capable of adapting to common life and of serving the Society.

Is good health required?

It depends. It is certainly necessary to have good health to be able to dedicate oneself and render service according to one's aptitudes where Obedience calls. But a fragile health or even certain maladies are not necessarily an obstacle to joining the Oblates.

Is a dowry required?

A dowry is not required to join us. Instead, whenever our Novitiate lacks its own income and in order to help with the material expenses of the house, we ask a small contribution from the postulants and novices.

Is a time of postulancy required? A time of novitiate? What do these consist of?

Our Statutes foresee a year of postulancy and a year of novitiate. The period of novitiate commences after the taking of the habit, which marks the entrance into the novitiate (properly speaking). This period is a time of learning which may be compared to the sowing of seeds.  

Until 1993, our aspirants were trained either in one of our houses–especially that in Bitche, France–or in the novitiates of the Sisters of the Society. The Sisters took over the training of our novices until our major superiors decided that the growing number of vocations required a new novitiate of our own, which without being strictly canonical would provide the special training for the Oblate Sisters.

This project was realized in 1993 in Menzingen, when the General Motherhouse of the Society had just been established under Fr. Franz Schmidberger as Superior.

A steady influx of aspirants presented themselves continually, and the General Motherhouse became too small to shelter everyone. It was necessary to find another nest. Therefore, in August 1999, Bishop Fellay decided to transfer the Novitiate of the Oblate Sisters to Salvan, a small village in Valais, Switzerland, about 15 miles from Econe. The Society already owned a house there, purchased during the lifetime of Archbishop Lefebvre, who had the idea of opening a boys' school.

What do you do in Salvan?

Indeed, our Sisters have to manage everything and learn how to handle brooms, lawn mowers, paintbrushes, and electric drills! And more than once, wherever experience is wanting, we have to test our ingenuity! But that is not the essential part.

In the silence and recollection of a more retired life, postulants and novices prepare to become the auxiliaries of the priests–auxiliaries, as we have already mentioned, not only with their hands but also with their souls and their spirit. Not yet involved in the bustle of the active life, they construct the future foundation of their lives and become initiated into the secrets of the interior life: the "reason for being" consecrated to God, as stated in the Statutes. They learn that this life of union with God must be all the more profound because it will be less protected later. Adapting to their own state, they apply to themselves the words St. Vincent de Paul addressed to his Daughters:

...Insofar as they are more exposed out in the world to the occasions of sin than Sisters who live in a cloister, having no monastery but the house [or the school or the priory]...for their cloister, they will have obedience; for their grill, the fear of God. They must have as much virtue as if they had made their profession in a religious Order. They are obliged to comport themselves, whenever they find themselves in the midst of the world, with as much recollection, purity of heart and body, detachment from creatures, and edification as true nuns in the solitude of their own monastery.

This is a vast training program for two years of novitiate, which is not too much!

The Sisters follow courses in the morning and in the afternoon, according to their level. Catholic doctrine and the History of the Church are lessons taught by the chaplain. The Novice Mistress teaches Spirituality and Religious Life. The discovery of the liturgy is directly integrated into the rhythm of the liturgical year. The proximity of Econe makes it possible for us to attend and to appreciate the splendor of ceremonies on feast days. Spiritual readings, joined with daily reading of Holy Scripture, nourish the soul and strengthen the spirit. Time for personal study makes it possible for each Sister to assimilate what has been taught and to deepen it according to her needs.

In addition to this spiritual training, our Sisters are also instructed in house management, and receive practical instruction in cooking, sewing, laundry, and sacristy work: in a word, everything that makes up the life of a priory. Besides all this, they have half an hour of Gregorian chant lesson each day, two recreational periods, and normally one outing a month in the beautiful Swiss mountains.

Now you have more or less a complete idea of the life we lead in the Novitiate of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus.

Our Novitiate is French speaking officially, but it admits all nationalities. Recently, with the arrival of more English speaking vocations, instructions are now given in English simultaneously with French. For the moment, we wait for Divine Providence, which will permit the opening of other novitiates of different languages in other countries.

Once this preparation is completed, do they pronounce vows?

At the end of this preparation the novice commits herself not by professing public vows, but by making an act of engagement, an act by which she offers her oblation to God, with the Divine Victim, and promises to observe the Statutes–especially what they prescribe concerning the virtues of Obedience, Poverty, and Chastity.

After six years of annual engagement, the Oblates can request the renewal of their engagement for a period of three years, and after nine years they can ask for a perpetual engagement.

The renewal of their engagements occurs on the feast of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, on September 15. Even though the Society is not a religious society canonically, the Oblates should strive to practice the religious virtues and can, in agreement with their director of conscience, take private vows (Statutes).

To what sort of apostolate do the Oblates consecrate themselves?

Since our Statutes stipulate no other goal than devotion to the works of the Society according to one's talents, the apostolate of the Oblates can vary as much as the works themselves.

At the end of her novitiate, the new Oblate can be sent either to a priory, a school, or to a seminary. In these settings, already very different in themselves, very humble, sometimes hidden, she can exercise a great variety of tasks according to her aptitudes: housekeeping, sewing, office work, secretarial work, catechism, primary or secondary school teaching, nursing, etc. In the priories, every sort of activity is possible, and our Superior General can find for every Sister a place where she can best develop her personality for the greater glory of God. Wherever she is sent, the Oblate Sister never forgets that she has given herself "to serve."

How many Oblates are there now, and what are their nationalities?

Without taking into account the novices and the postulants, there are currently 74 Oblates: 20 Oblates from France, 8 from Germany, 8 from the Philippines, 7 from Switzerland, 4 from the United States, 3 from Argentina, 3 from Austria, 3 from Canada, 3 from the Ukraine, 2 from Kenya, and others from Australia, Belgium, Ghana, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, and Thailand.

At the Salvan novitiate, where currently 5 Oblates with 4 novices reside, we can count 8 different nationalities.

Where do they perform their apostolate?

The Oblates can be called to exercise their apostolate anywhere that the Society may be. Currently, we have a presence in 10 countries:

Twenty-four Sisters are in Switzerland: 12 in the General Headquarters of Menzingen, 5 in the seminary of Econe, 5 in the novitiate of Salvan, and 2 in the District Headquarters at Rickenbach. Germany has 11 Oblates: 5 at the girls' school at Schoenenberg, which is under the care of the Oblates; 1 at the seminary at Zaitzkoffen; 4 at the old people's home at Weihungszell; 1 at the Berlin priory. There are 14 Oblates in France, mainly at our schools in Bitche and in Montréal-de-l'Aude, plus two elderly Sisters in the old people's home in Le Brémien. Seven Sisters are in Canada: 3 at the school in Lauzon, 2 at the priory of Toronto, 1 at Shawinigan, and 1 at Levis. Our school in England has 4 Sisters, the priory of Montalenghe (Italy) has 2 Sisters, and the priory of Roodeport in South Africa has 2 more. Finally, there are Oblates at the priories of Buenos Aires (Argentina), Jaidhof (Austria), Manila (Philippines), Warsaw (Poland), and at the St. Ignatius Retreat House in Ridgefield (USA).

Does an Oblate necessarily return to her country to exercise her apostolate?

No, an Oblate does not necessarily return to her country to exercise her apostolate. We make our Oblation in the hands of the Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X and we know that we are at the service of the Society. However, we also know that when he gives assignments, our Superior takes into consideration the Oblate's health, language, and skills. It is for this same reason that we read without fear these words from our Statutes: "The Oblate must adapt herself with generosity to the circumstances of her apostolate and have confidence in the graces that God gives to souls of good will."

What does the Oblates' habit signify?

As all religious habits, that of the Oblate Sisters signifies our separation from the world and the fact that we totally belong to God. In order to distinguish our habit from that of the Sisters of the Society of Saint Pius X, Archbishop Lefebvre decided to make their veil in a pointed form, and ours round; and the neckline of their scapular square, and ours round. Instead of the medal of St. Pius X, we receive and wear the cross of St. Benedict. Is this not for us a constant invitation to live our Oblation in union with Our Lady of Compassion? Oblata...

 

For information:

Novice Mistress

Noviciat Ste Therese

1922 Salvan, VS

Switzerland

Telephone: [41] (27) 761-2128 Fax: [41] (27) 761-2119