Anglican Benedictines?

Discussion in 'Liturgy, and Book of Common Prayer' started by Invictus, Jul 23, 2021.

  1. Invictus

    Invictus Well-Known Member

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    I am curious if there are any Benedictines on the Forum. (I am a lay confrater and have used the Benedictine Office in the past, though now the daily routine consists of a mix of the 1662 and the 1979.) Does anyone else here have any experience with the Rule of St. Benedict or the sevenfold Office in an Anglican context? If so, what are your opinions regarding the possibility of practicing the Benedictine pattern within Anglicanism?
     
  2. Botolph

    Botolph Well-Known Member

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    I Australia we have an Abbey in Camperdown Victoria. I have visited many years ago when it was bit smaller.

    https://sites.google.com/view/stmarkabbey/home

    Given the strength of the Benedictine component throughout English History I have a sense that the Benedictine pattern sits well within Anglicanism.
     
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  3. Invictus

    Invictus Well-Known Member

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    Have you read any of Martin Thornton’s books, by any chance? He talks about the links between English Benedictinism and the Book of Common Prayer quite a bit. You might find much in what he has to say that is worth mentally chewing over.
     
  4. Br. Thomas

    Br. Thomas Active Member

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    We have an Anglican Catholic group of Franciscan Order of Divine Compassion in GA that is centered at Saint Stephen's Cathedral in Athens GA. They follow the Rule of Benedict. Saint Stephen's is the seat of the Diocese of the South and home-cathedral of Archbishop/Metropolitan Mark Haverland.
    The web-site for Saint Stephen's has a section on the FODC.
     
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  5. PDL

    PDL Well-Known Member Anglican

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    Are you connected with any Benedictine monastery, perhaps as an oblate?
     
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  6. Invictus

    Invictus Well-Known Member

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    I am a confrater of a particular monastery, but not (yet) an oblate.
     
  7. Shane R

    Shane R Well-Known Member

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    There's a group called 'Anglican Communion Benedictines' based out of High Point, NC (I could have the city wrong but the abbot is in North Carolina). The Abbot is Danny Nobles. Whether they are in the Anglican Communion is somewhat dubious, and probably not an accurate description. Most recently, they were under the Episcopal protection of CANA West.

    There is also Bethlehem Priory, who seem to be having some trouble finding a home. They've moved from KY to IN to MI in the last several years. But they are Benedictine and affiliated with the Anglican Catholic Church.
     
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  8. PDL

    PDL Well-Known Member Anglican

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    I have heard of associates and companions but not a confrater. What is one?

    Have you not named the monastery because I did not specifically ask, you are not permitted to do so, or you choose not to name it?
     
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  9. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    Why is Anglican Monasticism such a small thing in the US
     
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  10. Spiritus

    Spiritus Active Member

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    The Order of the Holy Cross is an Episcopal monastic order that follows the rule of St. Benedict and uses the Benedictine Office. They have two monasteries here in the United States. I'm sure they could share some insights if you reached out to them.

    I personally don't see anything that could cause an issue with the Benedictine office or Rule being used within Anglicanism.
     
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  11. Invictus

    Invictus Well-Known Member

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    The only real issue I’ve run into is that, with regard to the Daily Office, the English Reformation intentionally collapsed the old monastic pattern into just two daily canonical services: Matins/Morning Prayer and Evensong/Evening Prayer. To return to the old seven- or eight-fold pattern outside a monastic communal context would entail not using the Prayer Book to cover the daily cycle, and to realize a different vision of daily formation than that prescribed by the Prayer Book. Yet the older monastic pattern is arguably superior in many ways. That is the basic dilemma I run into.
     
  12. Invictus

    Invictus Well-Known Member

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    A confrater is simply an associate of the monastery.
     
  13. Invictus

    Invictus Well-Known Member

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    I suspect because:
    1) We’re a Protestant denomination and monasticism is very much the exception as far as vocations go;
    2) As a denomination we’ve always been a very small percentage of the US population. The Episcopal Church by generous estimates only has about 3 million members.
    It’s not much in the way of reasons but it’s the best I have at the moment.
     
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  14. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    They might have 3 million members but only about 600K show up
     
  15. bwallac2335

    bwallac2335 Well-Known Member

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    But you are probably right on this.
     
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  16. Invictus

    Invictus Well-Known Member

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    Hence my qualifier "by generous estimates". As is true with the other mainline churches, you have the "regular Sunday" crowd and the "Christmas and Easter" crowd. How many belong to each group is anyone's guess, but I suspect it's probably 1/3 of the total in the former and the 2/3 in the latter, which would mean about 1 million show up for the Sunday liturgy on average each week. Since we would not expect committed monastics to come out of the "Christmas and Easter" group, that doesn't leave much to work with in terms of new monastic vocations, at least in this country. Hopefully that will change over time. But for now Anglican monasticism in the U.S. is a very small phenomenon.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2021
  17. Rexlion

    Rexlion Well-Known Member

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    Those folks of Bethlehem Priory had better be careful, or else at the present trajectory they're liable to wind up in Ontario! ;)
     
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  18. Shane R

    Shane R Well-Known Member

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    The border is still closed until at least the middle of August.
     
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  19. PDL

    PDL Well-Known Member Anglican

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    I'm afraid it's a small thing anywhere.
     
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  20. Invictus

    Invictus Well-Known Member

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    True.
     
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