Five New Oblates Welcomed at the Mount
May 23, 2011

As is customary at Mount St. Scholastica in the Easter season, new oblates were welcomed at a ceremony of oblation in Atchison on Saturday, May 21. Oblates are lay men and women who want to make a public declaration of their desire to incorporate Benedictine spirituality and values into their lives. This year, five made their oblation, all members of the group that meets in Atchison under the guidance of Sister Thomasita Homan.

Some, like new oblate Barbara Berg, are lifelong Catholics and have deep ties to religious life. She coordinates religious education at the Catholic churches in Holton and Mayetta, Kansas. She has known the sisters through many activities and concludes, "Through the sisters and the times I have been at the Mount and experienced the hospitality, the liturgy, and the prayerfulness of the community, through what I have read and encountered during the past several years, God has drawn my heart to seek oblation."

Katherine Krause, a member of Lakeland Community Church in Lee’s Summit, first met the sisters when she trained in the Souljourners program for spiritual directors. Now, as a practicing spiritual director herself, she recognizes that, as she says, "I need a life of prayer, a community to help me to continue to open to God and others, and the wisdom of Scripture and the Rule in my life to form and inform my soul."

George Acinger, an Episcopalian, is a retired firefighter and enjoys life with his horses on a ranch in Spring Hill, Kansas. He observes, "I have been an oblate inquirer for four years, and feel that I have grown so much as a person and in my spirituality through my association with the Benedictine sisters of Mount St. Scholastica. The very first time I read the Rule, it seemed to me that St. Benedict was sitting across the table from me, telling me to listen."

A unique feature this year was the oblation of a brother and sister. Mary Kay Elias and Charles Elias can claim extremely deep connections as they are descendents of early Atchison settlers and are the fourth generation in their family to have benefitted from Benedictine education. Their sister, Sister Therese Elias, is not only a member of the community but also directs several oblate groups herself in the Kansas City area. Mary Kay, a retired postal employee from Kansas City, expresses a desire "to be a Benedictine oblate to return to my roots in the Benedictine family." Her brother, an Atchison resident, adds, "My experiences with Benedictine education played a major role in my choosing teaching as a career. My teachers had instilled in me the value of service to others."

These five are among more than 150 others who have made oblation over the years and meet regularly for prayer and support in oblate groups in St. Joseph, Topeka, Atchison, and the Oklahoma City and Kansas City metropolitan areas.

George Acinger receives his Benedictine medal from
Sister Mary Elizabeth Schweiger, subprioress.


(Left to right) Mary Kay Elias, Sister Thomasita (oblate director), Charles Elias, Sister Therese Elias.


Barbara Berg and son Brandon.


Katherine Krause signs her oblation
on the Gospel book.



New oblates read their commitment to the assembly of sisters
and loved ones at vespers.