Mount Welcomes New Oblates

Back row: Mark, Debbie, Anna, Anne, Mary. Front: Brenda, Sister Mary Elizabeth, Gus.

Seven new oblates were welcomed into the Mount community at a ceremony on May 4, 2024. The circle of lay persons committing themselves to practice Benedictine values in their lives continues to widen, and each one brings new gifts and a unique story to the community.

Mark Lepper works at Sophia Center, so he is able to pray regularly with the
community and even has his own choir stall in the chapel. Brenda Mortell and
Debbie Carmody live in the Kansas City area. Brenda is the associate director of Keeler Women’s Center (KWC) and has been inspired for years by the sisters’ commitment there. Debbie is a regular volunteer at KWC and a product of Benedictine education in Kansas City, Kansas.

Another nearby oblate is Gus Torrez, who lives in Topeka and attends the oblate group that meets there. A government office worker, he found his way to Benedictine spirituality gradually after coming to a greater appreciation of his Catholic faith.

With the movement to hybrid or completely online oblate meetings, more friends of the Mount are able to participate despite living at a distance. In her youth, Mary Muldoon spent a few years discerning a monastic vocation at the Mount. After leaving, marrying, and moving to Denver, she thought she would lose her close connection, but now she is delighted to be able to make her oblation.

Anne Elias McNulty’s Atchison family has been associated with the sisters for generations. Although she lives in North Carolina, she can now join the Benedictine family, which includes a brother (now deceased) and sister who are oblates and another sister, Sister Therese Elias, who is not only a sister but an oblate director.

Anna Shingledecker was able to attend oblate meetings at the Mount, and she and her husband and two toddlers frequently attended Sunday Mass at the monastery until they recently moved back to their home state of Virginia. Anna will be able to remain connected to the community and her oblate group through Zoom meetings.

The sisters rejoice as the oblate numbers grow.