Oblate Program records

Oblates have been a part of Benedictine life since its earliest years. They are lay people who associate themselves with a particular Benedictine monastery to enhance their experience of Christian life. Only after Vatican II were women's communities allowed to receive Oblates. While serving as director of Oblates in the late 1970s, Sister Benita Coffey, OSB saw oblation as a viable alternative to vowed religious life that might be of interest to some women coming to inquire. With the approval of the Prioress, Sister Collette Westrick, OSB, Sister Benita initiated the program for the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago. In the early 2000s, Sister Suzanne Zuercher, ODB encouraged the faculty of St. Scholastica Academy in Chicago to become oblates while Sister Joan Hentges, OSB concentrated on enrolling oOblates at Christ the King Church in Pueblo, Colorado. Those initiatives both sparked notable growth in the Oblate Program.