Another fox in the garden this morning. This one seems to find rats a tasty morsel, but we don’t mind, being fairly indifferent to both rats and pigeons. Fortunately, we haven’t any guests staying with us at the moment, so no outraged squeals of disapproval to contend with!

Today’s chapter of RB (53: On the Offering of the Children of the Nobility and the Poor) tends to elicit lots of comments from guests, usually of the questioning rather than indignant variety. The point of the chapter is surely what it says about oblates (who today are always adults). The offering of self is expressed in written form and usually takes place within the liturgical action of the Mass, being closely associated with the offering of the bread and wine which will become the Eucharist. The oblate’s chart, like the nun’s chart of profession, is placed under the corporal: a reminder that the promises we make are made to God and are identified with the sacrificial offering of his Son. Oblation is a serious step in anyone’s life, and we are lucky here at Hendred to have a body of really admirable oblates and associates drawn from various ecclesial traditions. Happily, they all seem to like the resident hound, who is totally unmoved by the presence of foxes in the monastery garden.

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