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Benedictine Home Gatherings

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Learn how to organize Benedictine liturgy of the hours (divine office prayers) and Benedictine study sessions of the Rule of St. Benedict in your home or church.  A Benedictine oblate whose heart is full of Benedictine hospitality shares her insights and tips for successful Benedictine Gatherings in a nonmonastery setting. Here are interviews with two experts are holding Benedictine home meetings:  

Julia Smead

 Interview with Julia Smead about her Benedictine Community

 Home-setting pictures of Julia Smead's Benedictine Community

●  Church-setting pictures of Julia Smead's Benedictine Community -- the group out grew the home setting

●  Materials prepared by Julia Smead for her Benedictine Community. You need Adobe Reader (free -- see bottom of page) to read PDF files:

●  Blessing sheet used at dinner table PDF
 Evening Prayer -- I Vespers PDF 
●  Example -- Study Materials for Rule of St. Benedict PDF
●  Night Prayer -- Compline PDF

●  Newsletter article (in PDF) about Julia Smead's Benedictine Community -- the full article about the Benedictine Community was extracted (for easier reading) from the June 2009 newsletter of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Full PDF newsletter here.

●  Pictures and four audio recordings of workshops at the 2009 Benedictine Community retreat. At this Home Groups page, scroll down and then click on "Benedictine Community" to open an insert page containing the pictures and links to four audio recordings of the workshops given by Fr. Abbot Morales and Fr. Harold Comacho of St. Benedict's Abbey in Bartonville, Illinois.

● Live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area?  Anyone interested in experiencing the Benedictine traditions is welcome to join this ad hoc community for its monthly gathering. Send your RSVP to breadforthejourney@sbcglobal.net.

Barb in California

Interview with Barb about how she set up a Benedictine gathering in her home. 

 

The liturgy of the hours (also called the divine office) is sometimes held in a home or nonmonastery setting and led by lay people. 

The divine office and the study of the Rule of St. Benedict are two of the ways to live a deeper spiritual life following ancient monastic practices. I was fortunate to interview Julia Smead.  She is a knowledgeable Benedictine oblate and who is a modern pioneer in bringing the liturgy of the hours closer to where everyone lives — into the homes of faithful Christians.  These homes sessions involve vespers, a meal, study of the Rule, compline, and silence.

If you do not have Adobe Reader -- needed to read files in PDF format -- you may download the program for free.