INVOCATION of the HOLY SPIRIT
(stand)

ABBOT: COME Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love. V/. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.

ASSEMBLY: R/. And you shall renew the face of the earth.

ABBOT: LET us pray:

O GOD, you have taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit: grant us by the same Spirit to know what is right, and always to rejoice in His consolation. Raise up, O Lord, in your Church, the Spirit which animated our holy father Benedict, so that, filled with that same Spirit we may strive to love what he loved, and to practice what he taught. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

ASSEMBLY: Amen.

QUESTIONING and ADMONITION
(the assembly is seated)

ABBOT: What do you seek?

CANDIDATE(s):  The mercy of God and fellowship with you as an Oblate of our holy father Benedict.

ABBOT:

MY BROTHER (brothers, sister(s)) in St. Benedict, you have already sufficiently learned the Rule under which you wish to serve, not only by reading but also by a whole year of practice and experience as an Oblate novice (Oblate novices). You are therefore aware under what conditions you are about to be accepted as an Oblate (Oblates) of St. Benedict. If then you are ready and willing to be guided by the salutary teachings of our holy father Benedict, in so far as your state in life permits, and are resolved to remain faithful and persevere in your holy resolution, you may now make your Final Oblation.

THE PROMISES

ABBOT: DO you reject sin and renounce the glamor of evil so as to live in the freedom of God's children.

CANDIDATE(s): I do.

ABBOT: DO you dedicate your life to the service of God and mankind according to the spirit of the Rule of our holy father Benedict.

CANDIDATE(s): I do.

ABBOT: WILL you strive to be faithful and persevere in your holy resolution until death?

CANDIDATE(s): With the help of God, I will.

ABBOT: THANKS be to God! Since God has given you this good will and you trust in His help, you may now make your Final Act of Oblation.

FINAL ACT of OBLATION

CANDIDATE(s): PEACE. in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN.

I, (baptismal name) (oblation name) (family name) of (place of residence) offer myself to almighty God / through the Blessed Virgin Mary,/ and our holy father Benedict /for Saint Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo, California,/ and I do promise before God and all His Saints the reformation of my life,/ the service of God and humankind / according to the Rule of our holy father Benedict,/in so far as my state in life permits./ This I do promise on the (_) day of (month) in the year of our Lord, 19(_).

FINAL PETITION

UPHOLD ME, LORD, ACCORDING to your WORD
AND I SHALL LIVE:
LET NOT MY HOPE be put to SHAME.

ALL PRESENT REPEAT: Uphold me, Lord, according to your word and I shall live, let not my hope be put to shame.

FORMAL ACCEPTANCE

ABBOT: AS GOD'S repreentative, I accept your Oblation and admit you into spiritual union and affiliation with our monastery as an Oblate (as Oblates) and adopted son (sons, daughter, daughters) of our holy father Benedict, and give you the privilege of sharing in our spiritual goods, and I assure you the eternal life God promises you as you persevere in your holy resolution. May God strengthen you in your faith.

CONCLUDING PRAYERS
(stand)

ABBOT: Let us pray:

O GOD, you have been pleased to fill your holy confessor Benedict with the spirit of all the just: grant to this (these) your servant(s) that, being filled with the same spirit, he (she, they) may faithfully fulfill what he (she, they) has (have) promised with the help of your grace.

O God, you willed that the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, herself the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, should be presented in the temple: grant, we beseech you, that, through her intercession, we may become worthy to be presented in the temple of your heavenly glory. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN.

More information concerning the oblates of St. Andrew's Abbey may be found in the introduction to Oblates of Saint Andrew's Abbey; in the Oblate Constitutions, in the article, What is an Oblate, and in the rite of Investiture as an Oblate Novice .