OBERAMMERGAU
184
OBLATES
or bursar, who acted as chief purveyor of all food-
stufTs to the monastery and as general steward. In
recent times the name procurator is often found used
for this otlicial. He had as assistants: (a) the sub-
cellarer; (h) the "graniitorius". Chapter xxxi of St.
Benedict's Rule tells " Whsit kind of man the Cellarer
ought to bo"; in practice this position is the most re-
sponsible one after that of abbot or superior. (4)
The rcfectorian, who had charge of the frater, or re-
fectory and its furniture, including such things as
crockery, cloths, dishes, spoons, forks, etc. (."3) The
kitchener, who presided o\cr the cookery department,
not only for the coimiuiiiily but for all guests, de-
pendants, etc. (0) The novice master (see Novice),
whose assistant was sometimes called the "zelator".
(7) The infirmarian, besides looking after the .sick
brethren, was also responsible for the quarterly "blood
letting" of the monks, a custom almost universal in
medieval monasteries. (8) The guest-master, whose
duties are dealt with in chapter liii of St. Benedict's
Rule. (9) The almoner. (10) The chamberlain, or
"vestiarius".
Besides these officials who were appointed more or Jess permanently, there were certain others appointed for a week at a time to carrj' out various duties. These posit ions were usually filled in turn by all below the rank of sub-prior, though very busy officials, e. g., the cellarer, might be excused. The chief of these was the hebdomadarian, or priest for the week. It was his duty to sing the conventual mass on all days during the week, to intone the "Deus in adjutorium" at the beginning of each of the canonical hours, to bless holy water, etc. The antiphoner was also ap- pointed for a week at a time. It was his duty to read or sing the invitatory at Matins, to give out the first antiphon at the Psalms, and also the versicles, respon- soria after the lessons etc. The weekly reader and servers in the kitcheri and refectory entered upon their duties on Sunday when, in company with the servers of the previous week, they had to ask and receive a special blessing in choir as directed in chapters xxxv and xxxviii of St. Benedict's Rule. Nowadays the ten- dency is towards a simplification in the details of mo- nastic life and consequently to a reduction in the number of officials in a monastery, but all the more important offices named above exist to-day in ever}' monaster}- though the name obedientiaries has quite dropped out of everyday use.
Gasqitet. English Mmiastic Life (London. 1904), 58-110; Cus- tomary of . , . St. Augustine's, Canterbury, and St. Peter's, West- minster, ed. Thompson (London, 1902); The Ancren Riwle, ed. Morton (London, 1853); Feasey, Monasticism (London, 1898), 175-252. See bibliography appended to Monasticism, Western, and also to tlie articles on the various monastic orders.
G. Roger Hudleston.
Oberammergau. See Passion Plan's.
Oblate Sisters of Providence, a congregation of negro iiiuis liMindi'il at Baltimore, Md., by the Rev. Jacques Hector Niclidias .Joubert de la Muraille, for the education of coloured children. Father Joubert belonged to a noble French family forced by the Revo- lution to take refuge in San Domingo. Alone of his family, he escajied from a massacre and went to Balti- more, entering St. Mary's Seminary. After his ordina- tion he was given charge of the coloured Catholics of St . Mary's chapel. Finding he was making no headway as the sermons were not remembererl and there were no schools where the children could be taught, he formed the idea of founding a religious community for the purpose of educating these children. In this he was encouraged by his two friends. Fathers Babade and Tessier. He was introduced to four coloured women, who kept a small private school, and lived a retired life with the forlorn hope of consecrating their lives to God. Father Joubert made known to them his plans and they offered to be at his service. With the ap- proval of the Archbishop of Baltimore a novitiate was
begun and on 2 July, 1829, the first four sisters. Miss
Ehsabeth Lange of Santiago, Cuba, Miss Mary Rosine
Boegues of San Domingo, Mitis Mary lraiices Balas
of Sati Domingo, Miss Mary Theresa Duchemin of
Baltimore made their vows. Sister Mary Flisaheth
was clioscn superior, and Rev. Father Joubert was ap-
pointed director. Gregory XVI ap])nive(l the order
2 October, 1831 under the title of Oblate Sisters of
Providence. At present the .sisters conduct schools
and orphanages at Baltimore, Washington, Leaven-
worth, St. Louis, Normandy (Mo.), and 4 hou.ses in
Cuba, 2 in Havana, 1 in Santa Clara, 1 in Cardenas.
The mother-house and novitiate is tit Baltimore.
There were 130 sisters, 9 novices, and 7 postulants
in 1910.
Heimbucher, Die Orden u. Kong. d. kath, Kirche, III (Pader- born, 1908), 573; Catholic Directory (1910).
Magdalen Gk.\tin.
Oblates of Mary Immaculate. — I. Name and Origin. — The first members of this society, founded in 1816, were known as "Missionaries of Provence". They received the title of "Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate" and approbation as a congrega- tion under simple vows in a Brief of Leo XII dated 17 Felsruary, 1826. The founder, Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod (b. at Aix, 1 August, 1782), left France at an early age on account of the Revolution, and re- mained four years at N'enice, one at Naples, and three at Palermo, before returning to Paris, where he en- tered St. Sulpice in 1808. He was ordained priest at Amiens on 21 December, 1811. In 1818 he had gath- ered a small community around him, and made his religious profession at the church of the Mission, Aix, with MM. Mounier, Tempier, Mye, and Moreau as fellow-priests, and MM. Dupuy, Courtes, and Su- zanne as scholastic students. He became \'icar-Gen- eral of Marseilles in 1823, titular Bishop of Icosia and coadjutor in 1834, and Bishop of Marseilles in 1837. In 1856 he was named senator and member of the Legion of Honour by Napoleon III, and died in 1861, having been superior-general of his congregation from 1816 to that date.
II. Members and Organization. — The congrega- tion consists of priests and lay-brothers, leading a common life. The latter act as temporal coadjutors, farm or workshop instructors in industrial and refor- matory schools, and teachers and catechists on the foreign missions. The central and supreme authority of the society is two-fold : (1) intermittent and extraor- dinary, as vested in the general chapter meeting once in six years, and composed of the general admin- istrators, provincials, vicars of missions, and delegates from each province or vicariate; (2) ordinary, as vested in the superior-general elected for life by the general chapter, and assisted by a council of four as- sistants and a bursar-general, named for a term of years, renewable by the same authority. The general administration was situated at Marseilles until 1861, when it was transferred to Paris; the persecutions of 1902 obliged its removal to Liege in 1903, whence it was transferred to Rome in 1905. The congregation is officially represented at the Holy See by a procura- tor-general named by the central administration; this authority also elects the chaplain-general of the Holy Family Sisters of Bordeaux, founded by Abb6 de Noailles, and bv him confided to the spiritual direc- tion of the Oblate Fathers. Until 1851 all Oblate houses were directly dependent on the central admin- istration. The general chapter held in that year di- vided its dependencies into provinces and missionary vicariates, each having its own provincial or vicar aided by a council of four consultors and a bursar. At the head of each regularly constituted house is placed a local superior aided by two assessors and a bursar, all named by the provincial administration. The edu- cational establishments also possess a special council of professors and directors.
