Reflections,%20Resources%20and%20Recommendations

1
Reflections, Resources and Recommendations

• For Oblates and other Benedictines Venturing on
  the Web
• Lucie Johnson, OblSB and Richard Oliver, OSB
• July 28-30, 2001

2
Three Themes

• The webpage as a dwelling principles of
  cyberhospitality
• Sharing information, teaching, transmitting text
  resources for Oblates
• Using the web to create community

3
Section One Cyberhospitality

• Let all guests who arrive be received like
  Christ, for He is going to say, I came as a
  guest, and you received Me (Matt. 2535).

4
Lucies (once-upon-a-time) Approach to Web Page
design

• Look Ma what I can do!!!
• Web page as product
• Where I am compelled to be
• cool and sport the latest.
• I cant do this!!! Lets forget it.

5
Another View

• A web page at its best becomes a welcoming portal
  for those who are searching for different kinds
  of information.
• The web weaver builds and maintains a
  comfortable, accessible, updated space.
• The web porter manages the questions,
  inquiries, communications.

6
Resources for Web Weavers

• www.osb.org/welcome.html
• General philosophy and links to helpful sites.
• http//employees.csbsju.edu/roliver/scrip/
• The Scriptorium, Abbey Web Office
• practical tips for HTML authors

7
Resources for Web Porters

• Webkeepers Twenty-first Century Monastic
  Porters by Diana Seago, OSB, and Linda Herndon,
  OSB in Benedictines www.mountosb.org/cyberporters.
  html
• Benedictine Internet Report (Jan. 1998)
  www.osb.org/bic/report.html

8
Message and Technique what is your goal?

• A technically sophisticated site
• http//www.farnboroughabbey.org/
• A simple site
• http//www.benedictinesisters.org/
• An intermediate site
• http//www.sbm.osb.org/

9
Section TwoTransmitting Information

• ...let all occupy themselves
• in reading RB 48.

10
Scribes Old and Newhttp//employees.csbsju.edu/ro
liver/scrip/scriptoria.html

• Complaints
• fatigue
• not creative
• boring text
• Blessings
• lectio divina
• indoors
• stability

• Complaints
• standards
• browsers
• hack work
• Blessings
• lectio divina
• worldwide
• Stability

11
Academic and Spiritual Resources

• Saint Benedict
• Rule of Benedict
• Dialogues, Bk II
• Bibliographies
• ABA AMN
• General Information
• Liturgy Chant
• Whats New

• RB Daily
• Daily Reflection
• Universalis
• Blue Cloud
• Lectio Divina
• Retreat Centers
• Oblate Formation
• Websites

12
Useful Information for Oblates

• An Incomplete List

13
Good Oblates Reference Site

• From the OSB website,
• information and links about Oblates
  www.osb.org/obl/

14
Manual, Constitutions for Oblates

• Saint Vincent Archabbey, PA Formation Manual
  www.osb.org/sva/obl/
• Saint Andrews Abbey, CA What it Means to
  be an Oblate, and Oblate Constitutions www.valyer
  mo.com/oblates1.html

15
Camaldolese Oblates

• The eremetical branch of the Benedictines
  includes a Rule for Oblates
• www.camaldolese.com/

16
Internet Oblates

• Oblates of the
• World Community for Christian Meditation.
  (Laurence Freeman, OSB, Monastery of Christ the
  King ,
• London, England )
• www.wccm.org/obl01.html

17
Lay Benedictine Spirituality

• Listening and Responding Benedictine
  Spirituality in Non-monastic Contexts by Wil
  Derkse www.stthomas.edu/cathstudies/logos/derkse.h
  tml
• Catholic, Benedictine Values in an Educational
  Environment by John Klassen, OSB Emmanuel
  Renner, OSB and Mary Reuter, OSB
  www.osb.org/acad/benval1.html

18
Of Historical Interest

• The Origin of the Oblates www.saintjohnsabbey.
  org/obl/info/oblhistory.html

19
Oblate Newsletters On Line
20
Various Styles of Newsletters

• Saint Walburga Abbey www.walburga.org/oblates.html
  
• St Procopius Abbey www.procopius.org/Events/Past_E
  vents/Abbey_Publications/The_Oblate_News_letter/th
  e_oblate_news_letter.html
• Saint Johns Abbey www.osb.org/oblate/
• WCCM (not public just a fragment)
  http//www.wccm.org/via0797.html
• Some monasteries (like Blue Cloud) use a listserve

21
Prayer and Spirituality

• "In the sight of the Angels
• I will sing praise to You"
• (Ps. 137), RB 19.

22
The Liturgy of the Hours (1)

• Reading and Psalm Cycle for the Liturgy of the
  Hours, from Mount St Scholastica in Atchinson,
  Kansas (with commentaries for the readings)
  www.mountosb.org/LOH/
• Exellent resource about short breviaries
  www.kellerbook.com/

23
Liturgy of the Hours (2)

• You can pray the liturgy of the hours from your
  computer screen at www.universalis.com
• You can listen to the liturgy of the hours at
  www.monksofadoration.org/audiolit.html

24
Monastic Spirituality

• New Mellerays Primer on Monastic Spirituality
  contains instructions on lectio divina and
  contemplative prayer.
• The URL below will take you to their index page,
  scroll down to find the primer link under Our
  Cistercian Vocation. www.osb.org/cist/melleray/pr
  imer.html

25
Contemplative Spirituality (1)

• An Interreligious site by David Steindl-Rast, OSB
  www.gratefulness.org/

• A wonderful prayer site by the Irish Jesuits
  www.jesuit.ie/prayer/

26
Contemplative Spirituality (2)

• The site of the Taize community. Contains the
  songs and prayer instructions. http//www.taize.fr
  /en/index.htm
• Instruction and information on centering prayer
  http//www.centeringprayer.com/

27
Section 3 cybercommunity

• ...for the strongest kind of monks,
• the Cenobites (RB1).

28
Benedictine Interest Listserves

• OSB-L at listserv_at_vm.marist.edu Low volume
  general Benedictine list
• MonasticLife at http//groups.yahoo.com/ High
  volume, lively list offshoot of OSB-L
• Oblateforum at http//groups.yahoo.com/ A list
  for Benedictine Oblates

29
Benedictine-related Interests

• Center-l at listserv_at_maelstrom.stjohns.edu About
  the practice of centering prayer. Quiet to lively
• Interreligiousdialog at http//groups.yahoo.com/
  loosely connected with MID, mostly book
  discussion
• And many others

30
You Could Start Your Own Group

• It is easy to do at places like
  http//groups.yahoo.com/ even if you are not
  technically savvy, and dont have listserv
  software
• You could also run your own listserv, but the
  advantage of the Yahoo site is that one can do
  everything on the web, and ones mailbox does not
  get cluttered

31
Appendix

• Choosing an ISP
• Internet Service Provider

32
Choosing an ISP / Web Server

• Setup Fee (rare? waived?)
• Monthly Fee (AOL 21.95/mo. 239/yr.)
• Duration (stability)
• Disk space / storage
• Hit limits

• Statistics (WebTrends, analysis software)
• E-mail 6-12 usernames AOL 5 screen names
• FTP (file transfer protocol)

33
Choosing an ISP (2)

• HTTP 2 (hypertext transfer protocol)
• CGI (common gateway interface) or
• ASP (active server pages M)
• Active X
• XHTML

• Front Page Extensions
• Audio files
• Video streaming
• List management
• Chat
• Instant Messaging

34
T h e E n d