More lay people opting for monastic experience

BIG SUR, Calif. — When Paula Huston first met the monks of the New Camaldoli Hermitage, a Benedictine monastic community perched on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, she was in her late 30s and considered herself an atheist.

“I don’t think I’d ever even talked to a priest before, much less seeing a monk, and here were these monks, and they were dressed in their interesting and strange white robes, and it just struck me so hard that this was really a radically alternative way to live,” she recalled.

Huston, who taught writing at California State University-San Luis Obispo, is now one of hundreds of oblates, or people who continue to live in the world and affiliate with the monastic community. They follow an ancient rule for spiritual growth written 1,500 years ago by St. Benedict that continues to guide daily living for monks and oblates alike.

When she first came, Huston said, the kindness of the monks was striking, especially at that time in her life.

“It was almost a deliberate kindness that was offered to people,” she said. “And after having gone through a divorce and divorce court, I was used to a much different attitude from people in my life at that point. It was also the first time I had to look inside of myself — just to confront who was inside. Who was this angry young woman inside? What was I so angry about, and what had I been missing for years and years and years? What was I deeply longing for?”

The oblate program was launched in 1984 at a sister location — an urban community in Berkeley called Incarnation Monastery. At first there were only 15 oblates. By 2002, the numbers had swelled to over 350 oblates affiliated with both Incarnation Monastery and the Hermitage, which is a much more remote location. Now the number is around 700.

By comparison, 24 monks in the community have taken full vows. While the number of monks and nuns at many monasteries and convents has declined dramatically in recent years, there has been a large increase in the number of lay people who want to associate with religious communities, and that’s evident in Big Sur.