**2. Ritual Contexts: Spiritual and Ritual**

The first research question (1) reads: what is the monastic and personal context of Benedictine oblates in the Netherlands? The ritual context of monastic life establishes the otherness of the individual and the institute. It can be understood as liminal in a twofold sense: first, the cloister provides a liminal space for the individual monk because he continuously lives in ritual sequences and is in permanent transformation. This state was coined as liminal in rites-of-passage theory (Van Gennep 1960), and later broadened to ritual phases or moments in multiple settings (Quartier 2019a, pp. 121–25). The spiritual self is in continuous motion, in a permanent phase of liminality (Waaijman 2002, p. 426). Second, the monastery takes a liminal position towards society by not being caught up in the common patterns of social interaction. The members of the convent do not have a social status in the world; they are "structurally invisible." To provide this institutional "anti-structure", a ritual structure is required within the monastery (Turner 1967). Both forms of liminality are established by the ritual practices provided by the Rule of St Benedict. The ritualised nature of monastic life implies that all activities go beyond the functional realm of social and economic life. The monastery offers a secluded space where this ritual spectrum can cover the life of a community. But what happens when a ritual transfer takes place and people engage with parts of the spectrum in a different ritual context?

Waaijman includes members outside the spiritual centre of the monastery in this liminal state of life, because, in the development of a spiritual tradition, it is "an important step that people can acquaint the basic intuition in their own way" (Waaijman 2002, p. 116). This means that oblates not only consume the ritual life provided by monks but enact their own ritual repertoire in their own personal context. They possess their own attitude towards ritual practices in relation to their form-of-life. The idea of double liminality—towards the outside and towards the inside—could also be characteristic for the ritual fields that oblates discover. It might be the case that they live discrete from their context by praying. Perhaps they prevent themselves from being caught up in social competition by ritualising everyday practices, and reading possibly helps oblates find meaning in the structure they give to their life.

In the Netherlands, there are three Benedictine abbeys, which each have a group of oblates affiliated to their monastic community. They are all contemplative houses but belong to different congregations within the Benedictine Confederation. St Willibrord Abbey in Doetinchem belongs to the Congregation of Subiaco-Montecasino, St Adelbert Abbey in Egmond to the Congregation of the

<sup>2</sup> In total, 200 questionnaires were sent out; this represents a response rate above 25%. The questionnaire contained six open questions, with sub-questions, on their affiliation with the abbey (1), personal background (2), practice of prayer (3), reading (4) and work (5). Finally, respondents were asked about the problems they experience in practising their form-of-life (6).

<sup>3</sup> Atlas.ti (Version 8.4.15) computer software was used. Quotes were merged in such a way that respondents were counted once by being given a code. The techniques used were "merge codes" and "form code groups". To be able to compare respondents, we used the function "form document-groups".

Annunciation, and St Benedict Abbey in Vaals to the Congregation of Solesmes. St Willibrord4 has a special characteristic, insofar as it is largely open towards oblates. Until recently, secular oblates were even buried in the cemetery of the abbey, something entirely exceptional. Furthermore, the abbey has decades of experience in interreligious dialogue, especially with Eastern religions. Numbering 110, the current group of oblates is large relative to the 10 monks of the abbey. They meet twice a year for oblate days. St Adelbert5 has a comparable openness towards oblates, but the building is larger, so the distance between monks and oblates is traditionally greater. The abbey runs a journal which is read by many oblates, and regularly organises retreats. In addition, the abbey operates a shop that serves the community, the local area and beyond. The present group of oblates numbers 90 and is comparable to the first group, but the number of monks is larger at 16. They come once a month for oblate days. The St Benedict Abbey6 has the smallest number of oblates, 40, with 12 monks living in the abbey. The group is separated from the monastic community, which is more closed in character due to a traditional strict observance. The oblates usually come twice a year for oblate days. In all the abbeys, oblates arrive at the guesthouse as individual guests and are spiritually supervised by one of the monks, the oblate rector or other members of the community.

To understand how their own personal context and that of the abbey the oblates are affiliated with relate to their practices, the respondents were divided into groups. This allowed the groups to be compared.<sup>7</sup> Concerning the monastic context of the abbeys, 32 questionnaires were received from St Willibrord, 15 from St Adelbert and 6 from St Benedict. The ages of the respondents and their church affiliations were closely examined in regard to their personal context. Seven respondents were under 50, 26 were between 50 and 70, and 17 were over 70. Thirty oblates participating in the research were Roman Catholic, nine were Protestant, and eleven had another ecclesial affiliation. The relationship of the respondents with the monastic context of the abbey differs when considering how often they physically visit the abbey. The largest group (22) visit between five and ten times a year, some visit less than five times (14), and some visit more than 10 times (11). Of the respondents, 33 were male and 20 were female. Concerning their education, nearly all the respondents had completed higher professional education or academic study; only six had not.
