During the Oblate Triennium, the General Administration undertook to renew the Oblate Prayer Book and to produce an Oblate Ritual as a separate booklet. In presenting the two booklets, Father General writes:

“In this year of the bicentenary of our religious family, I am happy to present this new edition of Oblate Prayer to the Congregation. This little book is a resource to help us live the spirit of prayer throughout the day. It reminds us of our Oblate feasts, prayers that are a part of our religious family’s history and customs that express who we are as Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. It is an aid for our private prayer and will enrich community gatherings with prayers that are part of the Oblate tradition, thus uniting us and deepening our Oblate spirit. Throughout the Congregation and among the laity who live the Oblate charism, there is a strong desire for more resources to help us live the charism. This renewal of Oblate Prayer has been made in response to a new and deeper appreciation of our own roots, our traditions of prayer and our customs as a Congregation.

“It is with great joy that during this 200th Jubilee year of our foundation I present to the entire Congregation the Ritual of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Now, for the first time in one volume, we have at our disposition all the texts of Masses proper to our Congregation, as well as the rites which accompany the religious life of our members.

“This Ritual will be a great aid in helping deepen the Oblate charism among us and among the people we serve. It will help us foster a common heritage, while leaving ample room for local customs and practices around the missionary world. I am hopeful that the frequent use of the Ritual will truly deepen our attachment to the Congregation, instill a greater love for our holy ones and help us develop an appreciation for the events which mark our missionary lives as Oblates”.

For now, these two documents are only in English language. Translation work to French and Spanish are still ongoing. We invite every Oblate Unit who needs some copies of both books in English to kindly contact us and we will send you the copies as soon as possible. As soon as the French and Spanish versions are ready, we will inform you. [Cornelius Ngoka, OMI ([email protected])]