Living the Liturgy: The Benedictine Monks of Clear Creek

by Shawn Tribe

We recently made mention of a video which was produced about the Benedictine Abbey of Fontgombault in France, and which aired on EWTN. Now it has come to our attention that the following video, "Living the Liturgy: Clear Creek Monastery", has also been made available through EWTN, this time about the daughter-house of Fontgombault, Clear Creek Abbey in Oklahoma.

While the video is 52 minutes in length, I would encourage you all to make the time to watch it at some point. The video is excellent and guides you through the monastic life and day, particularly through the lens of the sacred liturgy. (A thought strikes me as well: parishes, Catholic schools and other institutions which endeavour to have vocations related materials should try to ensure they have resources such as this video to also inform men and women about the possibilities of monastic life; an all too easily forgotten and neglected vocational consideration.)



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To give you a taste, here a few screenshots showing some of the liturgical aspects within the video:













(reposted from The New Liturgical Movement)

Abbatial Blessing in Clear Creek

by Martin Bürger

On 10 April 2010, the eagerly awaited Blessing of the first Abbot of Clear Creek Abbey, Dom Philip Anderson took place. This was done by Bishop Edward Slattery, the Ordinary of Tulsa, in whose diocese the Abbey is situated. Here is a picture from the ceremony, which took place in the crypt of the Abbey, as the Abbey Church has not yet actually been built:

A series of images found on the website of the Diocese of Tulsa.

(tr. from EXSVLTET.net)

Clear Creek annual retreat

Father Mark Kirby of Our Lady of the Cenacle is leaving this afternoon for the Monastery of Our Lady of the Annunciation at Clear Creek, to preach the monastic community's annual retreat until the afternoon of November 21st, the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Please pray that Our Lord may open fountains of living water in all their hearts.

The Story of Clear Creek

more on Clear Creek Benedictines

A previous post highlighted Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek, a Benedictine monastery in the diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

It included a high-quality, 15 minute documentary made for Oklahoma State University in 2003. The following video provides an update to that:-

Video from Clear Creek Monastery

Solemn Pontifical Mass at Our Lady of the Annunciation Monastery at Clear Creek, in Tulsa, OK: celebrated by Dom Antoine Forgeot, Abbot of Fontgombault Abbey (the motherhouse of Clear Creek).


(source: The New Liturgical Movement)

Clear Creek Benedictine Ordinations

by Shawn Tribe

Recently the Benedictines of Clear Creek had the ordination of one of their monks to the diaconate. They have posted a few photos of this event, which also gives you a view into their ongoing monastic building project.



(reproduced with permission from The New Liturgical Movement)

Clear Creek Benedictines

Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek is a Benedictine monastery in the diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma, founded in 1989. The founding monks at Clear Creek were all members of the monastic community at Notre-Dame de Fontgombault, France, or of her daughterhouses Randol, Triors, and Gaussan. Fontgombault, a medieval abbey in central France, is a member of the Congregation of Solesmes.

The following video is a high-quality, 15 minute documentary by David Biddel; it was a video project for Oklahoma State University in 2003:

In order to better to cultivate the essential of their vocation, that is, the life of prayer, the monks do not assume pastoral charge of parishes nor do they run schools. But in the Rule of Saint Benedict, hospitality has an important place, and Benedictine tradition has always considered this to be a part of the monastery's role in the Church. So, besides their deep communion with the life of the Church and their prayer for all, the monks of Clear Creek receive guests for retreats and help the faithful participate in their life of prayer and recollection, especially through the Divine Office.

It is indeed a part of the Solesmes tradition to cultivate a solemn, public liturgical Office. The monks of Clear Creek celebrate God's glory in Latin, Tridentine usage, so appropriate to give an idea of God's majesty, a sense of the sacred. Thus the monks exploit the riches developed over centuries in the Church's liturgy and cultivate Gregorian Chant. Two other main features of the Solesmes Congregation and which the monks of Clear Creek will strive to fully live must be noted: deep fidelity to the Holy See and devotion to the Virgin Mary.

Saint Benedict, the patriarch of western monks, lived in Italy in the 6th century. He was heir to a monastic tradition that dates back to the first centuries of the Church and has its source in the Gospel: "As for yourselves," says Jesus, "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." The evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience are means recommended by Christ for speeding the reign of love in souls, in which Christian perfection consists. To help them become perfect, Saint Benedict proposes to his disciples to seek God by living these counsels in monastic community under the authority of the Rule and of an Abbot who will be their spiritual father.

A slideshow of recent (2008) images from the monastery can be viewed here. Bishop Slattery of Tulsa, OK, recently celebrated a Pontifical Mass at Clear Creek.

The Clear Creek Benedictines can be contacted at:

• Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek
  5804 West Monastery Road
  Hulbert, OK 74441
  tel.: (918) 772-2454
  Fax: (918) 772-1044
  web: www.clearcreekmonks.org

The Clear Creek Sisters do not have a website yet; at the moment there are only 2 sisters. They can be contacted at:

• Queen of Angels Convent
  9582 N 387 Rd.
  Hulbert, OK 74441
  tel.: 918-772-2170