Welcome to the official website of the Order of the Most Holy Mary Theotokos... an independent ecumenical institute of consecrated life! Also known as the “Benedictines of Mary, Old Catholic Marianists”, we are a self-governing religious community and autocephalous jurisdiction of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church rooted in the Old Catholic faith tradition.
In fact and in law, we are an autonomous group of people. Although our roots are in the Catholic monastic experience, we have been nourished by other traditions as well and are in spiritual solidarity with many faith communities and individuals. We are affiliated with, and under the spiritual umbrella of, The Evangelical Orthodox Catholic Church in America.
We celebrate Saint Benedict as the Father and Patriarch of Western Monasticism and have chosen to adhere to the Holy Rule of St. Benedict, adapting to our lives the Benedictine principles, values, and disciplines to which we base our common life.
As "Benedictines of Mary, Old Catholic Marianists", we are first and foremost Servants of Jesus the Good Shepherd, dedicated to promoting devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her special Orthodox Church title, the Theotokos. Theotokos in Greek means "God-bearer". We honor Mary under that title and seek to live her example of the openness to the will of Almighty God and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
We are an ecumenically minded non-cloistered (non-residential) monastic community in North America dedicated to living our lives as mirrors of the extraordinary dedication, sacrifice, and faith modeled by our most beloved and dear Mother of God. The Order of the Most Holy Mary Theotokos, or O.SS.T. as it is often referred, is a religious community called to live and to share the good news of Jesus Christ through prayer, Eucharist, and service. The objective of our O.SS.T. monastic community is to live a good and simple life.
We are a religious community comprised of men and women of all ages, married and single, clergy and laity, living and working together as equals in the world. Our members try to help each other build a closer relationship with Christ. We do this by living a monastic life of daily prayer, reflective study, and personal service in the secular world. We seek to demonstrate our faith in unique ways as best we can, while allowing our lives to be transformed by God.
We attempt to lead a prayerful, contemplative monastic life and to be one of the many presences in the world affirming the value of compassion for all. We have responded as we could to the individual needs of one another, and more especially to the suffering and the struggling who seek our prayer, and particularly to those who cannot, or for whatever reason will not, pray for themselves.
Increasingly we reach out in response to others walking a spiritual path in the challenging circumstances of life and society. We feel there is a divine spark and creativity in every individual which requires respect and support.
Any baptized Christian whose faith and ministry perspective is truly both ecumenical (accepting of all who claim the Holy Name of Christ) and Catholic (universal) may make application to join.
LIVE RADICALLY ...become a "Benedictine of Mary, Old Catholic Marianist"
We are a community that gathers in faith, serves in love, and proclaims hope, through Jesus Christ.
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