The Saint Martin’s Abbey Oblate community will have its annual holiday bazaar Nov. 19-20 in the Abbey’s guest dining room, located on the first floor of Saint Martin’s University’s Old Main building, 5000 Abbey Way SE. Bazaar hours will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 19 and from noon to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 20.
Items featured at the bazaar include hand-crafted items, antiques, religious article, custom-made rosaries and baked goods.
Saint Martin’s oblates are lay Christian men and women who study the Scriptures and Holy Rule of St. Benedict to learn how they can apply what they learn to their daily lives. The oblates meet five times a year at Saint Martin’s Abbey for conferences and reflection, says Director of Oblates Brother Edmund Ebbers, O.S.B.
A portion of this year’s bazaar proceeds will support the Benedictine community of Norcia, Italy. Their members are in the process of repairing and rebuilding their facilities after the devastating Italian earthquake in August. A share of proceeds also go to third world Benedictine communities, who work to help their neighboring communities, and to projects of the Saint Martin’s oblate community here, Ebbers says.
The Benedictine Abbey of Saint Martin’s was founded in 1895 and is a community of Roman Catholic men dedicated to providing Christian witness in the Pacific Northwest through its monastic life of prayer and work, education and service to the Roman Catholic Church. The abbey founded the school that has grown into Saint Martin’s University on its land that same year, 1895, and continues to support the University as a primary part of its mission. It also fulfills its mission through liturgical prayer and worship and through pastoral service at area parishes and as chaplains at hospitals in the Pacific Northwest.
