Our Lady of the Clear Creek Annunciation

Marian vocation of Hulbert (Oklahoma)

La Benedictine abbey of Clear Creek, officially Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey, is located near Hulbert, in the state of Oklahoma, United States. This community is born of the monastic tradition of Notre-Dame de Fontgombaultin France: in 1999 a group of monks from Fontgombault, from the Congregation of Solesmes, responded to an invitation to find a new monastery in the hills of the Ozarks, in the diocese of Tulsa. The community was established following the rule of Saint Benedict, the traditional Latin liturgy and a strong contemplative life.

Main data

Origin and history

La Benedictine abbey of Clear Creek, officially Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey, is located near Hulbert, in the state of Oklahoma, United States. This community is born of the monastic tradition of Notre-Dame de Fontgombaultin France: in 1999 a group of monks from Fontgombault, from the Congregation of Solesmes, responded to an invitation to find a new monastery in the hills of the Ozarks, in the diocese of Tulsa. The community was established following the rule of Saint Benedict, the traditional Latin liturgy and a strong contemplative life.

In 2010 the monastery was raised to abbey and the first abbot, dom Philip Anderson, OSB, was chosen, thus legally consolidating the monastic house under the title of Our Lady of Clear Creek. The abacial church, of Romanesque style, is dedicated to the mystery of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, de donde deriva la advocación «Nuestra Señora de la Anunciación de Clear Creek». La fiesta principal del monasterio, conforme a la liturgia latina, es el 25 March, solemnity of the Annunciation.

There is no tradition of apparitions or foundational legends related to a specific miraculous image in Clear Creek; it is a advocation, first and foremost, linked to the evangelical mystery of the Annunciation (Lk 1,26-38) and to the dedication of the abacial church, not to a account of private apparitions or particular wonders.

(DOCUMENTADA HISTORY: foundation from Fontgombault and erected abbey; TRADITION / LEYENDA: there is no local tradition of apparitions or miracles that constitute a legendary cycle of its own.)

The image and the sanctuary

In Clear Creek the Marian headline is the Announcement, so the main iconography associated with the advocation is the biblical scene of the angel Gabriel's visit to Mary in Nazareth, rather than a single concrete miraculous image. The public sources available on the Abbey do not describe in technical detail (material, author, date) a unique Marian size or image that has given rise to this devotion; therefore, no consta a specific image canonized by popular tradition as "the" image of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek, beyond the sacred art of the abacial church (images of the Virgin, scenes of the Annunciation and the evangelical cycle) that accompany the monastic liturgy.

The sanctuary is its own iglesia abacial de Clear Creek, conceived as a great temple of style Romanesque inside the monastic complex. The abbey is located in a rural environment, in the hills of the Ozarks, and forms an expanding architectural set (abacial church, cloister, monastic dependencies, host). The church is dedicated to Our Lady of the Annunciation (Our Lady of the Annunciation), and is the center of the liturgical life of the community, with the celebration in Latin Catholic rite and strong emphasis on Gregorian song. It does not know that the temple has the title of minor basilica ni de National sanctuary; it is first and foremost the abacial church of a Benedictine community of closure, open to the faithful and pilgrims.

Sponsorship and coronation

La advocación de Our Lady of the Clear Creek Annunciation is mainly linked to monastery and its Benedictine community. It is not known that it has been formally proclaimed patron of the diocese, the state of Oklahoma or a specific city; therefore, as regards broad civic or ecclesial patronage, no consta an official recognition beyond being the holder of the abbey and spiritual reference for those who approach the monastery.

In the accessible documentation of the abbey, the diocese and the Catholic press, does not contain a documented canonical coronation of an image of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek by the Holy See or a Pontifical Delegate. The devotion is articulated more around the liturgy, the consecration of the temple to the Annunciation and the Marian life of the community, than around a rite of canonical coronation in a strict sense.

Party and devotion

La main party of this advocation in Clear Creek is the The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, March 25, according to the Roman calendar of the Latin rite. On that day, the community celebrates with particular solemnity the Mass and the Divine Office, with the participation of the faithful and friends of the monastery who come to the abbey, although it has not been institutionalized as great mass Romry similar to other Marian shrines.

Devotion is characterized by a style monastic and liturgical: the veneration to Our Lady of the Annunciation is expressed in the song of Divine OfficeThe Mass in Latin, the Marian antiphons and the silent piety of a closing monastery. Clear Creek attracts many faithful, especially families and young people, interested in traditional liturgy and contemplative life, so that advocation has become a point of reference for many Catholics from the United States and other countries, even though there are not yet widespread official inflow statistics.

Link to the Rosary

No consta una specific and unique relationship of this advocation with the prayer of the Rosary (for example, apparitions asking for the Rosary or concrete promises linked to this prayer), as is the case in Lourdes or Fatima. In Clear Creek, the centrality is in the mystery of the Annunciationwhich is precisely the primer mysteries of the Holy Rosary.

From the Marian point of view, the Rosary is very natural in harmony with this devotion: by meditating on the first joyful mystery, the Church contemplates Mary's "yes" to the angel's announcement, which is the core of Our Lady's advocation to the Annunciation of Clear Creek. Thus, the Rosary - prayed by the monks and the faithful who visit the abbey - becomes a school of Listen to the Word, de Docibility to God's will y de contemplative life in the worldin deep harmony with the Benedictine charism and the spirit of this Marian sanctuary.