The following forms should be compared with chapter 59 of the Rule. Children so offered were known as oblati, i.e., offered. These forms are from a manuscript of the ninth century.
(a) To offer children to God is sanctioned in the Old and New Testaments as Abraham[276] … are related to have done. Moved by the example of these and many others, I ( … ) do now, for the salvation of my soul and for the salvation of the souls of my parents, offer in the presence of the abbot ( … ) this my son ( … ) to Almighty God and to St. Mary His mother, according to the Rule of the blessed Benedict in the Monastery of Mons Major, so that from this day forth it shall not be lawful for him to withdraw his neck from the yoke of this service; and I promise never, by myself or by any agent, to give him in any way opportunity of leaving, and that this writing may be confirmed I sign it with my own hand.
(b) Brief form.
I give this boy in devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ, before God and His saints, that he may remain all the days of his life and become a monk until his death.
3. Ceremony of receiving a monk into a Benedictine monastery. (MSL, 66:829.)
(a) From Peter Boherius, Commentary on the Regula S. Benedicti, ch. 58 of the Rule, v. supra.
When the novice makes his solemn profession, the abbot vests to say mass, and after the offertory the abbot interrogates him saying:
Brother (such a one): Is it your will to renounce the world and all its pomps?
He answers: It is.
Abbot: Will you promise obedience according to the Rule of St. Benedict? Answer: I will.