Oblate Harry Cooper becomes Internal Oblate Brother Benedict

In a ceremony seldom performed, Harry Cooper becomes Brother Benedict
[Click picture to enlarge]

Harry Cooper is now an Internal Oblate at St. Leo Abbey, and his new name is Brother Benedict.

Brother Benedict’s change in status came at the morning Mass at the Feast of St. Scholastica, the sister of St. Benedict.

Brother Benedict processes out of church
at end of Mass and after his investiture as an Internal Oblate

In the above picture, Brother Benedict leaves the church, his new black habit is seen underneath his white outer robe.


You may watch the video of the ceremony. 



Brother Benedict will now wear a monk's habit (except for the hood) and live with the monks in their residence section of the Abbey. Today at the ceremony, he received his black habit and the long, white cowl or cuculla.

A blessing

Additional Information.

On the Feast of St. Scholastica, February 10, 2011, Harry Cooper became Brother Benedict and an Internal Oblate at St. Leo Abbey, in Pasco County, Florida, USA.  For many years Harry Cooper has been a Benedictine Oblate at the Abbey.    
                        
Several years ago, through a rare permission almost never granted, Harry was allowed to live in a special visitors’ section of the Abbey and participate in the monks’ choir for the daily divine office which is also called the liturgy of the hours.

To all Abbey visitors, Harry is well know as he tends to setting up the Church before each portion of the divine office or at Sunday Mass. We e-mailed information about today's ceremony to the Oblates' e-mail list and received a reply from one person who gave his congratulations and then added, "Brother Benedict was the first person whom I met and spoke to when I came to Saint Leo in 2005 to attend my first Advent retreat."  Many people would have a similar story about Brother Benedict. 

Although the permission for Harry to live at the Abbey was a special privilege.  Even more rare is what happened on the Feast of St. Scholastica. Abbot Isaac Camacho, O.S.B., changed Harry Cooper’s status to that of an Internal Oblate.  Congratulations, Brother Benedict.



St. Leo Abbey Information.
 
St. Leo Abbey is a Catholic male monastery founded in 1889.  It is one of the 20 monasteries in the American-Cassinese Congregation of the Benedictine Order in the Catholic Church.  There are about 840 monks in the American-Cassinese Congregation.

The American-Cassinese Congregation is one of 21 congregations of Benedictine monks with a total of about 8,000 monks worldwide. There are 61 women congregations/federations with about 16,000 Benedictine nuns and sisters in the world.

There are about 25,000 Benedictine Oblates in 50 countries. About 10,000 Oblates live in the USA.

Benedictine spirituality is based in the Rule of St. Benedict which incorporated much from the earliest Egyptian Desert Fathers.  It is a life of seeking God.

A Benedictine Oblate is a man or women from any Christian background who makes a promise to a monastery to live a spiritual life patterned after the Rule of St. Benedict. Male monasteries often have men and women Oblates.   Except in extremely rare situations, Oblates do not live at the monastery. Oblates wear regular clothes and often have a spouse and a job.  In their homes they pray the divine office and follow the Rule of St. Benedict as their state in life allows. To most Benedictine Oblates, it is a fully balanced life of work, prayer, reading, and listening to God.  Benedictine Oblates often practice lectio divina (divine reading), meditation, and contemplation.