Solemn Profession of Dom Augustine

On the feast of the Transfiguration, we were pleased to welcome Br Augustine as a full member of the Belmont community as he took his solemn vows. Family and friends joined the community at the Solemn Mass presided over by Abbot Paul.

Br Augustine is from Abergavenny, so has known Belmont for a number of years through our priests that have served on the parish there. We were able to welcome some parishioners to the celebration. It is perhaps also worth noting that as a monk he was given the name 'Augustine' partly in memory of Dom Augustine Baker (1575-1641), the Welsh lawyer who became a leading member of the post-Reformation English Benedictine Congregation, and its most important writer on prayer and the spiritual life.

Br Augustine sang his vows and signed his Profession document on the altar. It is the custom in our community for the one being professed to write out his vows as beautifully as possible - often with a calligraphic pen. After singing his vows he showed the document to the congregation for all to see. It is laid under the corporal on the altar (the cloth that receives the gifts of bread and wine), as he is making an offering of himself with Christ.

Paul asks the Romans in his letter “ Think of God's mercy, my brothers, and worship him, I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings, by offering your living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God.” Romans 12:1

After the Profession, as is our tradition, his hood is pinned up and he goes into an intense 3 day retreat "in the tomb" with Christ. It is a very special time in a monk's life, three days of solitude to rise with Christ and live his monastic life in him.

Enjoy the pictures taken of the important moments, and most of all pray for Br Augustine that he will be a good and faithful son of St Benedict and monk of Belmont. He will be continuing his theological studies in Rome in September.