August 17, 2012

Novice professes temporary vows at Saint Meinrad Archabbey

Benedictine Novice Anushka Fonseka kneels in prayer on Aug. 6 during a liturgy in the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad in which he professed temporary vows as a Benedictine monk. He is holding a handwritten document that records his vows. (Photo courtesy of Saint Meinrad Archabbey)

Benedictine Novice Anushka Fonseka kneels in prayer on Aug. 6 during a liturgy in the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad in which he professed temporary vows as a Benedictine monk. He is holding a handwritten document that records his vows. (Photo courtesy of Saint Meinrad Archabbey) Click for a larger version.

Benedictine Novice Anushka Fonseka professed temporary vows as a Benedictine monk during an Aug. 6 liturgy in the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad.

He recently completed his novitiate, a year of prayer and study of the Benedictine way of life.

As is the custom during the profession of vows, he was given a religious name. Novice Anushka will now be known as Brother Peduru. Temporary vows are typically for three years.

Brother Peduru, 29, was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was a member of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Battaramulla, and attended St. Joseph’s College in Colombo, both in Sri Lanka.

In 2008, he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Ala.

He then worked as a structural engineer at Barter & Associates Inc. in Mobile until he joined the monastery.

The period of temporary vows provides a continuing opportunity for the monk and the monastic community to determine whether monastic life is the right vocation for him.

(For more information about Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, log on to its new website at www.saintmeinrad.org.) †

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