Welcome to the Celtic Order of Benedictine Chaplains

Ordo Celticus      Capellani Benedictini

Celtic Order of Benedictine Chaplains
(Celtic Benedictine Chaplains)
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 The OCB- Ordo Celticus Capellani Benedictini (Benedictine Chaplains) is open to all members of the Communion.  
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Through the centuries, Christians have gathered to form communities in which they have supported one another in prayer, work, and fellowship.

This commitment has taken the form of an ecumenical Christian community in the Benedictine monastic tradition celebrating and following the example of Saint Benedict. 
Members of this  Community who come from a wide variety of denominational backgrounds and occupations, make professions of commitment according to their Rule of Life, including vows of obedience, stability, and conversion of life.
Founded upon Scripture and the heritage of monastic tradition, the  Ordo Celticus Capellani Benedictini ( Celtic Benedictine Chaplains)  gives definition to its purpose as a living witness to the values and principles essential to Christian life and faith. Members of this worldwide community are joined in a common commitment of love and service to God, to each other and to the world.
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Monasticism for a new millenium
'...the restoration of the church will surely come only from a new type of monasticism which has nothing in common with the old but a complete lack of compromise in a life lived in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount in the discipleship of Christ.  I think it is time to gather people together to do this...' 
  -Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Extract of a letter written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer to his brother Karl-Friedrick on the 14th of January, 1935. 
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Please join us
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For thise who wish a closer fellowship,  Chaplains can join the  Ordo Capellani Benedictini (Benedictine Chaplains) as Affiliated Chaplains.  The OCB is a modified non - cloistered benedictine style monastic group. The cornerstone of a Religious vocation is the desire to give oneself to God, to draw near to God and become more and more consistently God's own. If this desire grows and persists, it must lead to practical attempts to reshape one’s whole life. This reshaping follows from a sure conviction that Christ has removed the essential barrier between God and us. Only from such a conviction can we grapple with our faults and temptations.
There are four spiritual requirements for an aspirant: 1) that he / she be truly seeking God; 2) that he / she be eager for the “Work of God,” the Divine Office; 3) that he / she be eager for obedience; and 4) that he  / she welcome humility (necessary because of our egoism) that comes in its exercise. In addition we require that the aspirant: be a member of the AICAC in good standing; 
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Available to Communion Members
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 Lay Chaplains  can become a 3rd order monastic while remaining in your own home, job, career, life.  You can do so whether you are single, married, male or female.  A third order is typically an association of the lay faithful who try to live the spirit of a particular religious order. The most well-known third orders are the Carmelites, Dominicans and Franciscans. As an association of the faithful, the members can be male or female, married or single, young or old, but they at least must be a practicing Christian, and they live at home and not in the convent or monastery, and work in the most diverse occupations as is fitting to their state as laypeople.
Since the third orders are linked to religious orders, sometimes the members will distinguish themselves from ordinary laypeople by the garb or insignia they wear, or even by the letters after their name, as is common with members of religious orders. Their members, known as tertiaries, do not necessarily live in a religious community and yet can claim the right to wear the habit and participate in the good works of some great order.
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Licenced or certified chaplains may join the  Ordo Capellani Benedictini (Benedictine Chaplains) as a full religious non cloistered monastics. Our monastics serve as chaplains to their communities in many different ways. Jurisdiction is upon your local denominational affiliation and candidateds must be in good standing  with their bishop. Ordination may be regularized to conform with OCB policy and Chaplain may hold dual ordination.  
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Members receice a Certificate of  Membership and may use the OCB credentials after their name. 

Members are required to recieve the laying on of hands for  Apostolic Succession Apostolic Succession is the “historic unbroken connection with Christ and His Apostles,” by the “laying-on of hands”- transferring Christ’s Apostolic authority and ministry from Jesus Himself, through His succeeding Bishops of every proceeding generation, up until our current day. It was through this “Apostolic Succession” that the early Church maintained their “genuine and authentic” membership in the ONE holy catholic (universal), church.
Having an “approved” Bishop, within (not over), the Community, guaranteed they were a “genuine” Christian Community being historically (not only spiritually), connected to the universal body of Christ – Independence was not something to be cherished in the early Church of Christ, but rather Inter-dependence, sharing one another’s burdens! …it is to this humble holy dependence, we as a Community desire to return to.
We recognize the “gift” of apostolic succession to the Church, and therefore desire to be celebrants of this ancient tradition (not doctrine), followed by our brothers and sisters of the past. We feel safe being in submission to those who have walked ahead of us!

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