Below is information about Fr. Cooper's funeral arrangements, visitation, and internment, as well as info about receiving a funeral card for those interested.
Fr. Cooper passed away Tuesday morning, May 1, feast of St. Joseph the worker after an extended battle with cancer - which he fought with patience, acceptance, and a joyful spirit. This would come as no surprise to those who knew him for his kindness and true priestly life.
Visitation / Rosary:
Monday, May 7: 5:00 – 8:00 PM
Rosary: 7pm
Queen of Angels Catholic Church
4100 HWY 3
Dickinson, TX 77539
Directions
All Night Vigil in church after visitation.
Requiem Mass:
Tuesday, May 8, 10:00 am at Queen of Angels
Burial at Mt Olivet Catholic Cemetery, Dickinson, TX
Directions
Reception following the burial:
Knights of Columbus Hall
4132 27th St E
Dickinson, TX 77539
Directions
Flowers / Donations
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, they would appreciate donations to the Society of St. Pius X in Fr. Cooper’s memory.
Funeral Cards
There have been requests by faithful who knew Fr. Cooper from his various missions and chapels he serviced to receive a funeral card. Fr. Kurtz, prior of the Dickinson, TX church has graciously agreed to send a card to all who request one.
Please send a self addressed, stamped envelope with your request to:
Queen of Angels Priory
Attn: Fr. Frank A. Kurtz
4100 Highway 3
Dickinson, TX 77539
Funeral Mass of a Priest
The rubrics and proper of the Mass are slightly different for the funeral of a priest. A custom when a priest dies is for him to be buried, vested in a white chasuble.
Normally, at any other funeral, the body is placed so that the feet face the altar. However, at a priest’s funeral, the priest’s casket is placed opposite with the head towards the altar. This is symbolic of the position that the priest was in when he celebrated the Mass, and so it is that he would be positioned in the same way at his very last Mass – his own funeral Mass. We hear from Psalm 110:4: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
Special Prayers During the Proper of the Mass
Collect:
Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that the soul of Thy servant Fr. Daniel Cooper, Priest, which whilst he was sojourning in this world, Thou didst adorn with the graces proper to the sacred ministry, may evermore rejoice in the glory of heaven. Through our Lord.
Secret:
Receive, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the sacrifices which we offer up for the soul of the Priest Fr. Daniel Cooper, Thy servant: to him Thou didst give the merit of the priesthood, refuse him not its reward. Through our Lord.
Postcommunion
O almighty God, grant, we beseech Thee, that the soul of the Priest Fr. Daniel Cooper, Thy servant may be bidden to share the fellowship of the just in eternal bliss. Through our Lord.
