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Deaconate Ordination - The Real Deal
Well, I am trying to catch up with everything that has been going on lately (it's a constant battle to find time to write stuff on here), and so, I am posting about the deaconate ordination just 1 day after it happened! (of course it's nearly midnight...) Anyway, it took place yesterday morning, on April the 6th. We, all the Springfield seminarians here at Bruté, drove down to the Villa Maria, a retreat house that the diocese owns in
Springfield), on Friday night, and drove over the cathedral on Saturday
morning. Fr. Daren, once again, had me serving in the book-bearer role. I was glad to get this position for two reasons; first, I had just done that position a week or two prior (at the Chrism
Mass), and, as it turned out, I was also right there when the two guys were ordained
deacons. Really awesome! It was so cool – Steve, and then Seth, came
up, placed their hands within the bishop’s and promised to live the life of a
deacon: prayer, celibacy, obedience, etc., then they prostrated themselves on
the floor as the litany of saints was sung (my arms were shaking at this point),
next was the actual laying on of hands – again I was within inches of the guys
when this happened (you could just about feel the Holy Spirit placing the indelible
mark of ordination on their soul) – and finally the prayer of ordination. Obviously, many other things happened during the Mass, but this was the most interesting part, and I was lucky to be right there. After they were ordained, both received the book of the Gospels from the bishop and were clothed in the dalmatic. It really was a supernatural moment when they
were ordained – awesome! (of course, then I think that I could be putting my hands in the bishop's in 5 or 6 years... yeah, scary, keep the prayers coming!)
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| St. Stephen - pray for us! |
After the ordination, we stuck around for the reception (pulled pork, pickles cookies..), and then went over to the cathedral rectory where we enjoyed some more pulled pork (this time made by Fr. Daren Zehnle, who happens to be a fantastic cook). His had a really nice smokey flavor, and he had Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce to go with it, so, yeah, really good food. It was kind of funny, the Bishop walked in a few minutes after we did, (we had just been talking with him while snacking in the atrium of the Cathedral) and the first thing he said upon walking into the kitchen was "eating again?" (he did try some of it himself). I guess moderation still counts during the Easter Octave... We hit the road after talking with Fr. Daren a little while longer. On the way back we met up with Michael's parents in Champain, IL, who very benevolently treated us to ice cream. Again, we talked for a little while before finally hitting the road again. I drove the two hours back to Bruté (it's the same road that I drive to go home, so I'm starting to get familiar with it), and we got back here around 9 PM. It was a long day, but very much worth it. Keep Steve and Seth in your prayers as they begin their new lives as deacons!
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