Deacon Ordination

My Ordination on the Feast of St Matthew

There should be a lot that is familiar to Catholics at an Ordination Mass for Deacons ... it is basically the standard Novus Ordo, with the Rite of Ordination inserted between the Gospel and Communion.  Of course ... everything is Much Much bigger and more solemn ... for example, the procession alone probably had more than 100 people in it (we were at the front, then a train of deacons and priest ahead of the Cardinal).  Finding space to everybody to put on their appropriate vestments must have been crazy ... however, for our part, they put us into the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament with our "vesting" clergy (the deacon, priest or bishop that helps the new deacon put on his shiny new stole and dalmatic).  We started the whole process with just the plain white alb and rope cincture (for some of us).  They had us there 45 minutes ahead of time, so we had plenty of time to reflect and pray before walking out to a packed house ...

Keep in mind that the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston is Huge ... and it was packed.  I must admit that would unexpected (at least for me).  Fortunately, each of the Candidates/Elect had three (3) pews reserved up front for family and friends ... the "magnificent seven" deacons to be had chairs in front of that, on the right (facing the altar), just in front of the ambo.  After the processional, we all took our seats for the Liturgy of the Word ... where after the Gospel, the Ordination Rite takes up the next hour or so until we pick up again with the Liturgy of the Eucharist (total time approximately 2 hours, or twice as long as a normal mass).  Catholic TV has created a video of the whole affair which you can find below (until they decide to no longer make it available to the public).  Below that is a draft of the program that we used if you want to follow along while watching the video.

The first thing that happens is that our formation director presents the candidates for ordination to the cardinal, calling each of us by name, where we acknowledge that we are "present" and bow to the ordinary (aka the cardinal/archbishop).  The bishops asks if we have been examined and found worthy of the office of deacon before "electing" us for ordination (to the applause and acclaim of the audience).  Next up is the homily, which incorporates from guidance and instruction for the deacons to be ... and it was IMHO pretty awesome and worth a listen just for that.

Everything got pretty busy after the homily ... starting with five (5) promises centered around the deacon's mission within the Church, then we all walk up to the cathedra (where the bishop is sitting) to promise obedience to him and his successors; aka incardination which  specifies the relationship of clerics to the Church and the service which they render in it. Taken from the Latin term incardinare (to hang on a hinge) incardination is traditionally used to refer to the attachment of the priest or deacon to a diocesan Church headed by the diocesan bishop.  After that comes one of the hallmarks of ordination to Holy Orders ... the Litany of Supplication ... which is basically the Litany of the Saints while we, the elect, lay prone before the altar.  I get more questions about what is going on here than any other part of the mass.  A litany, which, in its original Greek means a "supplication" or "petition," was used for a wide range of liturgical occasions ... and in this case ... the addition of prostration, which means laying face down before God, adds an ancient posture showing both the donation by the candidate of their life to God and His Church, as well as supplication, which is asking God the grace to live his life for God and His Church.  Each of us added a few saints (for me I added several Dominican Saints is keeping with my Dominican Order Charisms), so this took awhile to work through them all.

Then we are up again and headed back to The Chair (aka bishop's cathedra) where we receive the laying on of hands that is one of the key elements of ordination.  Theologically, the imposition of hands is, at least in part, the matter of the Sacrament of Holy Orders by which the sacrament is determined to be valid (form and matter).  In addition, there is a long tradition within the Church that traces the laying on of hands all the way back to the beginning of the people of God ... in Numbers 8:10, God’s people lay their hands on the priests to officially commission them as their representatives before God, and in Numbers 27:18, God instructs Moses to lay his hands on Joshua to commission him formally as the new leader of the nation.  By the time we get to the Acts of the Apostles, the laying on of hands is frequently used to impart the fullness of the Holy Spirit and was in fact an important part of commissioning the original seven deacons of the early Church ... In Acts 6:6, when the church has chosen seven men to serve as official assistants to the apostles, “These they set before the apostles; and they praying, imposed hands upon them.” Here again, as in Numbers, we find a kind of commissioning ceremony. The visible sign of the laying on of hands publicly marks the beginning of a new formal ministry for these seven, recognizing them before the people and asking for God’s blessing on their labors.

After the laying on of hands and the prayer of ordination ... we be deacons ... so bring on the vestments.  The deacon stole is the single most distinguishing and recognizable symbol of the office of deacon. It is an item of vesture or liturgical attire worn over the alb and under the dalmatic, if one is used. It is placed over the left shoulder, and it extends diagonally across the front and back of the upper body, and attaches near the right hip. Two strips hang from the right hip, one to the front, the other to the back, and both fall equally to below the knee. It is used when the deacon exercises a liturgical or sacramental role in church such as when he assists at Mass, presides for a Baptism, or conducts a funeral service.

Next up is the dalmatic.  The dalmatic is the outer liturgical vestment of the deacon. It is worn at Mass and at solemn processions and benedictions, except when these processions and benedictions have a penitential character.  The comparable priestly vestment would be the chasuble ... which, unlike the dalmatic, doesn't have sleeves.   Both should reflect the liturgical season with respect to color.  The white dalmatic (with the Boston Cross) is the one used for special celebrations, such as ordinations.  In fact, I anticipate that I will get to use mine again when the new Archbishop of Boston is installed on Halloween this year.  After vesting, we get the final act before returning to the regular order of the mass ... and that is to receive our very own liturgical Book of Gospels ... because we are not the Heralds of the Gospel.  Then two of us (determined by lot) replace the preceding deacons at the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the rest of us take seats off to the side until it is time to hand out communions (where all seven of us distributed the host before the altar).  Then it is clean up and go home (after pictures).  Tomorrow I preach from the pulpit/ambo for the very first time ... and I will be talking about wicked people :-)