Ordination Primer: Part II

Now that the ordination is just five days away, it seems fitting to reflect a bit on the ordination ceremony. By the way, those pictured above are my classmates from Kenrick Seminary that were ordained a few months ago at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, MO (photo credit goes to Jeff Geerling). In this blog post I’ll try to explain as briefly as I can, for your benefit, what will be taking place. If you’re attending, you’ll be given a program so you can follow along. But you might not understand why various things are happening. So I hope this helps make it more prayerful for you.

If you’ve been to a Catholic Mass or a Lutheran worship service, and I think most of you have, the overall order of things will be somewhat familiar. The ordination rite takes place in the middle of a Catholic Mass. In general, there are these five major parts to the ceremony:

1. Introductory Rites
2. Liturgy of the Word
3. Election of the candidate & Homily
4. Ordination
5. Liturgy of the Eucharist

Introductory Rites

The Mass begins with the Sign of the Cross and what is called the “Penitential Rite.” The Penitential Rite is when we pause to call to mind our sins and ask God to forgive them. This doesn’t have the same effect as going to confession, but in the penitential right venial (less serious) sins are forgiven. Lutherans, if I recall correctly, have a Penitential Rite in which they ask God to forgive sins, so this is the same basic idea. It is good to ask for forgiveness from sins before approaching the altar in Mass. Jesus told us as much in Matthew 5:23-24, which says “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

After the Penitential Rite, the Gloria will be sung. It is a “very ancient and venerable hymn in which the Church, gathered together in the Holy Spirit, glorifies and entreats God the Father and the Lamb” (General Instruction of the Roman Missal 53). It begins “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on Earth” and is sung on most Sundays.

Finally, the Opening Prayer is said.

Liturgy of the Word

This should be familiar to pretty much all of you. There is a first reading, followed by a Psalm with a response, followed by a second reading. The first reading is from the Old Testament, the second is from the New Testament.

After the New Testament reading, we will stand and sing “Alleluia.” Why stand and sing? Because we’re about to hear the Gospel read to us. If you don’t recall, the Gospels are the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which contain the narratives of Jesus’ life. All of Scripture is the Word of God and worthy of respect, but the Gospels hold a special place among all the other books because their focus is most explicitly on the life of Jesus. So we stand, sing “Alleluia,” and one of the deacons will pick up a book that just contains the four Gospels (not the entire Bible) and carry it over to the ambo (podium/pulpit) where he will read from it.

As he begins to read from the Gospel, he will say something like “The Lord be with you,” and we answer “And also with you.” The deacon will continue, saying, “A reading from the holy gospel according to John.” At that point, the Catholics in the crowd will make small signs of the cross on their foreheads, lips, and chest. Don’t freak out, it’s not some strange superstitious thing. The point behind it is to prepare us to hear the words of the Gospel. Making those physical movements reminds us that the Gospel should be on our minds, on our lips (we should share it) and in our hearts. So those three signs of the cross are motions that go along with a silent prayer, said to oneself.

Election of the Candidate & Homily

This part of the ceremony is where the one to be ordained is “chosen” by the Church to serve as a deacon. This is clear when you hear the bishop say “Relying on the help of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, we choose this man, our brother, for the Order of the Diaconate.” Sorry, you don’t get to vote during this election. But the seminary faculty, the bishop, and my fellow seminarians all helped the bishop to make the decision about whether or not to choose me.

Next, we will all be seated for Bishop Zipfel’s homily. He will likely draw his message from the readings we heard earlier. But in this case, Bishop Zipfel may focus less on the readings and more on the ordination and what takes place.

Ordination

Next, I make some serious promises to the bishop. First, I declare my intention to become a deacon “by the laying on” of the bishop’s hands and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This “laying on of hands” during ordination is a tradition handed on to us from the Apostles:

Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, filled with the Spirit and wisdom, whom we shall appoint to this task, whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them" (Acts 6:3-6).

I will promise to humbly serve Christian people, to proclaim the Catholic faith in word and deed, to remain celibate as a sign of my dedication to Christ the Lord and for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, to maintain and seek to deepen my prayer life, including the daily praying of the Liturgy of the Hours (which includes praying for all of you, ever day), and to conform my life to Christ and to serve at the altar.

Finally, Bishop Zipfel will ask me “Do you promise respect and obedience to me and my successors?” I will answer “I do,” signifying that when he retires (likely very soon) I will obey the new bishop, whoever that might be. And it also means that I will always be under the authority of the Bishop of the Diocese of Bismarck, which covers the western half of North Dakota. I will not be assigned elsewhere, unless some extraordinary circumstances arise.

Next, I will lay face down on the floor in front of the altar and the tabernacle, like my classmates in this picture:

Don’t worry. I haven’t passed out. This is a sign of submission to God, who is represented in the symbol of the altar and who is truly present in the tabernacle. This is often, so I am told, the most powerful time for the one being ordained. In his very posture is a sign of his giving his life over to God.

While I am laying prostrate on the floor, everyone will sing the “Litany of Supplication.” This is when everyone alternates with the cantor/choir with “Saint Michael … Pray for us,” through a long list of saints. Here we are asking all the saints in heaven to join us as we pray to God for the man being ordained. Why? Because the promises he has just made can only be kept, and the life of an ordained minister will only be fruitful and happy, with God’s help. The one being ordained needs your prayers. He’s offering everything to God, and taking on a huge new responsibility. How dangerous for his soul, for example, is giving spiritual advice? If he is weak and is not praying himself, he might cave and tell people what they want to hear but not what they need to hear. We need to pray for the one being ordained, for the sake of his soul and the souls of all those whom he will serve in his life.

After the Litany of Supplication, the bishop will lay hands on me, as described above and as we see in this picture of Archbishop Robert Carlson and my classmate Rev. Mr. Johnson Lopez:

This is an essential part of the ordination. Then, with me kneeling before him, he will say the “Prayer of Ordination,” which is somewhat long at about two full pages in the book. It begins “Draw near, we pray, almighty God…” But the most important part, it seems, is this passage:

Send forth upon him, Lord, we pray, the Holy Spirit, that he may be strengthened by the gift of your sevenfold grace for the faithful carrying out of the work of the ministry.

The Rite of Ordination states that this passage is also an essential part of ordination. It seems to me that when Bishop Zipfel finishes uttering that part of the Prayer of Ordination, I will be a deacon. This is made especially clear when Fr. Phillips will come forward and place a stole and a dalmatic on me. The stole goes over the left shoulder and hangs down the right side, which is different from a priest’s stole, which hangs around the neck, down in front of the priest. Again, my classmates (as brand new deacons) show how it's done:

A dalmatic looks like the vestment the priest wears, but has sleeves (though usually so big it’s sometimes hard to tell). A priest, thus, wears a vestment that is more simple than that of the deacon, symbolizing his identity as a lowly, poor servant of God.

Next, the bishop will hand me the book of the Gospels:

As he does so, he will say the following:

Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.

Here, the bishop to whom I will have just promised obedience is commanding me to spread the Gospel. The duty to do so will at that point be a part of my life.

Liturgy of the Eucharist

The remainder of the Mass will be like a normal Sunday Mass (except that there will be a bishop, several deacons, four servers, and at least three priests present). The one thing that will be new is that I will take the place of one of the deacons who was serving the earlier parts of the Mass. So when you see me, probably helping to set things up on the altar, that’s the work of a deacon.

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me via e-mail or phone. Hopefully, I’ll see you on Sunday!

-Almost Rev. Mr. Jason R. Signalness