Closer to the Priesthood
On the morning of Saturday 18 April H. E. Bp. Bernard Fellay celebrated the annual Ordination Mass of the four Minor Orders and the Subdiaconate in Dillwyn, Virginia.
One of the three seminarians ordained to Porter and Lector was Joseph Budds of Co. Cork, and one of the four seminarians who took the decisive step into major orders was Dominic O'Hart of Co. Fermanagh.
The Porter is charged with guarding and caring for the church and the Lector with catechesis.
Those who receive the Subdiaconate make their perpetual and irrevocable gift of self to God and His Church. The step, which is taken in their rite of ordination, symbolizes their complete and total renunciation of all that is not Christ and their resolve to partake in nothing but what concerns Him. The Subdeacon steps away, forever, from the things of the world and pledges himself exclusively to Christ and His Spotless Bride, the Church. With this voluntary surrender, the Subdeacon is bound to a life of perfect chastity and the daily recitation of the Divine Office, uniting his own prayer to the prayer of the entire Mystical Body. The Subdeacon also ascends the steps of the altar where he directly assists the Deacon at Mass and pours into the chalice the drop of water during the Offertory.
Dominic O'Hart's ordination to the subdiaconte is especially important for the district of Great Britain & Ireland because of his ties to both countries - dominic is from Co. Fermanagh but was educated at St Micheal's school in Burghclere. Amidst this uncertain time, let us give thanks to God for His many gifts, but especially the gift of priestly vocations.
