The Deacon's Bench
Details, from Bishop Robert Lynch’s own blog:
Saturday morning at the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle, six new men were added to the rolls of permanent deacons of the Diocese of St. Petersburg. Joined by their wives, children, grandchildren, family and friends, these new deacons completed their four years of preparation and presented themselves to the assembly for ordination. Promising “obedience and respect to me and my successors” the candidates lay prostrate on the floor of the sanctuary as the assembly prayed to all the saints to be with these Gospel servants during their new ministry. After the laying on of hands by the bishop only, the men were vested in the robes of their office by their wives and priests and/or deacons of their choosing. The penultimate moment of the rite of ordination takes place when the new ordinand is presented with the Book of the Gospels and told, “believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach.” The rite concludes with a greeting of peace given by myself to each of the new deacons followed by the same from the about sixty deacons present for the ordination. Once seated the Eucharist proceeds and two of the new deacons assist at the altar and the other four assist with the distribution of Holy Communion.
The six men ordained on Saturday were Carlos Celaya of St. Paul parish, Tampa; Scott Conway of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini parish, Spring Hill; Edward Dodenhoff of St. Stephen parish, Valrico; Paul Haber of Christ the King parish, Tampa; Matthew Shirina of Nativity parish, Brandon; and, Edward Smith of St. Stephen parish, Valrico. Joining me this morning for the ordination ceremony was Bishop Robert Guglielmone, Bishop of Charleston, South Carolina, who was present at Deacon Scott Conway’s birth and his pastor at a parish on Long Island for Scott’s younger years.
Congratulations and welcome! Ad multos annos!
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