Deacons, pray in joy and gratitude for the gift of St. Pope Paul VI

If you need a reminder, there’s this item from the front page of the New York Times from June 25, 1967:

It would not be an exaggeration to say that all of us who today serve as permanent deacons in the Latin rite do so because of Pope Paul VI. He made this vocation possible in the modern era.

As the saint wrote when he restored the diaconate as a permanent order in the Latin rite:

The Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, following this very ancient tradition, made honorable mention of the diaconate in the Constitution which begins with the words “Lumen Gentium,” where, after concerning itself with the bishops and the priests, it praised also the third rank of sacred orders, explaining its dignity and enumerating its functions.

Indeed while clearly recognizing on the one hand that “these functions very necessary to the life of the Church could in the present discipline of the Latin Church be carried out in many regions with difficulty,” and while on the other hand wishing to make more suitable provision in a matter of such importance wisely decreed that the “diaconate in the future could be restored as a particular and permanent rank of the hierarchy.”

Although some functions of the deacons, especially in missionary countries, are in fact accustomed to be entrusted to lay men it is nevertheless “beneficial that those who perform a truly diaconal ministry be strengthened by the imposition of hands, a tradition going back to the Apostles, and be more closely joined to the altar so that they may more effectively carry out their ministry through the sacramental grace of the diaconate.”Certainly in this way the special nature of this order will be shown most clearly. It is not to be considered as a mere step towards the priesthood, but it is so adorned with its own indelible character and its own special grace so that those who are called to it “can permanently serve the mysteries of Christ and the Church.”

He concludes:

After issuing these norms the desire springs spontaneously from our heart that deacons in performing their arduous functions in the modern world follow the examples which we propose for their imitation; the example of St. Stephen the protomartyr, who as St. Irenaeus says “was the first chosen for diaconal service by the Apostles,”and of St. Lawrence of Rome “who was illustrious not only in the administration of the sacraments but also in the stewardship of the possessions of the Church.”

We order, then, that what has been established by us in this letter, given “motu proprio,” be firm and valid, all things to the contrary notwithstanding.

Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s on the feast of St. Ephrem the Syrian, June 18, 1967, in the fourth year of our pontificate.

POPE PAUL VI

St. Pope Paul VI, pray for us — and for all deacons!