AN IMPRESSIVE RITUAL

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21355, 24 December 1934, Page 22

AN IMPRESSIVE RITUAL

•THREE PRIESTS ORDAINED SERVICE AT ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL The impressive ritual of the ordinai.ori service of the Roman Catholic Church was enacted at the Cathedral, Karbadocs street, yesterday morning, v hen throe deacons were raised to the priesthood by the Roman Catholic Bishop cf Christchurch, the Rt. Rev. Tjv. M. J. Brodie. More than usual j':tercs.t was attached to the service io~ two reasons, first because the ceremony was a triple one, and second, 1m cause all three of the ordinands v. ere former residents of Christchurch M:d had been educated in the city—- :-.-, Convent schools, at the Marist Brothers, and at St. Bede's College. Each of the three candidates was a r:ember of the Society of Mary, and ;.iLicrday's ceremony was the culmination of seven years of study at iho Marist Seminary, Mt. St. Mary's, Greenmeadows. The three priests ordained were the Rev. Father T. George, S.M., thr- Rev. Father J. Mannix, S.M., and the Rev. Father J. Hendren, S.M. There was a very large attendance ai the Cathedral for the long and impressive service, and after the service the newly-ordained priests had an arduous task in administering their blessings to the hundreds who thronged the altar rails. Assisting the Bishop at the ceremony were the Very Rev. Monsignor Morkane and the Very Rev. Father A. L. Burger, S.M., ;md the masters of ceremonies were the Very Rev. Dr. Woodbury, S.M., of Mt. St. Mary's, and the Rev. Father i V. J. McGlone. I The ceremony of ordination is one cf the most picturesque in all the i ritual of the Roman Catholic Church, and it is easily followed by the layman. Those who are to be ordained come to the altar clad as deacons, and the various stages of the ceremony of their ordination take place during the sacrifice of the Mass. The ordinary service of the Mass is continued until the Tract or Sequence, when the first ceremony of the actual ordination takes place. Seating himself in front of the altar, the Bishop, wearing his mitre, calls forward the ordinands, and in impressive ritual warns the candidates of the responsibilities of the priesthood, and implores the blessing of God and the intercession of His saints. The Prostration During this exhortation by the Bishop the candidates' stand before the altar. The solemn moment of the ordination now approaches, and in preparation for it the Litanies of the Saints are recited. During this recital the candidates prostrate themselves on the floor of the sanctuary. When the Litanies, which contain special petitions for those to be ordained, are completed the candidates advance, and the Bishop, in silence, imposes his hands on the head of each of them. After the imposition of hands special prayers are said, and, these finished, the candidates approach the Bishop, who arranges the stole they have been wearing in the manner proper to deacons in the way that only priests may wear it. Each of the candidates then has placed upon his shoulders a chasuble, which is rolled up and pinned as an indication that the ceremony is not yet complete. Next follows in the ceremony the anointing of the hands of the Candida es. and before this is done the Bishcp intones the first verse of the 'Veni Creator Spiritus," which is then continued by the choir throughout the whole procedure of anointing. After the anointing each candidate is given in solemn and impressive ritual the power to perform the sacrifice of the Mas;;. The Bishop then receives an offering of a lighted candle from each j of the candidates and the Mass is continued, each of the candidates reciting Ihe prayers with the Bishop. After a public profession of faith the candidates are vested with the last of the powers of the priesthood, and the ac- ' tual ordination is completed, and the newly-ordained priests finish the Mass wearing full vestments. After the Mass each of the new priests comes to the altar rails and £ives a blessing to individual mem- j hers of the congregation, relatives and friends first. Announcements were made during the ceremony of the time and place at which each of the new priests would lay his first Mass. In addition to the priests actually taking part in the ceremony there was an attendance of priests from all parts of the diocese, and from other parts of the Dominion. Triple ordinations are comparatively rare, and yesterday's ceremony had been eagerly awaited for weeks.