Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Church in Annandale welcomed
Bishop Kurt R. Burnette from the Eparchy (Diocese) of
Passaic, N.J., Jan. 30 as he ordained a local man to the
priesthood.
Deacon Lewis Michael Rabayda was born in Summit Hill, Pa., in
1983. After graduating from the Pennsylvania College of
Technology in Williamsport, he came to Fairfax for a job and
began attending Epiphany of Our Lord Church.
While working in Fairfax, he was accepted as a seminarian for
the Eparchy (Diocese) of Passaic, N.J., and enrolled in Sts.
Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary in
Pittsburgh, where he graduated in 2014 with a master’s in
divinity.
He chose to come back to Epiphany for his ordination.
At 10 a.m., the bells of the church rang, and Bishop Burnette
with Father John Basarab, pastor, processed to the altar with
deacons and servers, where he sat on an ornate chair and
vested for the Divine Liturgy (Mass).
Unlike the Latin rite, the celebrant faces the east with his
back to the congregation. Most of the Divine Liturgy and the
ordination take place behind the Holy Doors of the sanctuary,
just prior to the anaphora, or consecration.
Bishop Burnette was seated on a chair behind the Holy Doors.
Deacon Rabayda processed from the back of the church to the
altar and prostrated three times before reaching the bishop.
The deacon knelt at the right corner of the altar and placed
his forehead in the crossed palms of his hands positioned on
the altar. Bishop Burnette put the end of his stole on the
head of Deacon Rabayda and blessed him three times.
“Divine grace, which always heals what is infirm and supplies
what is lacking, ordains the pious Deacon Lewis Michael to be
a presbyter,” said the bishop. “Therefore, let us pray for
him that the grace of the all-Holy Spirit may come upon him,
and let us all say, Lord have mercy.”
The priests and people responded three times to the bishop,
saying, “Lord have mercy.”
After being ordained, Father Rabayda was vested and
participated in the consecration and the distribution of holy
Communion.
After the Divine Liturgy, Father Rabayda stayed at the altar
to bless his parents, Daniel and Patricia, and to speak to,
and bless individually, members of the congregation.
Father Rabayda said that finally being ordained after years
of discernment is “surreal.”
“It’s a great blessing from God,” he said.
Family members from Pennsylvania traveled to Annandale for
the ceremony. Ginny Powell, a cousin of Father Rabayda, said
that while the ceremony is different from that of the Roman
rite it is beautiful.
Another cousin, Patricia Cox, also a Roman Catholic, said the
ceremony was “ornate and different.”
Bishop Burnette said that his eparchy has more than 85
parishes that stretch from Florida to Massachusetts. Because
his eparchy has a small Catholic population – about 18,000 –
he said a priestly ordination is a blessing.
