Our journey begins in the dark, before the first rays of the sun
bring light and warmth to the city and, no less significantly, before any
coffee has been consumed. No one speaks, but the gentle “click’”of rosary beads
reveals the internal prayer taking place amid the external silence. Winding
through the dark, narrow streets of Rome, I find myself surrounded by
unfamiliar buildings and am grateful that someone knows the way. We round a
corner and arrive at a dimly lit, half-full church that is centuries old. A
bell rings and Mass begins. One journey ends, another continues.
3/24/21
DEACON JOSEPH B. TOWNSEND | Special to the Catholic Herald
One of the most inspiring and beautiful ceremonies we can witness
as Catholics is the ordination of a priest or deacon. You see men in the prime
of their lives, lying prostrate in front of the altar in humility to ask the
intercession of the angels and saints. The bishop, through the Laying on of
Hands and the Prayer of Ordination, invokes the Holy Spirit on each man to
ordain him, imprinting a new sacramental character on his soul, and setting him
apart as a minister of Jesus Christ.
3/24/21
ANNE-MARIE D. MINNIS | Special to the Catholic Herald