FARGO 29 April 2017 (ORCNS) - The Rev. Dom. Shane VanMeveren, TOR Mar. was ordained to the Holy Order of Deacons today during a low mass. The ordaining bishop was H.Em. Mgr. Rutherford Johnson, Cardinal Count of Sainte Animie, Patriarch of St. Stephen. The mass took place on a warm spring day following a late spring snowstorm that occurred a few days earlier.
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| At the imposition of hands, the Holy Spirit is transmitted to the ordinand, who then becomes a Deacon. |
Dom. Shane is a seminarian at Pontifical Georgian College, the principal seminary of the Religious and Military Patriarchate of St. Stephen and is also pursuing a PhD at a secular institution. Additionally, he is a friar in the Franciscan Third Order Regular of the Brothers and Sisters of Penance of the Blessed Virgin Mary (TOR Mar).
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| Mgr. Rutherford, Cardinal Patriarch of Saint Stephen, ordaining Bishop, reads the introduction to the ordination, explaining the significance of the Order of Deacon and its duties. |
During the formal introduction to the ordination, read by Mgr. Rutherford, Cardinal Count of Sainte Animie as ordaining Bishop, Saint Stephen the First Deacon and Martyr was invoked. This is particularly significant not only for Deacons, but also for the Patriarchate, of which Blessed Stephen is the glorious celestial Patron. Also during the introduction, Dom. Shane was reminded that it was stated that the "Office of the Deacon is to assist at the altar, to baptize, and to preach." He was also reminded of the seriousness of his new office and state in life by being told that the "...Church, always ready for battle, wageth an unceasing warfare against her enemies, as the Apostle sayeth: 'Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places.'"
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| Dom. Shane reads the Gospel from the ambo for the first time as a Deacon. Proclaiming the Gospel and reading or singing it in the Holy Mass is one of the chief duties of a Deacon. |
The Order of Deacon is the first of the Major Orders of the Church and follows the Minor Orders of Porter, Lector, Acolyte, and Exorcist and the transitional Order of Sub Deacon. It derives from the ancient order of Levites in the Old Testament. The Christian Diaconate was instituted by the Apostles and is found in Scripture. Some clerics remain Deacons, being called to serve in that ministry. Others follow a different calling and continue to the priesthood. Dom. Shane is in the latter category, continuing intensive studies in theology, canon law, pastoral ministry, and liturgy necessary to be qualified for the priestly ministry.
