13 young men were ordained deacons at St Joseph’s Seminary
Mangalore, Jun 5: “Chosen from among men …. appointed to act on behalf of men” (Heb 5:1). Responding to the call of God, 13 young men were ordained deacons on 5th June 2013 at St Joseph’s Interdiocesan Seminary, Jeppu, Mangalore.
Among the 13 deacons, 3 belong to the diocese of Mangalore, 2 to the diocese of Calicut, 2 to the diocese of Udupi, 1 to the diocese of Jashpur and 5 to the Congregation of OCD (Carmelites).
Most Rev. Dr Peter Paul Saldanha, Bishop of Mangalore Diocese presided over the Holy Eucharist and ordained the ordinandi as deacons. V. Rev. Fr Ronald Serrao, the Rector of the Seminary called out the names of the ordinandi to be ordained. In His Homily, His Excellency instructed the candidates with the Word of God and spelled out the role of a deacon in the Church. He called all the ordinad to do the will of God generously and to serve God and mankind in love and joy. Addressing the deacons Bishop expressed, “You are the ministers of the Word of God and you have to express in action what you proclaim by word of mouth”. “Go into the entire world and proclaim the Good News to the whole creation” (Mk 16: 15).
Later, the aspirants pledged to lead a life of celibacy and obedience. After the litany of saints, the ceremony proceeded with the most important sign of the ordination, which is, laying on of the hands on the ordinandi by the Bishop. The rite succeeded with the investiture of stole and dalmatic by the deacons. Afterwards, the Bishop gave them the Book of Gospels saying, “Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach”. The ritual ended with the sign of peace between the newly ordained deacons and the Bishop.
The Holy Eucharist was followed by a felicitation to the newly ordained Deacons. Priests, religious sisters, seminarians, parents, friends and relatives of the deacons witnessed the celebration with their presence. The beauty of the Eucharistic celebration was enhanced by the prayerful Liturgy and Cecilian Choir.
The participants experienced the presence of Divine love and grace in the celebration.
The newly ordained deacons are:
Dn Anthony Stephen, OCD
Dn John Clifford Rodrigues, OCD
Dn Lanson Maxim Pinto, Mangalore
Dn Norman John Mathias, Mangalore
Dn Pradeep Clarence Rodrigues, Mangalore
Dn Pranam Jovin Fernandes, OCD
Dn Rikson Monteiro, Udupi
Dn Santhosh Menezes, OCD
Dn Shanto Anthony, Calicut
Dn Shijoy Francis, Calicut
Dn Siltan Philip Noronha, OCD
Dn Stephan Rodrigues, Udupi
