Mangalore: 20 Deacons Ordained at St Joseph's Seminary, Jeppu

News: Praveen Joy Saldanha
Pics: Wilson Shirva
 
Mangalore, Jun 15: Twenty young men, who were preparing and forming themselves to be priests to work in the vineyard of the Lord, were ordained deacons at St Joseph’s Seminary, Jeppu.

Among the 20 deacons, 5 belong to Mangalore Diocese, 6 to Kannur diocese, 1 to Calicut diocese, 3 to Carmelites, 2 to Betharam Fathers, 1 to Shimoga diocese, I to Gumla diocese, 1 to Jashpur diocese.

The ordination rite of the diaconate was celebrated with a solemn liturgy of the EuchariSt After the proclamation of the Gospel, the rector of the seminary Fr Joseph Martis presented the candidates to Bishop Aloysius Paul D’Souza of Mangalore to raise them into the position of clergy. Subsequently the Bishop instructed the candidates with the Word of God. In his homily, Bishop urged the ordinandi 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.”

Later, the aspirants pledged to lead a life of celibacy and obedience. After the litany of the saints, the ceremony proceeded with most important sign of the ordination, that is, laying on of hands on the ordinandi by the Bishop. The rite succeeded in the investiture of the deacons with the stole and dalmatics. Afterwards the Bishop gave them the Book of Gospels saying, “Believe what you read, preach what you believe and practice what you preach”. The ritual ended with the kiss of peace.

The Holy Eucharist was followed by the felicitation of the newly ordained deacons. Priests, religious, seminarians, parents, friends, and relatives of the deacons witnessed the solemn diaconate liturgy. The beauty of the Eucharistic celebration was enhanced by the angelic singing and prayerful liturgy.

The participants experienced the presence of Holy Spirit in the celebration.

The newly ordained deacons are:

D’Souza Mahesh (Mangalore)
D'Sa Deepak Leo (Mangalore)
Rodrigues Amith Prakash (Mangalore)
Lobo Rohan (Mangalore)
Sequeira George Jeevan (Mangalore)
Erathara Christopher Moxy (Kannur)
Kanari Jacob Vijesh(Kannur)
Linto Stanly (Kannur)
Oliparambil George Jerry (Kannur)
Puliyankil Suneesh Joseph (Kannur)
Vimal Victor (Kannur)
Nevez Tony Gracious (Calicut)
D’Cunha Prakash (OCD)
Menezes Richard (OCD)
Saldanha Joyson (OCD)
George Mathew (SCJ)
Fernando Livin (SCJ)
D’Souza Pius Carmel Mani Prabha (Shimoga)
Soreng Phulgames Fulgence (Gumla)
Minj John Crus (Jashpur)