The ordination of seven deacons that was due to take place on the 3rd June and was unfortunately, like so much else, postponed is, we are now glad to say, going to take place on the 27th August in Aughrim Street parish (two ordinations), on the 28th in Brackenstown (two) and on Saturday the 29th at 11.00 in Saggart (three). The three ordinations in Saggart are those of Francis Browne, Paul Ferris and John Graham, one of whom (Paul) is a parishioner. The numbers attending will, of course, be in accordance with Covid guidelines (i.e. under 100 for Saggart) but the ceremony will be streamed live to all.
An important occasion like this featuring 'one of our own' makes us feel involved in a way we may not have experienced before in the case of ordinations of any kind. 'Diaconate' we knew as the last stage (or order) before priestly ordination. This is known as the 'transitional diaconate'. In Ireland and elsewhere,with the growing shortage of vocations to the priesthood, attention was turned to reviving the diaconate of biblical times open to married men -- the 'permanent diaconate'. The result was the publication of The Permanent Diaconate: National Directory and Norms for Ireland in 2006. Applications were invited to follow the course of training beginning in 2008 and the first ordination of deacons, eight in number, took place four years later on the 4th June 2012 (the day after the feast day of St Kevin) in the Pro-Cathedral. Joseph Adams told the story of that day two years later in the Irish Times. It makes for lovely reading and brings the whole subject very much alive. Eight more were ordained in 2016 (see here) and four in 2018 in the Pro-Cathedral on the feast day of St Kevin, one of them being Don Devaney who has served us since so well in this parish (see an account of the day here and an account here of all the ordinations, both presbyteral (priestly) and diaconal for that year).
All of which brings us to the ordinations coming up on Saturday. Besides having a connection with one of the ordinands, Paul, it happens that we have a connection too with the Director of the Permanent Diaconate, our own Fr John --a double connection, then, with the big day! Under the guidance of John, Paul has followed the four-year programme of studies both academic and pastoral that have prepared him for ordination on Saturday.
Finally, some small help for anyone tuning in on Saturday, i.e. a slide sequence of pages from the booklet provided for the Diaconate Ordination (Transitional) ceremony of 2012, the year of the inaugural ceremony for the Parmanent Diaconate in Ireland. Archbishop Martin presided at both ceremonies, in the Pro-Cathedral for the latter and in St Patrick's College, Maynooth, for the former. Since the ceremony, except for a commitment to celibacy in one, is exactly the same for both, the Maynooth booklet should, hopefully, further even more the connection we already have with Saturday's big event -- taking place not in the Pro-Cathedral or Maynooth College but in our very own parish church.
