Booklet for the Mass
Many priests observe the anniversary of their ordination at this time of year. It is a common time for ordinations, probably because Ember Days were common times for ordinations and Ember Days fall during the Pentecost Octave.
In any event, today is my turn. Today is my anniversary of ordination, 34 years ago, by St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica. That might make me a 2nd class relic.
When this date rolls around, I usually say to myself:
“Well… I made it this far.”
And so begins the 34th year. I’ve now been a priest longer than the earthly Jesus.
On 26 May 1991, the Feast of St. Philip Neri, it was also Trinity Sunday.
It is a wonderful synchronicity that The Parish™ in Rome to which I am so attached, is both the place of St. Philip Neri’s great work and also in honor of the Most Holy Trinity.
It was a perfect Roman May day.
I got up that morning, ate breakfast, said my prayers, and walked alone across town to the basilica, where I entered through the main doors with the rest of the crowd. After that, however, I went to the right, to the nave near the Pietà, where we ordinands vested and waited for the Holy Father. My family members came separately from a different part of town. They had special tickets which brought them very close to the altar. St. Theresa of Calcutta was there, just in front of where my folks sat.
Since we were 60 in number, and from many countries, the basilica was absolutely jammed with people from all over the world who had come for the ordinations, probably some 50k.
You have not experienced the Litany of Saints until you have heard it sung by that many people in a space like that.
I arranged for my grandmother, a convert to Catholicism in her 80’s, to receive Communion from the Holy Father, St. John Paul.
I often wonder what happened to the other men with whom I was ordained. I only knew a few of them personally, since I had been at the Lateran University with them.
It was the first year that the Iron Curtain was raised a bit. A few men were permitted out Romania to come to Rome to be ordained by the Pope. There were some Opus Dei guys ordained with us. Another of the group was John Corapi of the SOLT group, though I didn’t know him at the time. Pray for him. One priest was ordained for the Archdiocese of Southwark in England. I know that one fellow is now a bishop in Haiti. Last February he was injured in an explosion but is recovering.
This day, especially when I review some of these videos and think about what has happened between then and now, underscores the fact that God doesn’t choose men who are worthy. He chooses those whom it pleases Him to choose.
I ask for your prayers today and in an ongoing way for my cares, my health, and my future. Pray for canceled priests.
And please, in a special way, pray for the mother of a priest, my own.
The sermon from the Mass. The sermon is in Italian and the text is HERE.
I really miss him.
Here are some excerpts from the broadcast of the ordination, which was on national television in Italy. We have the interrogation, litany and the prayer (form).
Imposition of hands.
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Ad multos annos!
Congratulations and best wishes Father Z as you mark this great event in your life. What a blessing your ministry is for so many.
May Pope Leo be generous to you and others who have been dealt with unfairly.
Perhaps Leo will make you a monsignor. Well, one can always hope.
I was told once that priests ordained by a pope can wear a single red button at the neck of their cassocks to indicate the honor. Perhaps an urban legend.
Congrats and prayers. Enjoy your remaining time in Rome.
Happy anniversary, Father! May the Lord continue to keep you safe and healthy on every level, and your mother also! Mother Mary, keep your mantle around Father and those he loves.
Happy Anniversary!! May God bless you, today and always. Thank you for all you have done for us and for the Church.
Happy Anniversary, Fr. Z! I offered my Holy Communion, for you specifically, today not because I remembered your anniversary but something about a devotion to St. Philip Neri! It’s all making more sense now. My husband and I got married in June of that same year. It’s amazing all that can happen and change in that amount of time. God bless you, Father! Thank you for your priesthood!
That bishop has done wonderfully! more than tripling the number of priests in his diocese from 2008-2022 per Catholic-hierarchy.org.
prayers for him, for you, for all those ordained with you, and for your dear mother – how fortunate you are to still have her drawing breath at your age!
Dear Fr. Z – I do pray for you, and all cancelled priests. And I pray that God may move Pope Leo XVI, who is emphasizing the need for unity in the Church, to act to reverse the cancellation of priests and allow them to serve as God intended in their ordinations.
I also pray that a way may be found for you to live and serve as a priest in Rome.
One tiny, smiling correction: you are beginning your 35th year, not your 34th ?. Anniversaries mark the completion of the year they number. So you have completed 34 years, and now commence year 35. May it be full of blessings.
Ad Multos Annos, Fr. Z.
Thank you for your devoted Priesthood.
Prayers assured for you, your dear Mum, and for all Priests.
Deo Gratias.
Congratulations, Father. Thank you for everything you do.
Blessed anniversary, Father, and once again profound thanks for all you’ve done for us, your readers, over these many years. So good also that you’re now in Rome to mark it – albeit nearing the end of this happy time – eheu!
But you’ll be back soon enough, God willing – and we’ll be with you. Online.
Happy Anniversary (in some time zones, if not still in Rome as I write)! “Nel mezzo del camin” of your priestly life (perhaps literally: I’ve know lively people of considerable age)… I don’t know just what Eliot means in “The Dry Salvages” when he says “Not fare well, / But fare forward”, but I hope and pray that you (and your mother) be well in your faring, and your faring be well – to apply another verse, your actions have fructified in the lives of others!
God Bless You on your Anniversary, Father. May you celebrate many more. Thank you for all you do.
This may be a day late and a dollar short, but the sentiment behind it is not lacking anything: Congratulations, Father Z, and thanks be to God for your Yes to His calling and your perseverance in your ministry. May Our Lord continue to keep you close to Him and may Mary keep you safe under her mantle. Ad multos annos!
Ad multos annos! May our Heavenly Father pour out an abundance of grace upon you.