By Lois Rogers | Correspondent

A sense of joy and an air of expectation swept St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, May 31 as Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M., ordained six new priests for the Diocese of Trenton.

To read Bishop O'Connell's homily from the Mass of Ordination, click here.

With reverence and warmth, Bishop O'Connell ordained Father John K. Butler, Father Carlo James Calisin, Father Rafael Enrique Esquen Odar, Father Jean Renald Felicien, Farther Jerome J. Guld and Father Mark Ronald Directo Nillo.

The Diocesan Celebration of the Eucharist and Ordination to the Priesthood unfolded seamlessly amid a background of jubilant music by the Diocesan Festival Choir, rising tides of incense and the sweet perfume of hundreds of blue and white flowers. A throng of 800 family members, friends and parishioners and some 80 priest concelebrants as well as diocesan seminarians and religious, were there to witness the solemn occasion.

Also present and joining Bishop O’Connell on the altar were representatives of the three seminaries where the men from the Trenton Diocese prepare for the priesthood – St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Wynnewood, Pa.; St. Mary Seminary and University, Baltimore, and Immaculate Conception Seminary, South Orange. Representatives from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary included Bishop Timothy Senior, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and seminary rector, and Father Joseph Bongard, vice rector. From St. Mary Seminary and University, the representatives included Father Thomas Hurst rector and Father Edward Griswold, vice rector. From Immaculate Conception Seminary, representatives included Father Robert Suszko, vice rector.  

The class of 2014 was the fourth group of priests Bishop O'Connell has ordained since becoming diocesan bishop four years ago. In his homily, he noted that the most “moving and humbling title for bishop, is 'successor to the apostles’.” And in that capacity, he said, one of the most “important and most humbling responsibilities” for the bishop is ordaining new priests.

“This occasion,” he said of the ordination to come, “is certainly one of great joy for them and their parents and families and friends. It is also a moment of gratitude! Those of us who are priests cannot help but think back on our own ordinations, when we sat as they do now with all the hopes and dreams that lay before us.”

“We want to whisper in their ears the words of Christ: ‘be not afraid’ -- put all your trust and confidence in him.”

The Bishop spoke of the “profound moment of sacramental celebration” as being “not simply for us priests, new or old or in-between or about to be.” Rather, he said, ordination is significant for the entire Church, “for all of you. Through the laying on of hands, at Christ's command, and the offering of the consecratory prayer, at the Church's direction, these six men will become 'laborers for the harvest' prayed for in the Gospel today...'”

Bishop O’Connell exhorted the men to focus on the nature of their call, recognizing that the “priesthood will be yours but not for you alone,” as he quoted from The Letter to the Hebrews – the Second Reading of the day, encouraging them to offer “prayers and supplications,” that will be heard “because of your reverence.”

Invoking the First Reading from the Book of Isaiah, he gently reminded them that the Spirit of Lord had anointed them to “bring Good News to the poor, preach well and carefully, and preach with joy … heal the broken hearted,” forgive sins, offer gentleness, mercy and wise counsel and “proclaim liberty.”

By the laying on of hands

The Rite of Ordination – which marked the culmination of the formal faith formation process for each of the men, some of whom spent years discerning their call – began as Rev. Messrs. Butler, Calisin, Esquen, Felicien, Guld and Nillo came before Bishop O'Connell who announced that they had chosen for the order of priesthood. Father Dennis Apoldite, director of the diocesan House of Priestly Formation, called the candidates forth.

Each candidate told the Bishop he came willingly and faithfully to the priesthood and then each man promised his obedience to the authority of the Church.

The six then prostrated themselves on the floor before the altar as the Diocesan Festival Choir led the congregation in the chanting of the Litany of the Saints. The vast reaches of the cathedral filled with prayers for the intersession of the saints including the patron saints of the ordinands.

Each man was then ordained by Bishop O'Connell through the laying on of his hands on their heads and his silent prayer, invoking the Holy Spirit upon each. Then concelebrating priests in attendance laid their hands on the heads of the ordinands, signifying their sharing in one priesthood.

In one of the most touching moments of the ordination, the new priests were assisted by a brother priest as the vestments of a deacon which they were wearing were replaced by the stole and chasuble, garments worn by priests for the celebration of Mass.

Father Butler's vesting priest was Augustinian Father Dennis J. Gallagher, a weekend assistant in St. Catharine – St. Margaret Parish, Spring Lake, standing in for Msgr. Thomas A. Luebking, the pastor, whose illness kept him from the ordination.

Father Calisin was vested by Msgr. Gregory Vaughan. Father Mick Lambeth, pastor of St. Theresa Parish, Little Egg Harbor, and former diocesan director of vocations, was the vesting priest for Father Guld.

Father Felicien's vesting priest was Redemptorist Father Nickson Predelus, a priest of St. Gerard Parish, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Father Oscar Sumanga, diocesan judicial vicar, served as vesting priest for Father Nillo and Father Juan Anzora, a priest of the Diocese of Atlanta, served as vesting priest for Father Esquen.

After they received their priestly vestments, the six knelt again before Bishop O'Connell as he anointed their palms. Bishop O'Connell presented each man with a paten and chalice which would hold the Body and Blood of Christ in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

The six new priests were then greeted by each of the concelebrants with a sign of peace in the form of an embrace. The new priests joined Bishop O'Connell at the altar for the celebration of the Liturgy of the Eucharist for the first time.

In a poignant moment, the newly ordained offered their first blessings as priests to Bishop O'Connell at the end of the Mass.

Blessings Bestowed

The vast throng in attendance had signaled their love and appreciation for the chosen vocation of the six newly ordained with applause, cheers and a standing ovation as the Rite of Ordination concluded.

Then it was time to share the joy by way of blessings bestowed on their heads.

The cathedral's ushers moved quickly to set up six “stations” in the vast expanse of the cathedral. There, family members and friends, some of whom had traveled from as far away as Peru, Haiti and the Philippines and scores who had come by the bus full and the car load from parishes throughout the diocese – formed into lines where they happily awaited the chance to kneel at prie dieux before the new priests.

Mary O'Connor, a member of St. Catharine Laboure Parish, where Father Esquen served his year as a transitional deacon, couldn't say enough about the promise she believes his priesthood holds. “He's very sincere and very upbeat,” she said of Father Esquen who hails from Peru. “He fit right in at St. Catherine. He was there for everything and it was clear that he enjoyed it.”

O'Connor said that she gives Fathers Esquen, Calisin and Felicien who also came from afar to serve the Trenton Diocese, a “world of credit. I couldn't consider giving up everything, going to another country, learning a new language.”

Lina Sumanga, the aunt of Father Oscar Sumanga who vested Father Calisin, was bursting we pride as she waited to receive a blessing from the new priest. “I consider myself the godmother for the ordination,” she said with a grin. “I could cry with happiness. My prayer is that he will be the kind of priest God wants him to be. He is a wonderful young man.”

Among those waiting to receive Father Butler's blessing were several faithful from the Diocese of Paterson with whom he had studied theology in Seton Hall University, South Orange. They had also traveled to Rome with him on what they called an extraordinary pilgrimage.

“It's a wonderful day for him,” said James Barton. “He's such an example. He was a lawyer with a very successful practice. To give it all up to serve the people of God is remarkable.”

Perhaps when it came to her son, though, Claire Butler, who's about to celebrate her 84th. Birthday, put it best. “My joy is incredible – incredible joy for him, incredible joy for our family. He's a good son and he'll be a good priest. God is so good,” she said, her bright blue eyes alight with happiness. “He kept me alive to see this.”