UPDATED: Seminarians’ gathering with Bishop a time of prayer, building camaraderie
December 23, 2022 at 2:24 a.m.
After spending the last months pursuing studies in the seminaries of Mount St. Mary, Emmitsburg, or St. Charles Borromeo, Wynnewood, Pa., the Diocese’s 12 seminarians gathered with their Bishop and other diocesan priests to celebrate Christmas and to witness the Rite of Admission of Candidacy, a formal step in preparation for priesthood.
PHOTO GALLERY: 2022 Christmas Mass for Seminarians
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C. M., celebrated Mass on Dec. 22 in the Diocesan Chancery, Lawrenceville, during which seminarians Pawel Derkacz and Alan Bridges participated in the rite, declaring their intention to continue their formation for the Sacrament of Holy Orders to serve as priests for the Diocese.
In his homily, the Bishop reflected on St. Luke’s Gospel (1:46-56), the Canticle of Mary, in which Mary proclaims her joy at having been chosen to become the mother of God.
“Today’s words remind us of the joy each one of us should have in the Lord,” stressed Bishop O’Connell, especially in light of the great feast of Christmas as a time of new hope, joy and happiness.
“This is a great day for us to be together as brothers,” the Bishop said.
In addition to Derkacz and Bridges, the seminarians of the Diocese include Kyle Holler, Brian Meinders, Jessie Kundrat, Julian Young, Wynne Kerridge, Rev. Mr. Kevin Hrycenko, Tomas Villacis, Nicholas Alesio, Brian Leonard and Thomas Gorman.
Father Garry Koch, an associate director of vocations and pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel, reiterated that the while Derkacz and Bridges have been in formation for a few years, it is now with the Rite of Candidacy “that we say that we see evidence that these seminarians are seriously moving toward ordination and that their respective seminary faculties view favorably their progress in that direction.”
The Rite of Candidacy makes a priestly vocation “more real for me,” said Bridges, a second-year theology student in Mount St. Mary Seminary. He added he now looks forward to the next major step of being ordained a deacon in 2024.
Derkacz, a first-year theology student in Mount St. Mary Seminary, believes that the priesthood is the “fullest way I would be able to serve God’s people.”
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After spending the last months pursuing studies in the seminaries of Mount St. Mary, Emmitsburg, or St. Charles Borromeo, Wynnewood, Pa., the Diocese’s 12 seminarians gathered with their Bishop and other diocesan priests to celebrate Christmas and to witness the Rite of Admission of Candidacy, a formal step in preparation for priesthood.
PHOTO GALLERY: 2022 Christmas Mass for Seminarians
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C. M., celebrated Mass on Dec. 22 in the Diocesan Chancery, Lawrenceville, during which seminarians Pawel Derkacz and Alan Bridges participated in the rite, declaring their intention to continue their formation for the Sacrament of Holy Orders to serve as priests for the Diocese.
In his homily, the Bishop reflected on St. Luke’s Gospel (1:46-56), the Canticle of Mary, in which Mary proclaims her joy at having been chosen to become the mother of God.
“Today’s words remind us of the joy each one of us should have in the Lord,” stressed Bishop O’Connell, especially in light of the great feast of Christmas as a time of new hope, joy and happiness.
“This is a great day for us to be together as brothers,” the Bishop said.
In addition to Derkacz and Bridges, the seminarians of the Diocese include Kyle Holler, Brian Meinders, Jessie Kundrat, Julian Young, Wynne Kerridge, Rev. Mr. Kevin Hrycenko, Tomas Villacis, Nicholas Alesio, Brian Leonard and Thomas Gorman.
Father Garry Koch, an associate director of vocations and pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel, reiterated that the while Derkacz and Bridges have been in formation for a few years, it is now with the Rite of Candidacy “that we say that we see evidence that these seminarians are seriously moving toward ordination and that their respective seminary faculties view favorably their progress in that direction.”
The Rite of Candidacy makes a priestly vocation “more real for me,” said Bridges, a second-year theology student in Mount St. Mary Seminary. He added he now looks forward to the next major step of being ordained a deacon in 2024.
Derkacz, a first-year theology student in Mount St. Mary Seminary, believes that the priesthood is the “fullest way I would be able to serve God’s people.”