Ordination update: five new deacons for Orlando

Deacon Greg Kandra - published on 06/17/11

Pixie dust, anyone?

Here are the Fab Five (Disney fans know who THOSE are) for central Florida.

Details, from Florida Catholic:

It was a long journey of formation and a long drive into Orlando to celebrate the ordination to the diaconate for George and Kayette Ferraioli of St. John Neumann Parish.

“We prayed on the way over,” said newly ordained Deacon George Ferraioli of the hour-plus trip from Lakeland to St. James Cathedral where the Mass was celebrated. “We talked about the journey so far.”
The couple talked for two years to discern “to see if (the diaconate) was right for us,” Deacon Ferraioli said, adding the journey also included more than five years of formation.

Along with Deacon Ferraioli, four other men — Israel Colón Sr., Mark M. King, William Scott Lindeman and William P. Timmes — embarked on the journey to the diaconate and gathered at the cathedral to receive the third level of the sacrament of holy orders June 11.

As the service proceeded, Bishop John Noonan proclaimed, “We choose these brothers to the order of the diaconate. In a few minutes we will pray over you and I will lay hands on you. Your ordination is not an election but a sacramental act of consecrating. This sacramental act of ordination is a visible sign of the invisible grace of God.”

After an invitation to prayer, that special moment came — the laying on of hands of each one and the prayer of consecration by Bishop Noonan.

“The laying on of hands is one of the most humbling experiences imaginable,” said Deacon Lindeman. “Since it is a ritual that goes back to the earliest days of the Church, you feel as if you are in the company of countless servants who have served the Church. It was also an experience not just between the bishop and me, but an opportunity to feel the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit and to respond in confirmation before God, our commitment to serve.”

Watching her husband be ordained, along with the other four men, was “overwhelming” said Kayette Ferraioli, adding, “It was just beautiful. It was just very touching and moving.”

Read more. And there’s more about the men ordained at this link. Ad multos annos, gentlemen!  Welcome!

(N.B.: dudes, the stole goes under the dalmatic!  And I’m puzzled why red was used, unless it was the vigil mass for Pentecost…?)

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