Dominicans Ordained as Deacons in Time for Holy Week

Seven Dominican Friars were ordained to the diaconate on the 16th of March in time to serve as deacons for Holy Week. The diaconate is one of the degrees of Holy Orders, and in the case of these friars, is a preparation for the priesthood. 

From reading the Gospels on Palm Sunday to singing the solemn intercessions on Good Friday to carrying the Paschal Candle and singing its praises in the Exsultet at the Great Vigil of Easter, Holy Week is time where the unique liturgical role of the deacon is most on display. The decades long custom of our province has friars in formation typically spend two Holy Weeks as deacons before ordination to the priesthood. The deacons get be up close to the mysteries of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection by dividing time between their assigned parishes, the House of Studies, and a few other places where Dominicans help with the sacred liturgies.

“We were ordained deacons to serve and proclaim the mysteries of salvation. And now, during Holy Week, we promptly celebrate the pinnacle of these very mysteries: the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. What a privilege!” explains Br. Bertrand Hebert, O.P., one of the newly ordained deacons. Overlapping with the five brothers ordained to the diaconate last year means that these five friars wont face the challenges alone.

Brs. Louis Mary Bethea, Gregory Marie Santy, Bertrand Marie Hebert, Basil Mary Burroughs, Titus Mary Sanchez, Nicodemus Maria Thomas, and Linus Mary Martz, O.P. were ordained by the Most Reverend James Massa, Titular Bishop of Bardstown and Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.