Commitment to Celibacy

By your own free choice you seek to enter the order of deacons. You shall exercise this ministry in the celibate state for celibacy is both a sign and a motive of pastoral charity, and a special source of spiritual fruitfulness in the world. By living in this state with total dedication, moved by a sincere love for Christ the Lord, you are consecrated to him in a new and special way. By this consecration you will adhere more easily to Christ with an undivided heart; you will be more freely at the service of God and mankind, and you will be more untrammeled in the ministry of Christian conversion and rebirth. By your life and character you will give witness to your brothers and sisters in faith that God must be loved above all else, and that it is he whom you serve in others.
Therefore, I ask you:
In the presence of God and the Church, are you resolved, as a sign of your interior dedication to Christ, to remain celibate for the sake of the kingdom and in lifelong service to God and mankind?

I AM

May the Lord help you to persevere in this commitment.

Examination of the Candidate

My son, before you are ordained a deacon, you must declare before the people your intention to undertake this office.

Are you willing to be ordained for the sake of the Church’s ministry by the laying on of hands and the gift of the Holy Spirit?

I AM

Are you resolved to discharge the office of deacon with humility and love in order to assist the bishop and the priests and to serve the people df Christ?

I AM

Are you resolved to hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience as the Apostle urges, and to proclaim this faith in word and action as it is taught by the Gospel and the Church’s tradition?

I AM

Are you resolved to maintain and deepen a spirit of prayer appropriate to your way of life and, in keeping with what is required of you, to celebrate faithfully the liturgy of the hours for the Church and for the whole world?

I AM

Are you resolved to shape your way of life always according to the example of Christ, whose body and blood you will give to the people?

I AM

Promise of Obedience

Do you promise respect and obedience to me and my successors?

I DO

Do you promise respect and obedience to your Ordinary?

I DO

May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment.

Prayer of Consecration

Almighty God, be present with us by your power.
You are the source of all honour,
you assign to each his rank, you give to each his ministry.
You remain unchanged, but you watch over all creation and make it new
through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord:
he is your Word, your power, and your wisdom.
You foresee all things in your eternal providence and make due provision for every age.
You make the Church, Christ’s body, grow to its full stature as a new and greater temple.
You enrich it with every kind of grace and perfect it with a diversity of members
to serve the whole body in a wonderful pattern of unity.

You established a threefold ministry of worship and service
for the glory of your name.
As ministers of your tabernacle you chose the sons of Levi
and gave them your blessing as their everlasting inheritance.
In the first days of your Church
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
the apostles of your Son appointed seven men of good repute
to assist them in the daily ministry,
so that they themselves might be more free for prayer and preaching.
By prayer and the laying on of the hands,
the apostles entrusted to those chosen men the ministry of serving at tables.

Lord look with favour on this servant of yours,
whom we now dedicate to the office of deacon,
to minister at your holy altar

Lord, send forth upon him the Holy Spirit,
that he may be strengthened by the gift of your sevenfold grace
to carry out faithfully the work of the ministry.
May he excel in every virtue:
in love that is sincere,
in concern for the sick and the poor,
in unassuming authority, in self-discipline, and in holiness of life.
May his conduct exemplify your commandments
and lead your people to imitate his purity of life.
May he remain strong and steadfast in Christ,
giving to the world the witness of a pure conscience.
May he in this life imitate your Son, who came,
not to be served but to serve, and one day reign with him in heaven.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God,
for ever and ever.

AMEN

Examination of the Candidate

My son, before you proceed to the order of the presbyterate,
declare before the people your intention to undertake this priestly office.

Are you resolved, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to discharge without fail the office of priesthood in the presbyteral order as a conscientious fellow worker with the bishops in caring for the Lord’s flock?

I AM

Are you resolved to celebrate the mysteries of Christ faithfully and religiously as the Church has handed them down to us for the glory of God and the sanctification of Christ’s people?

I AM

Are you resolved to exercise the ministry of the word worthily and wisely, preaching the Gospel and explaining the Catholic faith?

I AM

Are you resolved to consecrate your life to God for the salvation of his people, and to unite yourself more closely every day to Christ the High Priest, who offered himself for us to the Father as a perfect sacrifice?

I AM, WITH THE HELP OF GOD

Promise of Obedience

Do you promise respect and obedience to me and my successors?
OR
Do you promise respect and obedience to your Ordinary?

I DO

May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment.

Prayer of Consecration

Come to your help, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God;
You are the source of every honour and dignity, of all progress and stability.
You watch over the growing family of man
by your gift of wisdom and your pattern of order.
When you had appointed high priests to rule your people,
you chose other men next to them in rank and dignity
to be with them and to help them in their task; and so there grew up
the ranks of priests and the offices of levites, established by sacred rites.

In the desert
You extended the spirit of Moses to seventy wise men
who helped him to rule the great company of his people.
You shared among the sons of Aaron the fullness of their father’s power,
to provide worthy priests in sufficient number
for the increasing rites of sacrifice and worship.
With the same loving care
You gave companions to your Son’s apostles
to help in teaching the faith:
they preached the Gospel to the whole world.

Lord, grant also to us such fellow workers,
for we are weak and our need is greater.

Almighty Father, grant to this servant of yours
the dignity of the priesthood.
Renew within him the Spirit of holiness.
As a co-worker with the order of bishops
may he be faithful to the ministry
that he receives from you, Lord God,
and be to others a model of right conduct.

May he be faithful in working with the order of bishops,
so that the words of the Gospel may reach the ends of the earth, and the family of nations, made one in Christ, may become God’s one, holy people.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you And the Holy Spirit, on God for ever and ever.

AMEN