(Terra Sancta News) You may be familiar with pictures of men lying prostrate on the carpet of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome as they spiritual prepare during the Litany of the Saints to be ordained transitional deacons deacons. If not, here is one of many of those photos.
Those little white things to the right are actually the men lying prostrate. (The view is from the base of the dome of St. Peter’s, only 1/3 of the way up the total height of the basilica.) To the left is the papal altar and Bernini’s baldacchino. A Roman ordination is both an honor and unforgettable experience for these men.
Our friends at Terra Sancta News, however, report that a different group of transitional deacons were ordained in a church much closer to where Jesus held the Last Supper. The crusader church of St. Anne, in Jerusalem, was the site of the ordination of an international group of transitional deacons. Patriarch Fouad Twal laid hands upon the candidates and offered the sacred prayer of ordination. Afterward, the men rejoiced with family, friends and parishioners here in the Holy Land.
Watch this video from Franciscan Media to see footage of the ordination Mass.