Catholic Standard El Pregonero
Latest Paper Classifieds Buy Photos

Newest priest, seven transitional deacons ordained by Cardinal Gregory for Archdiocese of Washington

Father Nicholas Morrison became the second priest among his siblings, and seven other men became transitional deacons June 19, 2021 in a centuries-old ordination rite at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory ordained Father Morrison and the new transitional deacons for the Archdiocese of Washington.

Father Morrison, 26, is the second member of his family to be ordained in a year. His elder brother, Father James Morrison, was one of eight men ordained just under a year ago, on June 20, 2020. A third brother, Danny, is a seminarian who will study at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in the fall. They are the sons of Eric and Grace Morrison, who have four other children.

The younger Father Morrison will celebrate two “first” Masses, one at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 20 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Bethesda, where his older brother serves as a parochial vicar, and the other at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, June 27 at St. John Neumann Church in Gaithersburg, the Morrison family’s home parish.

Processing into the June 19 Ordination Mass at the National Shrine are the seven seminarians of the Archdiocese of Washington who were ordained as transitional deacons later during the Mass. From left to right, they are Gerald Andrews, Ryan Braam, Kyle Vance, Peter Mlynarczyk, Grzegorz Okulewicz, Mattia Cortigiani and Carlos Gutiérrez. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

In his homily after the eight candidates for ordination were formally presented, Cardinal Gregory warmly made light of their youth and the irony that the ceremony would officially install them among the “assembly of elders” in the local church.

“Just look at them,” he said with a smile. As the young prophet Jeremiah said to God in the Mass’s first reading “I am too young for the tasks to which you call me,” the Cardinal noted. “None of them possesses the great long gray beards that senior wisdom figures so often display. They are not bent over or stooped with the burden of years and after the endurance of many trials. They don’t even have an old man’s paunch yet.”

Though they will need more time and maturity to merit the role as elders, he assured them that the wisdom and advice of the archdiocesan priests will help them to grow. The priests of the Archdiocese of Washington are widely diverse, he said, “with different talents, life experience and divergent viewpoints about almost everything.” Yet, they are all united by “the call of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit that we share and treasure together.”

Deacon Nicholas Morrison at right smiles as the congregation applauds him near the beginning of the June 19 Ordination Mass at the National Shrine.  In the foreground at right are four of the seminarians who were ordained as transitional deacons later during the Mass. From left to right, those seminarians are Carlos Gutiérrez, Grzegorz Okulewicz, Kyle Vance and Gerald Andrews. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)
The seminarians who were ordained transitional deacons at the June 19 Ordination Mass at the National Shrine smile as the congregation applauds them at the beginning of the Mass. The seminarians at right are Mattia Cortigiani, Peter Mlynarczyk and Ryan Braam. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

And those future priests will bring gifts to their fellow priests, the cardinal said. “In your youthfulness you bring such great joy to the hearts of your older brothers, the people of the archdiocese, your families and friends… and especially to me, your archbishop.”

Cardinal Gregory cautioned that clergy “are perhaps now among the most misunderstood individuals in the world. And much of that may very well be our own fault. Deacons, priests and bishops alike. We are ordinary men, sinful and yet always hopeful.”

He said that despite the challenges clergy face, “we continue to enjoy a very high level of personal satisfaction in our service. That is because Christ himself is the source of our joy.”

Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory prepares to lay hands on the head of Deacon Nicholas Morrison as he ordained him as the newest priest of the Archdiocese of Washington during a June 19 Mass at the National Shrine. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

He called the ordinands to provide witness that is “sincere, honest and uncluttered, but especially filled with palpable joy. The world may often think of us as repressed, depressed and perhaps dishonest and unhappy men. Catholic clergy are anything but. We are men who love the Lord and love His people with everything that is within our hearts.”

The cardinal promised that in response to their obedience to him and his successors, “I give you my word to encourage you in your joy and ministerial satisfaction.”

Cardinal Gregory encouraged the new priest to treat the Eucharist and his role as a confessor as two forms of spiritual nurturing that he both provides to others and receives for himself.

Cardinal Gregory embraces newly ordained Father Nicholas Morrison at the June 19 Ordination Mass at the National Shrine. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

Transitional deacons typically anticipate being ordained to the priesthood the following year. This year’s diaconate group includes Gerald Andrews, Ryan Braam, Mattia Cortigiani, Carlos Gutierrez, Peter Mlynarczyk, Grzegorz Okulewicz and Kyle Vance.

Other elements of the ordination ritual include each candidate being called before the cardinal, as he sat in front of the altar. Cardinal Gregory asked each “do you promise respect and obedience to me and to my successors?” In response to their answers of “I do,” he continued: “May God who has begun the good work within you bring it to fulfillment.”

All eight lay prostrate on the floor of the basilica as the cantor sang the Litany of the Saints, asking the church’s holy people to “pray for us.”

During the June 19 ordination at the National, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory anoints the hands of newly ordained Father Nicholas Morrison with chrism. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

As part of the ordination ritual, Cardinal Gregory invested the new deacons with the stole and dalmatic they will wear as a sign of their diaconate and with the Book of the Gospels. As deacons they are now allowed to preach at Mass. For the newly ordained Father Morrison, the Cardinal invested him with the stole and chasuble he will wear, anointed his hands and presented bread and wine as a sign of presiding at the Eucharist.

In addition to Cardinal Gregory laying his hands on each man’s head and praying over him, the more than 100 priests at the Mass took turns to also lay hands on Father Morrison for their blessings.

Newly ordained Father Nicholas Morrison stands before the altar with Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory as the congregation applauds him at the end of the June 19 Ordination Mass at the National Shrine. (CS photo/Andrew Biraj)

The two-hour-long liturgy represented a return to the usual venue for ordinations, now that coronavirus-related restrictions on the sizes of gatherings have been lifted in Washington, D.C. Last year’s ordination ceremony was moved to a Maryland parish because of size limits on gatherings in D.C. buildings. Still, the families of ordinands and others in the congregation sat somewhat distanced from each other, with every other pew blocked off in the full basilica. Shrine ushers made sure worshippers wore facemasks.

Menu
Search