Priest Praying Over Communion — Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: “Those who receive the sacrament of Holy Orders — as a deacon, priest or bishop — are consecrated in Christ’s name ‘to feed the Church by the word and grace of God.’”

Celebrating Sacraments, from Saint Mary’s Press, states that “Holy Orders, like Matrimony, is a sacrament at the service of Communion. Through Holy Orders, men called by God are consecrated to do a particular kind of service in Christ’s name — that of leading and nourishing the Body of Christ with the word of God and the grace of the sacraments.”

The are three types of orders in this ministry, according to Celebrating Sacraments: the episcopate (order of bishops), the presbyterate (order of priests) and the diaconate (order of deacons).

Contact the Rev. Dominic Ciriaco, pastor of St. Mary’s, at 201-384-0557 for more information.

Confirmation “celebrates the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit on a baptized person, completing and strengthening the grace given by the Spirit in Baptism,” states Celebrating the Sacraments from Saint Mary’s Press. “Like Baptism, Confirmation imparts a permanent character or seal in the person, marking him or her as belonging totally to Christ and as united to the church.”

According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: “Confirmation, together with Baptism and Eucharist, form the Sacraments of Initiation that are all intimately connected. In the Sacrament of Confirmation, the baptized person is ‘sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit’ and is strengthened for service to the Body of Christ. … The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus on the occasion of his baptism by John.”

At St. Mary’s, full initiation through the Sacrament of Confirmation is generally celebrated in eighth grade with those in PACT?Religious Education or Catholic school. For more information contact Dr. Bill Mascitello at  201-384-0557 Extension 20 or e-mail bill@stmarystdumont.org.

Adults interested in Confirmation for themselves, e-mail Kathy Sylvester at kathy@stmarysdumont.org.

“The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.”

—  The Catechism of the Catholic Church 

Common practice of the Archdiocese of Newark asks that arrangements for Matrimony be made at least one year in advance. Engaged couples should contact the rectory at 201-384-0557 to make an appointment with one of the priests.