Holy Orders

What are Holy Orders?


Holy Orders is a sacrament imparting a special character and empowering the recipient to share in Christ's priestly ministry by teaching, governing and officiating at worship as Bishop, Priest or Deacon. In each of these cases, the Rite of Ordination shows that the candidate has been called and chosen, invokes the Holy Spirit for the effective exercise of the new ministry, and along with various prayers, includes an imposition of hands by the ordaining Bishop. The Anglican, Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches hold that Holy Orders are of divine institution and qualify those ordained to represent Christ in certain ministries that the non-ordained cannot perform.


Interested in learning more about becoming a priest or religious?

Visit the Archdiocesan Vocation Page.

Prayer for Vocations

O God, Father of all Mercies,
Provider of a bountiful Harvest,


send Your Graces upon those
You have called to gather the fruits of Your labor;
preserve and strengthen them in their lifelong service of you.

Open the hearts of Your children
that they may discern Your Holy Will;
inspire in them a love and desire to surrender themselves
to serving others in the name of Your son, Jesus Christ.

Teach all Your faithful to follow their respective paths in life
guided by Your Divine Word and Truth.
Through the intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary,
all the Angels, and Saints, humbly hear our prayers
and grant Your Church's needs, through Christ, our Lord.


Amen.

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