As our last post of the year 2015, I would like to share with our readers this beautiful photograph of a newly-ordained priest with his mother. In the traditional rite, after the priest’s hands are anointed, they are bound with a cloth to keep the oil in place for the rest of the ordination ritual. I am sure the majority of our readers are already familiar with the custom, which is not formally a part of the rite, that once the ritual is complete, he presents the cloth to his mother, which is the moment we see here. It is a long-standing tradition that when a priest’s mother dies, she is buried with the cloth between her hands, to symbolize that she gave a priest to God, and will be rewarded for this in heaven.
New Year’s Eve is traditionally a time to thank God for the blessings received through the course of the year. Let us remember to thank Him for all the blessings and mercies He gives us through the ministry of the priesthood, for the families in whom religious vocations are born and fostered, to pray for their increase, and for all of our bishops and clergy.
(This photograph was posted in late November to our Instagram account, which automatically reposts everything to our Facebook page as well. Since then, it has surpassed every record for views and likes by an enormous margin, and continues to be shared and liked 5 weeks later. Our thanks to Mr Michael Thomas Kramer for sharing it with us.)
New Year’s Eve is traditionally a time to thank God for the blessings received through the course of the year. Let us remember to thank Him for all the blessings and mercies He gives us through the ministry of the priesthood, for the families in whom religious vocations are born and fostered, to pray for their increase, and for all of our bishops and clergy.
(This photograph was posted in late November to our Instagram account, which automatically reposts everything to our Facebook page as well. Since then, it has surpassed every record for views and likes by an enormous margin, and continues to be shared and liked 5 weeks later. Our thanks to Mr Michael Thomas Kramer for sharing it with us.)
