[Oldcath-l] What to do

[Sam'l B.]

+Marty wrote:

> In my humble opinion, the ordination to major orders should be as
> close as possible to the ordination to the priesthood, i.e. perhaps
> within six months of priestly ordination. 

	I'm going to disagree with +Marty here -- I think that a candidate 
should not be ordained to the next step until he has shown conclusively 
that he has mastered the duties of the grade below.  I, fo instance, 
should have had a year in both the Subdiaconate and the Diaconate, 
before being ordained a priest.

	Part of my reasoning is that serving a year or so as a Deacon shows 
that the candidate is serious and responsible about his desire to be a 
priest.  All too many candidates flit in, bet ordained, and flit out. 
At worst, they become bishops.

> The book learning has for
> all intensive purposes are complete and they spend the time in service
> to the People of God. Learning and applying different liturgies,
> reading the Gospel, and preaching a good sermon, properly prepared
> (taking less than 10 to 15 minutes)

	Some of this training can be pushed down into the Minor Orders -- 
Leading Scripture readings to the Lectors;  Learning to Preach to 
Exorcists (the original Latin title means "Exhorter", not "Devil 
Chaser"); etc.  No one should be in a hurry to become a Deacon, Priest, 
or Bishop.

 >  assisting the priest in the
> Eucharistic Prayer and the Communion, learning the rubrics and
> visiting the sick. Many Old Catholic priests are weak in liturgies,
> rubrics, preparing and giving timed homilies;

	True enough, sadly.

> it is hard to retrain them after ordination. 

	*SIGH*

> The difficulty with RCs and permanent deacons has been the lack of
> interaction with the People. In effect, they can only marry, baptize
> and bury and make calls at the hospitals. They cannot hear
> confessions, or give the anointing of the sick, or confect the
> Eucharist. Their usefulness to the pastor is limited. Thus, the
> deacons lose heart and drop out.

	The Orthodox have permanent Deacons, who so all of that, as well as 
assist in the Liturgy.  If the Bishop and the priests make an effort to 
include and recognize Permanent Deacons, things go much more smoothly.

	Also, some people will simply never be ready to rise above a certain 
level, but will do quite well, and be proud of their service as a 
Doorkeeper or Lector, for instance -- like an Anglican Sexton.

> If your deacon is not associated with a priest-mentor then his
> interaction is limited.

	Ideally, Deacons are associated with the Bishop.

 > If your deacon's illness was such that it was
> debilitating, then he may have a good reason for not continuing his
> studies; if it wasn't then why bother and release him.

	Exactly!

+Sam'l